After trying my hand at Homemade Peanut Butter Cups, I conferred with my coworker/fellow foodie, Micah, and came up with a few ideas to improve the recipe and make them more Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup-like. Our main improvements included the kind of peanut butter (natural instead of processed) and a darker (and smaller amount of) chocolate. The result? What I believe may just be the perfect peanut butter cup. Each your heart out Reese’s!
ingredients.
- 2 c. natural creamy peanut butter*
- 1/2 c. salted butter
- 5 tsp. salt
- 1 c. dark brown sugar
- 2 c. powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 c. dark chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 lb. household wax**
directions.
- Line a mini-muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the peanut butter, butter, salt and brown sugar over medium heat. Heat until completely melted and starting to bubble a little, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Add the powdered sugar a ¼ cup at a time, stirring until completely combined with the peanut butter mixture after each addition. Set aside and let cool.
- Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips and household wax together in a double boiler on the stove, until completely melted and chocolate is thin.
- Using a small teaspoon, spoon melted chocolate into the bottom of each lined muffin cup. You want a very thin layer. Chill filled liners in the refrigerator.
- Use a heaping tablespoon to scoop out the peanut butter mixture. Roll it into a ball and then flatten the ball slightly to make a disk.
- Place a peanut butter patty on top of each chocolate-lined muffin tin. Then use a tablespoon to add more melted chocolate on top and around each peanut butter patty. (I found it took approximately 2.5 or 3 tablespoons of chocolate to fill the liner.)
- Refrigerate again for 30 minutes or longer. Store in the refrigerator or freezer. You can keep at room temperature in an airtight container if you’re going to serve them the same day, but they’ll start to get soft. In my opinion they taste better cold.
*By natural peanut butter I mean the kind that you churn/make right there in the store – but any prepackaged natural peanut butter would probably be fine, too!
**I used approximately 1 full-sized bar of household wax. If you’ve ever purchased household wax, you know what I mean. (If you haven’t, you can probably find it at any grocery store – though I’m not positive which section of the store/aisle it would be located.) The package is about the size of a pound of butter and comes in four equal-sized bars.
When my coworker Angelique asked me for my Chocolate Covered Pretzels recipe, I explained to her how you can use household wax when melting chocolate (it thins out the chocolate really nicely) in lieu of vegetable shortening. I’m pretty sure she thought I was a) insane or b) trying to poison everyone.
I swear a little household wax in your chocolate won’t kill you. I don’t think it will anyway. My mom has used it for years to make Peanut Butter Balls which means I’ve been eating it for years. And I’m perfectly fine! (That I’m aware.) But if you don’t believe me, you should Google it.
The above-listed ingredients made exactly two-dozen homemade peanut butter cups (for me). These are freaking amazing!
Recipe rating:
Food Snob 