Lately we’ve been on a peanut butter kick! PB hasn’t been a real craze around here for a long time – But once upon a time I was addicted to this stuff. Seriously!
We all LOVE peanut butter cookies and everything else with peanut butter. And um… who does not remember their childhood chocolate and peanut butter fave? – the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups? Oh hello! I don’t know anyone who didn’t love this stuff! Except then you grow up and learn about how disgusting those cups really are.
With a revived craving for Peanut Butter Cups (thank you baby #2) and yet a strong passion for eating *healthy* – I was not going to give up on the joy of biting into a yummy Peanut Butter Cup! No way!
(some of you Insta followers already witnessed my craving here. ps. yes they also go great with a nice bottle of wine – who’d have known ;) (I had one sip…. eek!)
Move over Reese’s – these homemade Peanut Butter Cups are way better! And they really do contain only 3 CLEAN ingredients! And this recipe for homemade peanut butter cups is really quick and easy to make too! Oh no wonder I’ve made these almost each day in these last few weeks. Obsessed is not even a good word to describe this. Basically they’re so good and kind of good-for-you that it’s hard to resist! And the whole 15 minutes-to-make-AND-eat is kind of ridiculous! Good ridiculous ;)
Ready…. go ahead and prep your 3 ingredients and let’s make some Peanut Butter Cups! Meet you in 15 for a bite of awesomeness!!! ;)
3 Clean Ingredient homemade Peanut Butter Cups | vegan and gluten-free
Your 3 ingredients are:
- 200 grams 72% dark organic chocolate squares or 1 cup vegan chocolate chips
- about 3/4 cups organic peanut butter (* check for substitutes)
- 4 tablespoons of coconut oil (divided)
You will also need a double boiler or a small pot with a bowl to melt the chocolate and about 12 paper cupcake or muffin liners.
* if you don’t want to use peanut butter, almond butter works great too. And if you want these peanut/ nut free – use sunflower butter.
Directions:
First melt the chocolate. Set up the double boiler or pot with water to boil with a bowl on top (be sure the bowl does not touch the water) and set heat to medium high. Add the chocolate squares with 2 tablespoons of coconut oil and allow to melt completely. Stir occasionally to incorporate the chocolate with the coconut oil. Turn off heat and leave on the pot to keep warm.
In a small bowl, scoop out roughly 3/4 cups peanut butter and add in 2 remaining tablespoons of melted coconut oil. Mix well to incorporate and set aside.
Line a flat dish with muffin or cupcake liners. With a spoon, scoop in a little melted chocolate to cover the bottom of each liner. Place in the freezer for about 2 minute to slightly set. Add a small scoop of peanut butter and coconut butter mix in the centre and gently flatten with the back of a spoon. Scoop more melted chocolate to cover the top, about 1-2 tablespoons. Return to the freezer for about 15-30 minutes until serving.
If serving much later than 15-30 minutes. Then be sure to remove them from the freezer about 1/2 hour before serving and removing all the paper liners and placing them in the refrigerator to thaw out a little before serving. (if they appear soft to the touch – pop them back to the freezer for about 5 minutes to harden the chocolate). They are best when the centre peanut butter filling is soft and the outside is crispy chocolate. Makes about 10 cups.
We like to eat them just by the handfuls! (hi hi) or serve with low-sugar Homemade Chocolate almond or coconut milk. So good!! These don’t last long so be prepared for making another batch again and again ;)
I made these for Super Bowl Sunday because I thought what football fans would not want to bite into their old favourite. They were an instant hit, except my only regret was that I didn’t make enough!
In my husband’s words at his first bite: “These are way better than Reese’s!” – aha! Thank you very much! I think I’ll be off now because another craving is growing! You know sometimes 15 minutes is too long ;)
Next up, is perfecting my Peanut Butter Cookies recipe because I just can’t get enough of these flavours lately!
Do share: How about you? Did you like Reese’s Peanut Butter cups growing up? Will you be trying homemade peanut butter cups soon? Say Yes! ;)
♥
Pure Ella
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Blogger, Recipe Developer, Photographer and Author. Loves healthy food, photography, sunshine and dancing in the kitchen with her two daughters. 
