So Halloween’s coming up, and maybe you’re a little bit bummed about the lack of easily-accessible, awesome vegan candy options. Well, cheer up! Today and tomorrow, allow me to introduce you to two of my all-time favorite candy recipes, which are super easy to make right in your kitchen. Let’s start with my hands-down childhood favorite: peanut butter cups.
The key to texturally-perfect peanut butter centers is to use natural, unsweetened, creamy peanut butter. Let the oil separate, and then pour it off into a clean container. Measure out the dried-out peanut butter and use in the recipe, only adding back in oil if you need to make the mixture pliable. (And of course, keep all your housemates happy by pouring the oil back into the peanut butter container when you’re finished!) If you’re one of those people who prefers peanut butter cups with creamy peanut butter insides, you can just use standard creamy peanut butter.
Oh, and a warning: people will probably flip out when they see these on your candy tray. I can’t be held accountable for any injuries (or tummy aches) sustained as a result. Have your lawyers contact Chocolate and Peanut Butter for inquiries as to why they’re so gosh dang scrumptious together.
- 12 oz vegan chocolate
- 1½ Tbsp shortening, optional
- 1 c unsweetened natural peanut butter
- ½ c powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
- 12 paper cupcake liners
- Carefully trim off the top halves of the sides of the cupcake liners, so they’re half their height, and place in a muffin tin.
- In a double boiler or microwave, slowly melt chocolate, stirring frequently.
- Stir in shortening until completely melted and smooth.
- Place a small dollop of chocolate inside a cupcake liner.
- Using the back of a spoon, carefully spread the chocolate so that it evenly coats the bottom and sides of the liner, making sure not to leave any gaps or thin spots.
- Repeat until all cups have been lined with chocolate.
- Place muffin tin in refrigerator until chocolate sets.
- Meanwhile, mix together the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and salt. The mixture will be very hard to blend; just keep working it.
- With your hands, form the mixture into 12 slightly-flattened discs.
- Once the chocolate has set, press a peanut butter disc into each chocolate cup. If needed, reheat chocolate briefly.
- Drop a spoonful of chocolate onto the top of each peanut butter disc, being sure to spread it to reach the edges of the wrappers.
- Refrigerate to set.
- Serve at room temperature, so that the chocolate will be a little melty in your mouth.
13 comments
Jojo says:
Oct 22, 2012
Those look perfect, I love PB cups but I’ve never tried to make my own before.
claryn says:
Oct 22, 2012
They take a little bit of time, but they’re super easy! I really recommend it
Sal says:
Oct 22, 2012
very pretty. I love pb cups.
Candy Beans says:
Oct 22, 2012
Gorgeous!
moonsword says:
Oct 23, 2012
Screamingly yumful! Thanks for the recipe and tip about the dry peanut butter. Cheers!
Jess from Maine says:
Dec 16, 2012
Simple recipe, worth the effort. Delicious.
Steven says:
Dec 30, 2012
Does anyone know if these can sit out without melting? Hoping to wrap them for a present but I don’t want a mess.
claryn says:
Dec 30, 2012
They won’t melt, provided you don’t leave them somewhere exceedingly warm (ie a temperature that would melt chocolate chips). The shortening makes the coating’s melting point just a touch lower than chocolate chips on their own. If you’re stacking them, you might want to use wax or parchment paper between the layers, and take care not to squeeze them into their container!
Kelly says:
Mar 22, 2013
I made these for the first time today to send to my vegan daughter for Easter. I pulled one out of the frig and tried it and it came out of the paper perfect and was yummy. I then went about packing her box of goodies and I left the extras on the counter in a 70 degree kitchen. When I finished a half hour later I tried one and it was all melty and gooey. I used 12 oz Ghiradelli semi-sweet chips and 1 TB of coconut oil. What went wrong?
claryn says:
Mar 24, 2013
Oh no! Sorry you had trouble, Kelly. I’m sure the coconut oil was the culprit. Adding shortening to the chocolate gives the chocolate a shinier and smoother finish, and it also makes the chocolate coating turn out softer than chocolate chips when set. This is a good thing texture-wise, but it also means that the melting point of your chocolate coating is going to be lower than it would be for plain old chocolate chips. The melting point of coconut oil is around 75 degrees F (about 40 degrees lower than the melting point of shortening), and you used more coconut oil than was called for in the recipe, so it’s no surprise that the chocolate became too soft when left out on the counter. That doesn’t mean you can’t use coconut oil in this recipe, but if you do, you’ll definitely have to keep the finished product in the fridge! Better luck next time — you sound like an awesome mom!
Jessica says:
Dec 30, 2012
Yes, they can. I made these for my coworkers this holiday season. I wrapped them individually in saran wrap. Some of these stayed over the long holiday weekend (5 days) at work, and looked fine when they finally received them. As long as the room isn’t super warm, you should be fine.
carly says:
Mar 31, 2013
Easy to follow recipe. Seems like they will be delicious, they are cooling now. One thing, I melted 12oz of chocolate but needed more than that, closer to 16oz. Luckily I had kept my double boiler set up so it was easy to add more and melt that in.
claryn says:
Mar 31, 2013
The amount of chocolate you need will indeed vary depending on how tall or short you cut your cupcake liners, as well as how thinly or thickly you coat them. Personally, I like the filling to be coated in a fairly thin layer of chocolate!