One of my colleagues recently traveled to the States and brought back peanut butter cups from a rather famous brand… You may have heard or seen them before 😉. I used to love those when I lived in New Jersey. They were my absolute favorite. Obviously, this was a long time before I learned about my various health challenges (you can learn more here) and switched to a more whole-food orientated diet. So, when I tried them I was super surprised by how intensely sweet they were (and that I did not necessarily notice this prior 🤪🤣). But, I love peanut butter cups and so, inspired, I hopped over into the kitchen and invented my own five ingredient peanut butter cups recipe.
These Five Ingredient Peanut Butter Cups are super simple to make and truly only require five whole-food ingredients. Sounds almost too good to be true?! Let me assure you – it is not 😍. You first start off by making the most delicious chocolate yourself. Trust me – I was surprised when I did this, it is a lot easier than you think!! You then fill a small amount into the bottom of these cups and quickly freeze them. Meanwhile, you prepare the peanut butter filling, add it to the bottom of the cups, quickly freeze again, before finishing it off with more chocolate. Optionally, you can add some chopped peanuts and/or sea salt on top with a bit of an additional “zing”.
These Five Ingredient Peanut Butter Cups are being made with the help of a freezer. But you definitely need to return them to the fridge then. The taste will be too mellow when consumed are frozen. The flavors truly come out to shine when you enjoy them from the fridge. The beauty of using cocoa butter in the recipe instead of coconut oil is also that the chocolate will not start melting in your hands straight away – additional benefit hooray 🙌🏻.
Why are these Five Ingredient Peanut Butter Cups good for me?
Cocoa Butter
You may have not heard of cocoa butter before so I thought I would shine a bit more light on it 🥰. Cocoa butter is extracted from the cocoa bean via a fermentation process. Cocoa butter is responsible for the melting properties of chocolate. Basically, it is added so that chocolate can melt (in your mouth). Next to a lot of desserts and chocolate bars, you can also find cocoa butter in a lot of skin and hair products. Cocoa butter is high in vitamin D, but also contains other trace minerals, including potassium, phosphorous, iron, copper, zinc, and magnesium.
Whereas cocoa butter does contain some antioxidants (mainly polyphenols) processing reduces this number quite significantly. Polyphenols are then added back in when we are adding cocoa powder again (which we are doing in this case – hooray). As indicated above, cocoa butter is high in vitamin D2, a precursor to vitamin D. Vitamin D is super important for our immunity and overall health. It also supports our bones and heart. This vitamin is also one of those ones that most of the population in the world is deficient in. I have written an entire blog post on the benefits of Vitamin D, if you would like to check it out.
How can I adjust this Five Ingredient Peanut Butter Cups recipe to my Dietary Requirements?
This recipe is vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free. Due to the recipe containing peanuts, it is not nut-free. Due to peanuts being considered legumes as part of the paleo diet, it is also not paleo-friendly.
Similar Recipes on the Blog
So many delicious recipes on the blog 🥰 . I have chosen seasonal ones for you with a bit of fruit if you fancy 😋:
- Coconut Chocolate Bites
- Strawberry Cheesecake Mini Dessert Cups
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pink Jello
- Chocolate Hazelnut Brownie Bites
- Strawberry Banana Muffins
And that is it for this week 🤗. I hope you enjoy these Five Ingredient Easy Peasy Peanut Butter Cups. As always, you know I love hearing from you. Please feel free to comment below and/or rate the recipe. Happy peanut butter cup-making 🌺.
Five Ingredient Peanut Butter Cups
Course: Sweet treatsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy24
cups20
minutes1
hourThese Five Ingredient Peanut Butter Cups are melt-in-your-mouth delicious goodness. Chocolate and peanut butter – you cannot go wrong here!
Ingredients
- For the chocolate layer
1 cup 1 (230 gr.) Cocoa butter
2/3 cup 2/3 (79 gr.) cocoa powder
8 tbsp 8 maple syrup
A sprinkle of sea salt (optional)
- For the peanut butter layer
1/3 cup 1/3 (90 gr.) peanut butter
3 tbsp 3 maple syrup
1 tbsp 1 coconut flour
- Toppings – optional
Sprinkle of sea salt
Chopped peannuts
Mini muffin form or mini muffin paper forms
How to
- For the chocolate layer
- Add the cocoa butter to a water bath (simply place a glass or metal bowl on a small pot with water). Once melted, add the cocoa powder, maple syrup, and sea salt (optional) and whisk through until evenly combined
- Have your mini muffin form or mini muffin paper forms ready and fill the bottom with the chocolate. Put into the freezer and let cool for 15 minutes
- For the peanut butter layer
- Combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, and coconut flour. Add a tiny bit to your hands, mold, and press onto the chocolate into the mini muffin form. Put back into the freezer, ca. 15 minutes
- Add the final chocolate layer on top (you may have to heat up the chocolate slightly again) and freeze one final time. Sprinkle with sea salt or crushed peanuts if you fancy. Transfer to the fridge and enjoy!!