Oh YES please Ella! I love the ingredients here and I happen to have all of them! I see these in my future ;)
I really really love PB cups! I never had the Reeses ones as they’re not very common here, and didn’t exist when I was growing up but I’m crazy for the homemade kind. I made sugar-free carob almond butter cups just last week :)
Simply gorgeous peanut butter cups! I used to like these peanut butter cups when I was a kid – and they are the first things I would pick from a vendor machine. I want to make some vegan peanut butter cups now!
Simply gorgeous peanut butter cups! I used to like these peanut butter cups when I was a kid – and they are the first things I would pick from a vendor machine. I want to make some vegan peanut butter cups now! :)
Oh wow! these look so good! I’m definitely making them sometime over the weekend.
These were delish! Wanted to eat them all, as a matter of fact I did. Hard to resist.
These look fab. I will definitely have to dig out my peanut butter machine to make some of these!
Wow! Made with homemade peanut butter!!!??? Now that totally rocks! ;)
I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.
xo
ps. thanks for visiting Pure Ella ♥
Hi…I’m just curious why the added oil in the chocolate? Does not including it change the outcome? Thanks! :)
Hi Cherese ;)
I think you have a great question ;)
I found that the coconut oil added a nice texture to the peanut butter and diluted the intensity of just the peanut butter a little.
It is a very healthy add-in to everyone’s diet so I do like to incorporate it quite often into my recipes ;)
Should you choose not to use it – then you would still have awesome 2 ingredient Peanut Butter Cups ;) Enjoy!!!
And do let me know how they turn out for you ;) xo ella
«do get organic or quality clean ingredient peanut butter from a reputable company. Kraft or Jif does not qualify as “quality”»
Why is that? Do you have proof?
Proof? Just read the ingredients, that’s proof enough :)
Thank you Nicole!!! ;)
You nailed it!!
I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe soon! ;)
xo ella
Hi Alex,
Sorry for this late response….
The proof is in the ingredients! I cannot stress enough how important it is to read ingredients of every single product out there.
Even if it says ‘natural’ it is essentially a bs statement – one that is sure to fool the consumers.
For example for Kraft Peanut Butter – Smooth type. These are the ingredients :
INGREDIENTS: SELECT ROASTED PEANUTS, SOYBEAN OIL, CORN MALTODEXTRIN, SUGAR, HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (COTTON SEED AND RAPESEED OIL), SALT, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES.
(these ingredients are artificial, gmo, added sugar, sodium and synthetic emulsifiers! Proof enough?
Jif Peanut Butter has pretty much the same thing : Ingredients:
MADE FROM ROASTED PEANUTS AND SUGAR, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: MOLASSES, FULLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS (RAPESEED AND SOYBEAN), MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, SALT.
These are taken straight off their websites. You can check for yourself.
Back to the recipe, it’s so important to stay with ‘pure’ ingredients. Knowing what to look for and watch out for is just part of my passion to inform readers of what is better for their bodies and health.
I hope this answers your question… and I do hope you will be enjoying these Peanut Butter Cups soon ~ with the best quality, pure and organic ingredients you can find ;)
Cheers! Ella
Oh, my poor diet… it’s going to be on hold while I run to the kitchen, make these, and eat every last one :)
Ha ha!
Ashley, your diet doesn’t have to suffer so much…. I try to work with amazing ingredients so these treats are a reward not a sacrifice ;)
Hope you enjoy them soon!!!
xoxo ella
I made these this afternoon, oh wow great recipe! Thanks for sharing it, I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes!
Thanks so much Kit! ;)
Oh I can’t wait for you whip up more of my *pure recipes*!
Let me know what you try next and how you like it ;)
xoxo ella
Did I misread something? Coconut butter is not listed in the ingredient list but in the directions….
Hi Robin,
So coconut butter and coconut oil is really the same thing.
Coconut Butter is when it is solid, and becomes coconut oil (liquid) when it’s warmed up.
The only other variety is “raw” coconut butter – which stays thicker with a creamier texture when warmed up.
This is not necessary in this recipe but certainly a great product, so if you can find it use that.
I hope this helps to clear up the confusion and you’ll be making these soon ;) xoxo ella
Coconut butter is actually different than coconut oil. Coconut oil is called coconut oil regardless of the state it is in. Coconut butter contains the coconut solids, that is why it stays thicker when heated.
