Yes, they are as good as they look!
The way I see it peanut butter and chocolate are just made for each other. These have always been my favorite. When I was in college, my go to for finals cramming, over stressed, paper writing study break food was a two pack of peanut butter cups from the vending machine. Some things do not change. Another confession? I love to eat peanut butter off a spoon, ( and sometimes I stick mini chocolate chips on top.)
Still, some things have changed. Like allergies and mast cell disease. Which means these are free of all the yuck and fillers of those hanging out in the vending machines...for who knows how long. I looked at a lot of recipes for these, but it seemed to me they were made from peanut butter frosting layered between the chocolate. As much as I love all things peanut butter, that was just too sweet, and a lot of the peanut butter flavor was lost. Besides that, I was feeling impatient and didn't want to spend a lot of time trying to set a layer of chocolate, and then spread a layer of peanut butter, and then wait for that to set, and then do another layer of chocolate. I love knowing my food is better for me, but sometimes the hassle of having to make even the most basic thing yourself is tiring. These needed to be brilliantly better than just picking up a bag at the store. I wasn't going for 'copycat', I was going for better.
My inspiration for these was the infamous peanut butter ball, or 'buckeye', without needing to dip all those pieces! So, ta-da!, we have these little peanut butter 'wafers'....
The key is to get the dough to stick together without being too sticky. Letting them 'set' and 'dry' a bit before using them helps too.
Now, easy peasy. I used a 'baby' spoon (you could use a 1/2 tsp measuring spoon) to spoon the melted chocolate into the mini muffin paper, then drop in a wafer and push it down. It will press the chocolate to the sides and up the cup. No spreading required!
Then just spoon more chocolate on top, no need to wait for things to 'set'. I used the back of my spoon to press the top chocolate, and then spread to the edges. Don't forget to tap these on the counter as you go. I picked up the individual cups and lightly tapped the bottoms of them on the counter. It spreads the chocolate smoother than anyone ever could with a spoon or spatula.
If you are planning on leaving these in the papers, you will want to try to be neat. I'm not very neat at all when to comes to melted chocolate :/
And if you want to take these out of the papers neatly, I suggest chilling in the fridge for 5-10 minutes. Then the papers will leave you crisp edges. Oh, and I only ever use the parchment paper baking cups, they are guaranteed to peel from everything gluten free to candy. I'm not sure if the others would peel off.
I have not tried these with any nut butter substitute, but I don't really see any reason why they wouldn't work with soy butter or sun butter. You may just need to add more or less powdered sugar until the dough is no longer sticky, but not crumbly.
I did use a crunchy peanut butter in these, I think you get more of the peanut flavor. If you are using creamy you may need more rice 'crispy' cereal to keep from getting too much sweetness.
ENJOY!
'Peanut Butter' Cups
DOUGH
Ingredients
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter, soy butter, or sun butter
(if you use creamy, increase the rice cereal to 1/3 cup)
1/4 cup rice 'crispy' cereal
1/4 cup confectioner sugar
1/4 cup confectioner sugar for kneading and rolling
Directions
Slightly crush cereal
mix cereal with 'peanut' butter
add 1/4 cup confectioner sugar and mix thoroughly
dust surface with confectioner sugar
dump dough onto surface
dust dough with more confectioner sugar
knead sugar into dough
(fold dough in half, press top half into bottom half)
continue adding confectioner sugar and kneading until dough is no longer sticky
dust surface with more confectioner sugar
roll dough 1/2 inch thick
cut dough with 1 inch cutter
(a liquid measure medicine cup is a good size for the mini muffin cups)
I got about 40 mini sized cups
Melting Chocolate
Melt 1 1/2 cups Enjoy Life chocolate chips
with 1 1/2 tsp palm shortening
I used my little dipper crock pot, I recommend looking buying or borrowing one if you think you will be doing a lot of recipes with melted chocolate
you can melt the chocolate in the microwave, but you may need to keep remelting it as you go. If it gets too thick, return to the microwave for 30 seconds at 50%
In Microwave-
Melt at 50% power for one minute then stir
continue to melt at 50% for 30 second intervals, stirring every 30 seconds
The chips do not need to be melted completely, If you keep stirring they will continue to melt
To Make
40 parchment mini muffin papers
I used a 'baby' spoon (you could use a 1/2 tsp measuring spoon) to spoon the melted chocolate into the mini muffin paper
then drop in a wafer and push it down. It will press the chocolate to the sides and up the cup. No spreading required!
spoon more chocolate on top, no need to wait for things to 'set'.
use the back of the spoon to press the top chocolate, and then spread to the edges.
pick up the individual cups and lightly tapped the bottoms of them on the counter until tops are smooth
* If you are planning on leaving these in the papers, you will want to try to be neat.
*If you want to take these out of the papers neatly, chill in fridge for 5-10 minutes.
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