DEEP. DARK. LIFESAVERS.
100% dark chocolate peanut butter cups that are better than you could believe,
ready in a few minutes and close enough to the real thing.
Try them!!!
Anyone have a weakness for peanut butter cups? Before switching to low-carb living (ake Limbo), I used to mainline a well known brand of peanut butter cups as part of a regular sugar rotation! And I know perhaps taking treats off the agenda altogether has a good argument in a no-sugar lifestyle, but quite honestly, I don’t even see a need when these ones sell themselves as choc full of health benefits – 6g protein per cup anyone 🙂
Let me convince myself – with 4 key ingredients, let’s take a look at how they stack up:
- Dark Chocolate is full of iron, copper, manganese and magnesium and has a super low net carb count of 8g / 100g.
- Nut butter is a good source of healthy fats, antioxidants and protein.
- Whey protein adds another little boost of protein, flavour and thickens the nut butter.
- Coconut flour is full of fibre and adds the finishing touch to the texture for the filling.
See! A positive powerhouse of goodness with a place in any diet. I use 100% dark chocolate. It’s available in lots of supermarkets and in specialist stores. If 100% is too dark for you, don’t go below 85% as at that stage there’s a lot of sugar entering the equation. A little salt and vanilla takes the edge off the bitterness of the chocolate and layers the flavours.
I make these in two’s in silicone cupcake cases when I need them (see notes for quick quantity for 2). They come to the cinema with me and really now these days I look at the queue for my old friends Ben and Jerry and all I think is, I’m glad I don’t have to join that queue. It’s a far cry…
The recipe below makes 5 peanut butter cups – enough to share around a few. I could make more but we don’t want to go there, unless there’s a party of course, in which case use the multiplier on the recipe to increase as needed.
These are deep, dark PB cups, super bitter but lightened with a little white cocoa butter which also keeps it super shiny and smooth, and enhanced with salt and vanilla. (You can use coconut oil if you don’t have cocoa butter, but the end result will melt a little in your fingers). 100% natural nut butter with a little vanilla whey and coconut flour really sets up the authentic PB cup filling texture and the two together create a deliciously sophisticated peanut butter cup.
Because the chocolate is so dark, I like to keep it thin as it’s easy to bite into and balances with the filling beautifully.
These take only 10 minutes to make using your freezer to speed the setting chocolate, so gather your ingredients and get cooking!
Peanut Butter Cups
Ingredients
- 40 g 100% cacao chocolate
- 10 g cocoa butter
- 6 tsp natural peanut butter (smooth)
- 1 tbsp whey powder (I use vanilla)
- 1 tsp coconut flour
- pinch salt
- 1 tsp vanilla essence (optional - in glycerin is best)
Instructions
- Place 5 cupcake cases in a baking tray.
- Melt the cacao butter and the dark chocolate.
- Add a pinch of salt to the chocolate once melted and stir.
- Pour a teaspoon of this mix into each silicone or paper cupcake cases, covering the bottom of the cases fully with the chocolate.
- Place in fridge.
- Mix the peanut butter and whey powder and then mix in the coconut flour.
- Mix well, leave for about 30 seconds and it should form a sticky dough.
- You can either form a sausage and divide this mix into 5 smaller balls and press into discs, or use a teaspoon to drop the filling onto the cooled bases. (Texture varies according to nut butter brand)
- Press down lightly so it's almost at the edges of the cupcake cases, but not quite.
- Reheat the chocolate if needed. Add the vanilla in glycerin if using and spoon another teaspoon of the chocolate mix over each of these. Tap the tray off the counter to settle.
- Use the remaining melted chocolate mixture to fill in any gaps and tap again.
- Pop in the freezer for 5 min or so.
- Once hardened remove from cases and enjoy.
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