Healthier Honey Sweetened Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

You can have a healthier candy with this recipe for honey sweetened chocolate peanut butter cups! The filling is made with honey and you can choose to make your own honey chocolate for topping or use a packaged chocolate - your choice.

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Chocolate peanut butter cups sweetened only with honey? I know what you may be thinking, "Did she really have to mess with peanut butter cups?"

I have to admit that same idea may have crossed my mind, too. Except, I've recently had some store-bought healthier peanut butter cups and I've really liked them! Especially the varieties made with dark chocolate (which naturally has less sugar).

And I've made no-bake peanut butter balls that are sweetened with honey and I liked them, too.

So, really, it was almost a given that when I tried my hand at making homemade chocolate using cocoa butter wafers and cocoa powder that I would make some of it with honey as the sweetener (instead of maple syrup).

And that I'd combine it with peanut butter, since we've already established it as one of my favorite dessert combinations, as you can see in our dessert recipe index.

And guess what? These are really good!

They are not cloyingly sweet like the milk-chocolate store version, for sure, letting both the chocolate and peanut butter flavors really shine through.

While I may not make chocolate from scratch every time I want to make these (it's optional- you can also simply melt chocolate), I know I will NEVER go back to making the classic peanut butter filling with all the powdered sugar.

This honey sweetened filling is good - truly - and I will use it from now on, not only for this, but also for any peanut butter balls I make.

Honey Sweetened Peanut Butter Chocolate Cups Recipe

Ingredients

• Natural peanut butter (only peanuts and salt)
• Honey
• Coconut flour
• Vanilla
• Dark chocolate chips/chunks to melt OR make your own chocolate:
• Cocoa butter wafers, food grade
• Cocoa powder
• Honey or maple syrup
• Salt

Supplies

• Mini paper baking cups
• 12 or 24 cup mini muffin pan
• double boiler or microwave safe glass measure

How do you make peanut butter cups from scratch?

The steps to make these healthy peanut butter cups are pretty straightforward:

1. Make the peanut butter filling first, shape into balls, and then flatten a bit before refrigerating for a few hours to set.
2. After making the chocolate - or melting a good dark chocolate - add enough to cover the bottoms of small paper candy cups and refrigerate them for a few minutes (this is to make sure that the peanut butter filling doesn't sink to the bottom of the warm chocolate).
3. Bring the cups out, add the filling and then spoon more chocolate on top before replacing in the fridge to harden completely.

I added a few peanut halves to decorate the top of these candy cups, which of course is optional - and not traditional at all. I was making them for holiday treats and wanted them to look a little more interesting.

Plus, adding the nuts is also a way to tell people at a glance what they contain, just in case there's a peanut allergy in anyone's family who receives them.

Can I make this candy with another nut butter?

Yes, you can make these with any nut butter, or even a seed butter like sunflower to avoid nut butter completely.

When you make your own candy, you can tailor it to your family's tastes!

How long do homemade peanut butter cups last?

Store at room temperature for a day (or before they soften too much). When stored in the fridge, they are best eaten within a month.

These candies can also be frozen for longer storage - use within three months.

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Honey Sweetened Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

A healthy, homemade candy with a filling sweetened only with honey, and optional homemade honey-sweetened chocolate.

Prep Time25 mins

Refrigeration2 hrs

Total Time2 hrs 25 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Yield: 34 cups

Author: Jami Boys

Equipment

• paper candy baking cups
• mini muffin pan tin

Ingredients

Peanut Butter Filling

• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1-1/2 tablespoons coconut flour
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Optional Homemade Chocolate Coating*

• 1 cup cocoa butter wafers about 200 grams
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 6 tablespoons honey (or maple syrup)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch salt

Optional Dark Chocolate Coating*

• 1½ cups (9oz.) dark chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil or butter

Instructions

• Filling:
• Mix peanut butter, honey, coconut flour, and vanilla until completely combined.
• Shape into 1/2-teaspoon sized balls and flatten slightly into discs. Place on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for an hour or two.
• Meanwhile, line 34 mini muffin pans with paper liners.**
• Chocolate Coating:
• Option #1- Homemade Chocolate: Set a glass bowl in a saucepan with water in the bottom that doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl (or a double boiler).
• Add the cocoa butter wafers to the bowl and heat the water to simmering over medium-high heat, melting the cocoa butter completely.
• Remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa powder gradually until completely smooth.
• Add honey, vanilla, and salt, whisking again until smooth.
• Option #2- Melt Chocolate: Place chocolate chips in a double boiler or microwave-safe bowl along with the coconut oil or butter. Melt until smooth, stirring often.
• Assemble Cups:
• Using a teaspoon, add enough chocolate to the bottom of each candy liner to cover it; refrigerate just until starting to set, about 5-10 minutes.
• Remove from fridge and place a cold peanut butter disc in the center of each cup. Use a teaspoon to add more chocolate to cover all the discs completely.
• Refrigerate until hardened. Remove from trays and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Notes

*Choose either to make your own chocolate coating with coco wafers OR melt a quality store bought dark chocolate. While it is fun to make homemade chocolate, I usually just melt chocolate chips most of the time!

**Variation: roll filling into balls, refrigerate, and then coat in chocolate.

You can substitute any nut butter.

Storage: Keep at room temperature for less than a day, refrigerate for a month, freeze for 3 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 69kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 22mg | Potassium: 55mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 12IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 1mg

Did you make this recipe?Mention @anoregoncottage or tag #anoregoncottage!

 
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