Happy basket full of chocolate day!
When I was a wee muffin, Easter meant that a human sized fictional bunny would sneak into my bedroom when I was sleeping, and leave me a basket full of chocolates, candies, and sometimes little toys or gifts. The whole thing had a very Santa Claus vibe to it, and so of course, I absolutely loved it!
If I'm ever at my parents house for Easter I still sometimes find a treat left outside my bedroom door. Aww shucks, thanks Mom...er, I mean Mr. Easter Bunny.
Easter egg hunting was a whole other part of the holiday, and it was full on war. Every year the fam (there is somewhere around 10 cousins) would go to a family members house to celebrate Easter. Upon arrival I would secretly scout out and memorize where all the Easter eggs were hiding, while acting like I didn't care, and definitely wasn't cheating.
All the kids would be sitting on our hands desperately trying to act natural, until FINALLY some aunt would decide it was time to start the Easter egg hunt and then we would all frantically dash around collecting as many chocolates as we possible get our mitts on.
There was no equally dividing the chocolates among us, or any of that very fair sharing thing kids do nowadays. What you were able to collect was what you got. At 6 years old chocolate was VERY serious stuff, so yes, this was incredibly stressful for me.
Now I am so much more civil, I will just make large batches of chocolates at home, and not share them with anybody, so there.
Ok, ok, I will share... if I have to... I guess.
One of my most favourites chocolates was Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, which I am pretty sure is one of the worlds most favourite chocolates. I think there are some rather pricey vegan versions of these that you can buy, but seriously dude, these are so easy to make.
Like kinda too easy to make. So easy to whip up and then have 20 chocolates sitting around staring at you, Gah!
I've seen some vegan recipes where they just fill the center with peanut butter, and you have to keep them frozen or they will melt... My recipes is not like that. You can make these and once set, they are totally shelf stable, and sugary delicious, just like Reese's, except so much better.
To Make Vegan Peanut Butter Cups:
Mix up the peanut butter with powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. It forms this kind of peanut butter dough. Taste it. You're welcome.
Melt your chocolate chips in a double boiler, then remove from heat. If your chocolate firms up while you are working with it, just pop it back on the double boiler to melt again.
If you don't have a double boiler, you can use my method, and just pop a heat safe bowl over a pot of boiling water. Congratulations, you just made yourself a double boiler.
The reason you want to melt the chips in a double boiler vs. a pot directly on the heat, is that chocolate burns and turns grainy very easily, and once it burns there is no going back. Your chocolate is ruined. So melting it in a double boiler ensures it doesn't burn.
You could also melt your chips in a microwave, but I don't have one of those, so you are on your own with that one.
Take some cupcake liners and pour in about 1 to 2 teaspoons of chocolate. Just enough to cover the bottom of the liner. You can use the spoon to spread the chocolate around.
Now pinch off some of your peanut butter dough, and shape into a disc that is just a bit smaller than your liner, so that there is room for the chocolate to go around the edges of the dough. This does not have to be beautiful. I like a thick peanut butter center, but you can decide how much or little peanut butter dough to use.
Now use another spoonful or two of chocolate to cover the peanut butter disc. You may need to use your spoon to help spread the chocolate. Repeat with all of the remaining chocolate and peanut butter dough.
Put the chocolates on a baking tray so they are easier to manage, and then pop them in the fridge for about 30 minutes, until the chocolate has completely firmed up and set.
Once set you can peel off the cupcake liners, or just trim down the wrappers if you want to leave them on. Store in an airtight container in the cupboard.
You can also use any chocolate mold or silicon mold to make fun shapes. I had these mini peanut butter cup molds that I followed the same process with. There are a ton of fun shapes on Amazon such as these Easter Egg Molds, Christmas Tree Molds, Truffle Molds, and if you ever wanted Moustache Shaped vegan peanut butter cups, you can definitely make those.
Or if you are feeling crafty, you can also shape the peanut butter dough into balls or egg shapes and then just dip the dough into the chocolate and lay on parchment paper to set.
Common Questions:
Is peanut butter vegan?
Most peanut butter is made up of peanuts and salt. Some may also contain oil or added sugar. Sometimes peanut butter may contain honey, but almost all peanut butter is 100% vegan.
Can I freeze vegan peanut butter cups?