Easy to make and delicious! I have to give it a try:)
I was recently diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and have had to very quickly make some pretty drastic changes in how, when, and what I eat. I’m looking for “sweet” things that I can eat that will not send my blood sugar readings into the stratosphere …so that was a very long winded way of asking if you could tell me how many grams of sugar in a serving and what the recommended serving portion is. Thanks. :)
Hi Dede,
Great to hear from you and sorry about your diagnosis but I’m sure you will master your new diet plan soon and still get to enjoy amazing desserts too ;)
One thing is that a diabetes diet is actually a very healthy diet and once you embrace that, you will enjoy it more ;)
As for the Peanut Butter Cups – I have to say it’s difficult for me to be specific with the sugar in each portion. Mainly this depends on the chocolate you use.
I used a 72% dark chocolate and on the package it says it has
16 g carbs per 30 grams of chocolate (which is equal to 3 squares) – because I used 200 grams in this whole recipe, and it makes 12 cups – each cup has 8.88 carbohydrates/ sq.
Now if you count the sugar content only, this is what it works out to be :
8 g sugar per 30 grams of chocolate/ 3 squares – comes out to be 4.43 grams of sugar per each square.
Do you count fats also?
I know in certain diabetic calculations the fats are not counted, if that’s the case you’re good with the peanut butter and coconut oil as longs as the pb does not contain extra sugar (check the ingredients)
I know this could seem confusing but I guess it’s just a matter of calculating your ingredients (in North America there’s a requirement for including Nutritional Values of all foods – so hopefully that helps a lot.
So it all depends on the chocolate you use.
You can even try 80% or 85% chocolate (all natural) or there is chocolate out there that is sweetened with Stevia or Xylitol. Those are the only natural sweeteners that are Diabetes safe. (please don’t get artificial sweeteners such as Sucralose, Sweet n’ Low, Splenda, Equal) those will create more health problems in the long run for you).
You can also use a 90% cocoa chocolate which is very bitter and add a drop of liquid stevia in once it’s melted.
There’s lots of options to reduce the sugar content so you can enjoy a few cups! ;)
So I hope you will be get to make these soon and enjoy them!!
I currently have Gestational Diabetes so I do feel for you that you need a schedule and keep an eye on the sugar/ carb count! It can seem like the fun is taken away from you ~ but it’s all in the mind…. ;)
Planning ahead, keeping healthy (D2 safe) foods around will not have you craving so much… and what I find is that distracting your taste buds is the best thing ever!
My little treat is perrier with smashed fresh mint leaves and fresh lemon juice with a drop or teaspoon of a stevia – kind of like a mock-mojito! The freshness and tartness really takes all cravings away and you feel energized with the zing and great taste!
Good luck to you! If there is anything else I could help you with, please don’t hesitate to write ;)
Be well!! xoxo ella
Thank you Ella, that was very helpful. I’m not really counting fats too terribly much right now as I’m mostly eating fresh raw veggies, lean proteins, and fruit. But there are just moments when I WANT CHOCOLATE!!! And I’m trying to find some options for when that happens. I happen to like the natural nut butters so using them as opposed to the sweetened pb works for me. I’ve been using organic honey & maple syrup for sweeteners… I quit all artificial sweeteners a couple years ago.
I’m trying to get a handle on all this and figure what’s best to eat and what food from my “old life” I can play around with so that i can sometimes treat myself without totally blowing my new eating style (i’m trying to shy away from the word “diet” ..it’s so terribly depressing.)
I will try the mock-mojito, that sounds yummy. Thank you again. :)
Hi Dede,
Anytime you need a little support, I’m here for you ;)
Do not get discouraged… you will adapt to better ways of eating and it will be delicious!!! ;)
When I first gave up so many foods I was devastated and did get emotional many times especially at social functions… but now that I think about it – it was a blessing!
And you know if you can ‘treat’ an illness with just food alone ~ isn’t that amazing!
How much worse things could be if it was something else and needed invasive treatment with drugs etc.
You just need to work with it not against it ;)
I hope this helps and you Love your new – better way of eating ;)
If you eat meat, that’s a good thing that there’s no carbs in meat ;) and you could look into Paleo recipes – they are carb free as there’s no grains, beans or legumes ~ which would leave you a little ‘sugar’ room for a little dessert at the end of the meal ;)
Or meals with beans and vegetables but no grains/ bread would also keep the carbs low… ;)
Again, good luck to you!!! ;)
I hope you can keep in touch with how you’re doing in a little while ;)
Sending big hugs!
xox ella
Ella – I’m glad you posted this recipe! I’m vegan and my husband LOVES Reese’s cups !
