Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Cups
Let's settle a debate: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are one of the best chocolate candies of all time. They're pretty perfect, and I'm not even a huge fan of the whole peanut butter and chocolate combo. Reese's are literally the only time I eat them both together, and I eat them by the handful. Don't get me started on the egg-shaped Reese's that come out for Easter, because I could dedicate a whole blog post to that too.
One of the great things about everyone's favorite chocolate candy is that making Reese's Peanut Butter Cups at home is actually easy AF, and totally customizable too! You can make them with just two ingredients if you'd like, or get a little fancy with it like I did and upgrade them with homemade caramel.
The easy vegan caramel I use in this recipe is just one ingredient: dates! All you have to do is place softened dates in a food processor and whip them up until creamy and smooth. Use this caramel for all kinds of vegan baking and homemade candy making. Yes, this homemade peanut butter cups recipe is totally vegan and tastes even better than Reese’s and Justins (which are both super good on their own)!
I like this recipe a lot because it isn't too sweet. I found a few recipes that included a lot of added powdered sugar, but after testing this out just one teaspoon is all you need. The powdered sugar makes the peanut butter filling fluffy and creamy and prevents the peanut butter from getting too hard in the fridge, so definitely add it in - but just a little.
I used dark chocolate in this recipe but you can swap it out with milk chocolate, or even white chocolate if that's your jam. Actually, why not try these out sometime with peanut butter and jam and make a peanut butter and jelly cup?! 🤯
Prep Time: 20 minutes // Cook Time: 10 minutes // Rest Time: 20 minutes
INGREDIENTS
10 pitted dates, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes
1/3 c natural peanut butter
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash of allspice
8 ounces dark chocolate, broken into pieces
Sea salt, for garnish
DIRECTIONS
Place 12 cupcake wrappers inside a cupcake pan and set aside.
Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside.
Place the pitted, softened dates in a food processor and blend until smooth and fluffy. Set aside.
In a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter, maple syrup, powdered sugar, allspice, and vanilla until combined.
Divide the peanut butter mixture into 12 even pieces, and roll them into balls. Flatten the tops so it forms a disc and place on the baking sheet. They should be slightly smaller than the bottom of a muffin cup.
Spoon 1/2 a teaspoon of the date caramel on top of the peanut butter and flatten the tops. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.
Fill up a medium sized pot with water and bring to a boil. Fit a metal bowl over the pot to create a double boiler. Place the chocolate inside the metal bowl and let it melt, stirring occasionally until completely glossy and smooth, about 10 minutes.
Spoon about a teaspoon of the melted chocolate into the bottoms of each cupcake wrapper. Place the cupcake pan in the fridge for 10 minutes so the chocolate sets a bit.
Now, place the peanut butter discs onto the center of the hardened chocolate. Spoon the remaining chocolate evenly over the peanut butter and date caramel so it's completely covered.
Refrigerate for about 5 minutes, and then sprinkle with the sea salt. Put it back in the fridge for 20 minutes more until completely hardened. Store in the fridge, and enjoy!
Adapted From: A Couple Cooks