Yes! If kept in an air-tight container or sealed freezer bags, peanut butter cups freeze beautifully and (if stored properly) can last up to 12 months!
Is there a nut-free version of peanut butter cups?
If you swap out the peanut butter for a peanut butter alternative (sunflower seed butter, etc.) you can make a nut-free version.
Are peanut butter cups gluten-free?
This recipe is gluten-free!
Vegan Peanut Butter Cups
Ingredients
- ½ cup natural peanut butter (or any other kind of nut butter you like!)
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cups vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a medium bowl mix together the peanut butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. It will form a sort of soft dough.
- Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave in 20-second increments, being careful to not burn the chocolate.
- To assemble the vegan peanut butter cups, use a chocolate mold or cupcake liners. Add just enough chocolate to the mold or cupcake liners to just cover the bottom.
- Take a piece of the peanut butter dough and form a disc that is just smaller than the mold so that there is room for chocolate to go around the edges. Pop the peanut butter discs into each mold.
- Now finish by pouring more chocolate overtop so that the chocolate goes around the sides of peanut butter dough and covers the top. Repeat until you run out of chocolate and peanut butter dough.
- Put in the fridge to cool and set for about 30 minutes. Once the chocolate has solidified again, you can pop them out of the molds, or just trim the paper liners if you want to leave them protected. Store in an air-tight container in your cupboard.
Nutrition
Bon Appetegan!
Sam.
Roger Swinderman says
I want satisfy my sweet tooth, but after my lymphoma diagnosis, I have decided to cut out sugar. I have been able to use honey, pure maple syrup, date sugar etc. is there a substitution powdered sugar?
Chasity Bray Fields says
Made these using sun butter instead of peanut butter and I think they are better than the Trader Joe’s sun butter cups. Thank you for the great recipe!
anon says
AMAZING!! the peanut butter filling was delicious. i did add about a teaspoon or two of coconut oil to the chocolate chips to help it melt more smoothly, which turned out great and prevented it from solidifying too quickly while pouring into the molds. one problem i had was that there was wayy too much of the peanut butter filling leftover. i even added extra to the cups and there was still excess. i would cutdown on that part, but otherwise great recipe!
Patricia G says
Haven't tried it yet, but looks great.
Two questions - I made my own using a similar process last year, but over the next few weeks, they went "white-ish" and hard - still good but not as "nice" - any suggestions as to how to prevent this.
Also, I bought a vegan pumpkin peanut butter cup at the farmer's market in the fall, so I think she simply mixed pumpkin puree in with the peanut butter, making it a bit lighter and lower fat. Your thoughts?
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Patricia, As countryliving.com explains, "The white marks appear when fat particles in the chocolate separate due to cold or hot temperatures. The fat rises to the surface of the chocolate through small cracks. If you store chocolate in a place that is too cold or too warm, the so-called 'fat bloom' will materialise." I haven't tried adding pumpkin but if you give it a go let us know how it turns out 🙂
Collette says
I have tried a bunch of different versions of this recipe, and this one is by far my favorite. I keep them in my freezer and when my sweet tooth acts up, I grab one (or three)!
Sam Turnbull says
Love it!! Thank you for the review Collette 🙂
Lorie I says
Love this recipebI make them every year for Christmas. My daughter's birthday is coming up so I am making a vegan peanut butter cheesecake and I am following a non vegan recipe I made last week for my other daughter's birthday where you add cut up reese cup in the mix and add some on top of the ganache but I bought the minis. So I will use this recipe and make the minis for my vegan cheesecake. My daughter is excited thank you Sam.
Courtney says
Can this recipe use regular creamy peanut butter (only trying to be dairy free not full vegan) or does it have to be natural? Just trying to see if I can use what I have on hand.
Chris says
Any peanut butter is vegan - I think the natural just has a runnier consistency that might be easier to mix, but sure it works with any kind of peanut butter.
Melissa says
Idk how you do it! Every recipe of yours I've tried over the years has been a hit with my family. This is no exception to the deliciousness! Thanks for saving my wait-until-the-last-minute soul for Easter tonight haha!!
Gaby Levey says
I have left over peanut butter mixture and have run out of chocolate! how long will it keep in the fridge for?
