Vegan Peanut Butter Cups

🍫 Why We Love This Recipe

• Quick and easy: You only need a few ingredients to make these simple vegan peanut butter cups. Better yet, no special equipment needed – just a mixing bowl and some mini muffin tins.
• Healthy(ish): As far as desserts go, these vegan peanut butter cups definitely fall on the healthier side. We use dark chocolate instead of milk and maple syrup to slightly sweeten the filling without being overly sweet. With plenty of healthy fats, just one small cup is enough to satisfy even the most intense sweet tooth!
• Perfect make-ahead dessert: Unlike baked goods and other desserts, these vegan peanut butter cups don't have to be consumed ASAP. You can make a batch and store in the fridge or freezer for up to a few months to enjoy whenever you need that extra something. Also perfect for the holidays!
• Pantry-friendly: you probably already have all the ingredients you need to whip up a quick batch of these vegan peanut butter cups!

🍯 Ingredients

Here are the key ingredients you need to make these vegan peanut butter cups:

📋 Ingredient Notes

• Dark chocolate: we use dark chocolate between 72-80% for these vegan peanut butter cups. You want something dark enough to provide contrast between the sweet filling, but if you go too dark, they will be bitter. If you don't like dark chocolate, feel free to use a vegan semisweet or even milk chocolate of choice.
• Peanut butter: we use unsweetened natural peanut butter in this recipe. It's important to note because sweetened/regular peanut butter can have a very different consistency and may alter the recipe. Of course, you can also substitute with another nut butter of choice, like almond, cashew or sunflower seed butter.
• Maple syrup: you can substitute with another liquid sweetener of choice, like agave.
• Coconut oil: a small amount of coconut oil keeps the filling softer, which makes it more similar to a store-bought peanut butter cup. We also use a small amount of coconut oil in the melted chocolate to loosen it up, which makes it easier to coat the mini muffin tin liners.
• Cinnamon: completely optional, but we love the flavor it adds.

🔪 Step-by-step Instructions

(1) Chop dark chocolate into small shards (or if using chocolate chips, skip this) and place in heat-safe bowl with 1 teaspoon coconut oil. Melt in microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring well between each interval, until completely melted.

(2) Meanwhile, whisk together peanut butter, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, cinnamon and vanilla until smooth.

(3) Line a mini muffin tin with mini muffin liners. Pour a small amount (~1-1 ½ teaspoon) of chocolate into liner. Using a pastry brush or the back of the spoon, spread the chocolate all the way up the sides of the liner. Repeat for the entire tin. Freeze for 10 minutes, until solidified.

(4) Transfer peanut butter filling to a piping bag and fill each liner a little more than ¾ of the way full, leaving room at the top for more chocolate. Freeze for 10-15 minutes, until mostly solid.

(5) Top off each peanut butter cup with more chocolate all the way to the edge, fully covering the peanut butter filling. Return to freezer once more until set – about 20 minutes.

💭 Expert Tips and FAQs

• Store in fridge or freezer: We don't recommend storing these vegan peanut butter cups at room temperature, as they tend to get a bit messy. Since peanut butter is runny at room temperature, they're best stored in the refrigerator or freezer for long term storage. If storing in the freezer, let them soften for a few minutes at room temperature before enjoying.
• Pastry brush: a pastry or basting brush is the best tool to easily coat the sides of the muffin liners, which is essential so none of the peanut butter filling seeps through. If you don't have one, try using the back of a spoon or a small rubber spatula.
• No mini muffin tin? Use a regular muffin tin, but only spread the chocolate about halfway up the liner, otherwise you'll end up with a massive peanut butter cup. (Not that we're against that...on second thought, it sounds pretty good!)
• Use any nut butter: you don't have to be limited to peanut butter – try almond, cashew or pecan butter. For a nut free version, use sunflower seed butter, or even granola butter (yes, that's a thing!) for a unique spin.
• PB & J cups: sometimes we'll add in a thin layer of raspberry or strawberry jam to these vegan peanut butter cups for a fun take on a pb&j. I love the contrast of the sweet, tart jam!

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