I tried your recipe and it didn’t turn out correctly, but before I attempted to change your recipe, I need to clarify one thing. Your ingredient list asked for chocolate, peanut butter and coconut oil. Then your instruction mentioned:” Add a small scoop of peanut butter and coconut butter mix in the centre and gently flatten with the back of a spoon”. So I am confused – did you mix the coconut oil with the peanut butter only, or did you mix the coconut oil, and coconut butter to the peanut butter?
I just now saw there was one other viewer asked the same question about the coconut oil and coconut butter so I’m going to assume we only need to add coconut oil to the peanut butter. Here was where things didn’t turn out correctly for me: 1/ the initial 2 minutes of freezing the bottom chocolate layer in the freezer was not enough for me (the layer was still very much as liquid stage; 2/ I think 2 Tbsp. of coconut oil was too much to mix in with the peanut butter = mine was completed runny – it mixed in with the chocolate layer when I attempted to spoon a tiny amount of it on top of the bottom chocolate layer. 3/ I think after spooning the peanut butter layer, the cups really need to go back into the freezer for a few minutes to slightly set it prior to adding the final/ top chocolate layer. But thanks for posting this recipe as an inspiration!
Hi Adelina,
I’m glad you’re excited about this recipe…. ;)
I hope it turned out well for you.
I think each brand of peanut butter can have a different consistency. I used Earth Balance all-natural peanut butter and mixed in the melted coconut butter (once it’s melted – it becomes coconut oil) into the peanut butter.
Then you layer some melted chocolate on the bottom, allow that to set, then scoop in the peanut butter/ coconut butter filling (make sure that’s not hot or even warm because it will melt the bottom chocolate and sink to the bottom). You could even place that pb filling mixture into the fridge to cool it faster if it seems too runny.
Then top with the extra melted chocolate on top. And freeze until you feel it’s all set. It could be 15-30 minutes or even overnight if you want it for the next day. But allow them to defrost a little before serving so they’re not completely frozen inside. This might mean you defrost them for about 1 hour in the fridge, but pop them back to the freezer just before serving for just 5 minutes.
It seems like a lot of things but it’s really not.
You just want those textures right and once you test that first run – it will be all worth it ;) Promise!!! ;)
Also, I do want to add that room temperatures also influence how these textures come together. In the summertime it all might be too warm so you’d need to work quick or keep putting them back in the fridge to not make this a big mess ;)
People are sharing lots of success stories with this recipe so don’t give up hope ;)
Let me know how it all turns out in the end ;)
xoxox ella
How many peanut butter cups does this recipe make?
Hi! Thanks for your question… it makes about 10-12 cups. They really go quick – it’s maybe best to do a double batch ;) Hope you enjoy these soon!! Let me know how they turn out for you ;) Cheers! ella
Thank you for this awesome recipe. I added some coconut flakes to the top. So yummy
Hi ella! This recipe looks absolutely delicious and I can’t wait to make it for my vegan friends, but do you have any idea how many calories are in a serving? And how many pb cups in a serving? Thanks so much!
I love you and don’t like you at the same time LOL
These look so great and easy!
Hi! I tried this recipe today for the family with another three ingredient recipe for a snack. while they came out perfectly and looked really pretty, the dark chocolate was bit too bitter. We used the 70% but it seemed to coat our tongues. Can I use Milk Chocolate here or is that a healthy no-no?
Hi Cathy,
Oh dear, I don’t know how I did not see this comment… my apologies!!! <3
To answer your question - first. dark chocolate is wayyyy better for you, it's healthier and has less sugar! (sorry, that's important to mention ;)) You knew that was coming... right?
But to work WITH your taste buds rather than against them, I would recommend using 54% dark chocolate. It's much sweeter than the 70% and it will work great, still benefiting you with antioxidants and not giving you or your kids too much of a sugar rush. If that's still too bitter than you can always mix in a few pieces of the milk chocolate that you like in it. Gradually you can increase the cacao ratio and get your taste buds used to the slight bitterness. With these changes, you'll benefit from the amazing antioxidant properties cacao beans have. The higher the %, it usually means less sugar.