Rachel says
I kept my leftover peanut butter mixture in the refrigerator for the past month and it still tastes fine. Really hardened but it's easier to shape into disks
Rose says
Amazing! They turned out perfectly. To celebrate Veganuary I am posting a link to a vegan recipe each day on Facebook to promote awareness of how delicious a vegan diet can be. Today this will be the one!
Victoria Migotti says
Has anyone tried to make these with wow butter? I am trying to find a good recipe for homemade wow butter cups as I have a four year old who can't do nuts, dairy or soy
Ashleigh Peters says
yes, it works!
Debbie says
Absolutely Delicious!
Carly says
The easiest & MOST DELICIOUS recipe!!! The idea of never having a Reese's again & then being disappointed by vegan alternative PB cups at various grocery stores left me very sad as I have a major sweet tooth... but then I tried this recipe & OMG they are so absolutely amazingly delicious!!! SO YUMMY & super quick to make!!!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay!!! Thrilled you loved them so much, Carly 🙂
Kari says
Here's my vegan peanut butter cup story. Before I went vegan, we had a small vegan restaurant near us. My husband loved the food, but I wasn't so into anything without cheese, so I was a little pickier. But, I did like their peanut butter cups. I liked them more than Reese peanut butter cups. We would drive there just so I could get them.
Unfortunately, she closed down just before I went vegan and could care less about cheese and would love to eat all her amazing vegan creations. But she hadn't had enough interest so she had to close down.
I often think about her because the vegan movement really seemed to start picking up after I went vegan (Not because of me 🙂 I think some documentaries had something to do with it - it's why I went vegan) and if she had just stayed open another few months, her business would have taken off.
And that's my vegan peanut butter cup story.
I like the recipe, but I tend to just put peanut butter, chocolate chips, and maple syrup in a cup and eat it that way. Lol. I guess you could call it a lazy peanut butter cup.
Julia says
I LOVE this recipe!!
With all the devastating news we're getting these days I wanted to cheer myself up by making some candy. This was my recipe of choice and let me tell you.... the Peanut Butter Cups made me VERY happy! (the cute heart shaped liners I made them in helped as well ❤︎)
I have never eaten store brand PBCs myself but my boyfriend says that these self-made ones are much better. They are just devine.
Thank you so much for this awesome recipe! I will definitely make them again soon!
Greetings from Germany! 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoyed it so much, Julia and that it helped brighten your day! 🙂 Greetings from Canada!
Jakub says
For some reason simple online recipes seem to often go wary for me. I seem to have no problem baking a cake from scratch without proper measurements, but these kinds of recipes give me trouble. The peanut butter was still very sticky and at best a thin paste even with doubling the powdered sugar. The chocolate didn't melt the smoothest though first batch was not enough with the amount from the recipe. Since I had semi-sweet chips, I added a bit of almond milk with a higher ration in the second batch which helped. Guess I need to dump a bunch of corm starch into peanut butter next time. It still tastes good, but somehow the ingredient portions rarely line up for me as stated.
Shar says
I have the same problem with simple recipes. Maybe in this case your natural peanut butter was not mixed well and a little oily? Also I had to really mix the peanut butter awhile to get consistency right.
Kerry says
I made this peanut butter cup recipe two days in a row. I received rave reviews both from vegans and non-vegans. These are just last darn delicious. I love how the peanut butter filling is moist, not crumbly, not also not sticky or drippy. Just perfect. I made little mini cups because those are the liners I had. I also left the chocolate bowl sitting above the hot water to keep it melted. Thank you.
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoyed, Kerry!
Dawn says
I’m wondering if this method (using cupcake liners) would work with your recipe for peppermint patties. I like the idea of not having to dip the filling. Such a timesaver!
Sam Turnbull says
Absolutely!
Shannon says
This recipe is awesome! The whole family loved it! Thanks for sharing it!
Sam Turnbull says
You're most welcome 🙂
Fiona says
I made these today but I used homemade sunflower butter.They were so easy and absolutely delicious!! I made half the quantity and got 12 mini cups. I've had to hide them in the freezer so I don't eat them all in one sitting. Thank you 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Awesome! Thrilled you enjoy them so much, Fiona 🙂
Kay Dee says
Any suggestions at all to replace the powdered sugar? We only use date sugar, maple syrup for sweet. I know maple syrup won’t work. Not sure about the date with peanut butter?