For all you peanut butter cup lovers out there, we’re sharing this delicious healthy chocolate peanut butter cups recipe for a healthier treat you can easily make at home! These are just as good as the real thing, without the refined sugar and preservatives. Actually, we prefer these hands-down over the commercial version. These are a guilt-free way to satisfy your sweet tooth!
It’s tough to resist the dream-team combo of chocolate and peanut butter, and with this recipe you don’t have to!
Why Lily’s Dark Chocolate Baking Chips?
These chocolate chips are sweetened with stevia and erythritol but taste like any other chocolate chip. Stevia and erythritol have zero blood sugar impact, meaning they won’t spike your blood sugar like a regular chocolate chip that’s sweetened with refined sugar will. They also have a higher cocoa content than a semi-sweet chocolate chip, making them a little more chocolate-y.
Can I use a different nut butter?
Absolutely! If you have a peanut sensitivity or just a preference for a different nut butter, go for it! These would be really yummy with cashew, almond, or macadamia nut butter, but the sky is the limit! Feel free to experiment.
Can I use a different sweetener?
Yes, absolutely. To make these completely sugar-free you could use allulose, granulated monk-fruit, or erythritol in place of the coconut sugar. I use a small amount of coconut sugar because it’s healthier than a refined cane sugar, and it does make a difference in the taste. That said, it does still have an impact on your blood sugar level. You could just leave the coconut sugar out completely if you wanted a sugar-free treat sweetened with just the liquid monk fruit. Adjust the sweeteners in this recipe according to your preferred sweetness level, or the blood sugar-impact you desire.
How to store chocolate peanut butter cups
Store these in the refrigerator or freezer. These cups can stay frozen for 3 months, making them an excellent treat to keep on hand in your freezer!
These should be kept cold. If left out on the counter at room temperature, they will get a little melty and are a bit messy to eat.
Why a silicone mold?
I love using a silicone mold for these treats because it’s easy to use and clean-up is easy. It also means we don’t have to waste a bunch of paper mini muffin liners!
That said, mini muffin liners might be a good idea to use if you’re bringing these as a treat to share at a get-together.
What makes these chocolate peanut butter cups ‘healthy’?
These chocolate peanut butter cups contain very little sugar (none if you leave out the 1 tsp of coconut sugar), so they will have minimal impact on your blood sugar level. The commercial peanut butter cups we all know so well are very high in sugar (22 grams of added sugar per serving) and preservatives.
If you use the 1 tsp of coconut sugar, there will be less than 1 tenth of a gram of added sugars per cup in these treats. This means these chocolate peanut butter cups won’t cause the blood sugar spike and dip that typicallly comes with treats made with refined sugar. Refined sugar is also known to contribute to increased inflammation, and is associated with chronic conditions like metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.
Making this recipe means you can still enjoy delicious chocolate peanut butter cups without the added blood sugar and inflammation issues! Win-win!
Ingredients & Tools to Make these
Delicious Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups Recipe
Ingredients
Chocolate Outer Shell Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups Lily's Dark Chocolate Baking Chips
- 1 Tbsp Coconut oil
- 2 Tbsp Peanut butter (creamy, no sugar-added)
- Salt to sprinkle on top
Peanut Butter Filling Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Peanut butter (creamy, no sugar-added)
- 1/4 cup Coconut butter
- 1 tsp Coconut sugar (optional - omit to make these sugar-free, or add more to taste)
- 5 drops Liquid Monk Fruit extract (more to taste)
Instructions
- NOTE: I use a silicone mold that has 24 wells, but you could alternatively use mini muffin tins with paper mini muffin liners instead.
- In a double boiler (I just use a shallow pot of water and a glass pyrex measuring cup to melt ingredients in), melt the chocolate outer shell ingredients together (chocolate chips, coconut oil, and peanut butter), stirring well to combine.
- Once melted, add about one tablespoon of the melted chocolate mixture to each well of the silicone liner (or the mini muffin liners) and use a spoon to push the chocolate up the sides of the mold; this will keep the peanut butter layer contained within the cup. Set the remaining chocolate aside for later.
- Place the mold in the freezer for the chocolate bottom layer to harden while you mix up the peanut butter layer.
- Melt the coconut butter if it’s at room temp. Combine peanut butter filling ingredients, stirring well.
- Remove the chocolate layer from the freezer once the chocolate has hardened.
- Add 1 ½ teaspoons of peanut butter filling to the chocolate layer. Place mold in the freezer for the peanut butter layer to harden.
- Once peanut butter layer has hardened, remove from freezer.
- Reheat the remaining chocolate outer shell ingredients in the double boiler if necessary.
- Add the remaining chocolate on top of the peanut butter filling, approximately 2 tsp per cup.
- Sprinkle the tops of the cups with salt and place mold back in the freezer to set.
- Once set, remove from the freezer, pop the cups out of the mold and enjoy!
- Store in refrigerator or freezer.
We hope you enjoy this delicious healthier treat! Let us know what you think! #giveitaglow
Looking for more recipes for healthy snacks? Check out these Easy No-Bake Chocolate Protein Balls
