Peanut Butter Cups
Reese’s peanut butter cups were my favorite candy growing up- I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to post my own take on them! I have two takes on the peanut butter cup lined up for you- classic with salted dark chocolate, and a toasted coconut peanut butter cup. One of my good friends was on a ketogenic diet last year, and I wanted to make her birthday treats that she could enjoy guilt-free- which is how I landed on the toasted coconut peanut butter cup. They are much less sweet than their chocolate counterparts, but are super rich and satisfying. If you are making these keto, use sugar free sweetner (I used swerve) in place of the sugar.
A few notes about the toasted coconut butter- it can be slightly finicky. When food processing, you will need to stop and scrape the sides frequently before it blends into a butter. You can make this easier by doubling the amount of coconut (using two packages). If you do, you can use the butter to make extra cups and keep them in the fridge, or try spreading the butter on toast, drizzling on oatmeal, or blended into smoothies for extra flavor.
INGREDIENTS
Toasted Coconut Butter
1 200g package unsweetened shredded coconut
Salted Dark Chocolate
1 cup dark chocolate chips
2 tsp coconut oil
flaked salt for topping
Peanut Butter Filling
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 tbsp coconut flour
1 tbsp icing sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
healthy pinch of sea salt
INSTRUCTIONS
For toasted coconut butter:
Preheat oven to 325 F. Spread coconut flakes evenly over a cookie sheet. Bake 5-10 minutes, until golden brown and fragrant, stirring halfway through. Watch carefully, it’s very easy to burn the coconut! Remove from oven and let cool. Place in food processor and blend until it turns liquid, scraping down the sides every few minutes.
For dark chocolate:
Add chocolate and coconut oil to a saucepan and stir over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat
For peanut butter filling:
Add all ingredients to a small bowl and stir until well combined.
To assemble:
Line mini cupcake pan with mini cupcake liners. Spoon chocolate or coconut into the bottom of each cup and swirl to evenly coat the bottom. Place in fridge until hardened (about 10 min). Remove from fridge and spoon a heaping 1/2 tsp of peanut butter filling on top of hardened chocolate or coconut. Pat filling down, leaving room around the edges. Spoon more coconut butter or chocolate on top until the filling is completely covered. For chocolate, sprinkle flaked salt on top. Place in fridge until set. For coconut, option to drizzle with dark chocolate. Store in fridge.