So you can treat yourself to two not one without the guilt! Bonus!! ;)
Just a note though that if you do make these for kids, dark chocolate does not make a great after dinner snack because of the caffeine naturally found in chocolate.
I hope this helps and I hope you'll be making these again soon. Let me know how it goes next time ;)
Sending my best, xo ella
Oh wow, these look amazing! Definitely going to try to make these, I am addicted to peanut butter cups! How long do you reckon they’d keep for? If I wanted to make them for a present?
Thanks :)
Hi Ella!
I’m wanting to make a big batch of these to bag up and give away as gifts – can you tell me how long they will last, and how I should store them? They look gorgeous :)
Thank you! – Jae
Hi Jae,
Brilliant fun idea! You are the friend everyone dreams of ;)
They keep about 3 weeks in the refrigerator and 3-5 days outside of the fridge in an airtight container.
Try not to overheat your chocolate as that may make it turn white when it comes back to solid and it will look rancid.
Oh I can just imagine how cute these will be!! Can you please share a pic on my Facebook page : Pure Ella? ;)
Have fun! xox ella
These sound good! I shared them in a blog here: http://wedigfood.com/foodie-blog/spoil-yourself-8-decadent-vegan-desserts. I am building a community of vegans and would love for you to hop over and leave a recipe.
Hello! I made these recently for my vegan food stall, and they tasted AMAZING! But by the time I had transported them from my freezer to the market, and placed them on the table (undercover) they had melted :(
Any idea why? Do they need to be refrigerated constantly?
Hi! Just made this recipe. My peanut butter mixture did get to creamy. Could you use straight up pb instead of mixing in the coconut oil? Or maybe only use 1 tbs of coconut oil. As it worked out, I had way more peanut butter mixture than chocolate. I did get a substantial enough peanut butter center. I want to try this again so just looking for some advice on how to get the pb part to hold up. Maybe a longer set time on the bottom layer of chocolate would help too?
Hi Kim! ;)
Sorry I just saw your comment.
Yes, omitting the coconut oil is fine – they become 2-ingredient cups!! Even better ;)
Yes, longer set time helps and also keep the temperature of the PB in mind. (if you’re omitting the oil which needs to be warmed up, then it should be room temperature) this will also help it from melting the bottom.
Hope these work out well for you next time!! Let me know ;)
xoxo ella
Made these as a little Galentine’s Day treat for my roommates and I. Delicious! I have never liked Reese’s, but I tolerated them and was just recently introduced to Justin’s peanut butter cups.
Not that they weren’t delicious, but they’re so easy to make…why not do it myself?! Glad I found you on Pinterest!
Ohh I just made these and they are divine! Although I used homemade almond butter instead, but added a little too much choc mix for the tops (oh well!)
Great recipe Ella!
I tried these, but the recipe ingredients are SO skewed. I didn’t have enough chocolate to cover even a single cup.
Hi, hmmm, I suppose too much went on the bottom???
I will add to the directions to split the chocolate in 1/2 so people have enough.
Thanks so much for this. Hope you get to make these again soon :) xo ella
Hi there, Coconut butter is definitely different that Coconut oil. You can’t use them the same way. Which one do you use in this recipe? I have both of them so I need to know which one to use, thank you!
Love these! So good and so easy to make. I only used 1tbs of coconut oil for the peanut butter mixture, but I agree with other people I probably could have gone without adding this entirely. The brand of peanut butter I used was already pretty oily. Also I discovered that these are also fine to eat straight from the freezer ;)
Hi! These look awesome cannot wait to make! I was wondering if I could use cacao powder instead of chocolate chips and if so, how much should I use to equal the amount?
Hi,
Great question.
Yes you can, however they will melt super fast…
But here is a good simple recipe to do that. I will actually be posting Coconut Cups soon and this is the chocolate recipe I’m using :
½ cup of coconut oil (melted)
¼ cup of raw cocoa powder
½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of raw honey or pure maple syrup
Mix well and fill the cups at the bottom, add filling, then pour more on top. Freeze for about 20 minutes or until set and enjoy straight from the freezer.
The single drawback is that they melt at room temperature and/or in your hands really quick so you need to devour them fast ;)
Hope you enjoy these!
(the reason I used melted chocolate for these is that I wanted to keep the ingredient list to a minimum.)
xoxo ella
ps. do come back for the coconut cups :)