Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups – Dairy Free

A Wholesome Peanut Butter & Chocolate Treat

When I decided to create a dairy free recipe for healthy chocolate peanut butter cups that are entirely refined sugar free, I honestly thought it would be super easy. How hard could it be to make chocolate and peanut butter taste delicious together?

But it’s not quite that simple when you are using unprocessed whole food sweeteners that contain moisture. And as I began weighing ingredients and mixing them together, I ran into some dilemmas.

First of all, I had to decide whether to use maple syrup or raw honey for the natural sweetener. I really wanted to use maple syrup because of it’s intense sweetness that is perfect for a Reeses copycat recipe. But that meant I would have extra liquid that would remain liquid even when chilled.

On the other hand, if I used raw honey, I was afraid they would have too strong of a honey flavor in the absence of butter (unlike my honey sweetened buckeye recipe that does call for butter and is amazing). And I know my 7-year-old would not go for that 😏

I ended up deciding to use the maple syrup along with adding a dry ingredient to balance out the moisture content. Then I had to decide what dry ingredient to use.

I thought about using almond flour, but I didn’t want to copy another chocolate peanut butter cup recipe I had seen on Instagram, so I decided to try something else to be unique.

That led me to try chia seeds. Often called a super food with numerous health benefits, chia seeds also absorb moisture. I was hoping they would thicken the maple syrup, but they didn’t, at least not enough to completely mitigate the extra moisture.

Then I had the epiphany I had been waiting for: Oat flour!

Oat flour (or simply ground up oats) is a great way to soak up extra liquid in a no bake recipe. It also adds more fiber, protein and gut-friendly starch to the recipe.

I also love the soft, almost sweet flavor it adds to protein treats. It sort of has a calming effect on flavors and texture that are more harsh.

And then, in the end, I did add just a little bit of raw honey to increase the now-diluted sweetness (from adding oats and chia seeds) without adding more of a liquid problem that wouldn’t be resolved in the fridge.

The result was good and I really liked the flavor. But, unsure whether or not my particular 7-year-old night would like it, I also made a different version of healthy chocolate peanut butter cups without the oats and chia seeds to see which recipe she preferred.

But when she came home from school and eagerly tried them both, she was adamant that this was the big winner!

And that’s how these nutritious, dairy free chocolate peanut butter cups came to be 🙂

When Kids Want Reese’s, Give Them These

You know when you’re going to need to make these for your kids? When they are craving a Reese’s peanut butter cup and you want to give them something healthier.

I am going to be bold here and say that these taste pretty much the same as a Reese’s peanut butter cup – and my 7-year-old said the same thing to me.

But actually, these are better because they are far healthier with numerous nutritional benefits over the famous candy that is responsible for 50% of melt-downs in the checkout lane (I may be taking some imaginative liberty with that number).

And because these protein chocolate peanut butter cups are so packed with healthy nutrients, they can certainly be so much more than an occasional candy dessert.

These can easily pass for an after school snack. I know my daughter’s face lights up and her mood instantly improves when I have something delectable and filling for her to eat when she gets home from a long day of mental, social and emotional growth.

I would even consider giving these to my kids as their breakfast. I know giving your kid a Reese’s peanut butter cup for breakfast might be a rather nutrient-deficient and sugar-rush-inducing choice.

But these healthy chocolate peanut butter cups are vastly superior in their nutrition profile. So with an impressive 5 grams of protein plus fiber and other vitamins and minerals, these actually provide a lot of what your kids need in their morning meal.

But hey, if you want to save these as refined sugar free desserts or treats for special occasions, they can certainly live up to that as well ☺️ As a matter of fact, my initial intention with these peanut butter cups was to make Halloween-friendly pumpkin shaped dairy free peanut butter cups.

If you don’t want your child pigging out on trick-or-treat candy, pumpkin face peanut butter cups would make an excellent naturally sweetened substitute for some or all of that candy.

Or, if you want to mitigate some of the sugar in the candy overflowing from your child’s Easter basket, you can make egg-shaped chocolate covered peanut butter cups. These would also be great in heart shapes for Valentines Day <3

Ingredients

• Natural Peanut Butter: Use unsweetened natural peanut butter, preferably without any added oils to keep it as healthy as possible. The only ingredient should be peanuts and possibly salt. My favorite brand is Kirkland from Costco (but you can also get it on Amazon). It is made from Valencia peanuts, it has a naturally sweet flavor, it’s creamy and it’s very easy to stir.

• Maple Syrup: Maple syrup is the primary natural sweetener in these peanut butter cups. Extra sweet but still unprocessed, maple syrup is the perfect way to make this treat extra appealing to kids. I’ve recently been using dark maple syrup similar to this one and I’m loving the richer flavor it has (plus, it may have more antioxidants than lighter maple syrup).

• Honey: Just a little bit of raw, unfiltered honey tops off the sweetness in this protein treat without making the peanut butter mixture too wet. Raw honey is also used to sweeten the chocolate coating.

• Oats: Ground oats or oat flour help to absorb some of the moisture in the peanut butter mixture. They also add a a soothing effect to the other flavors and sweeteners, helping it all to blend together into one perfect taste. I use these sprouted oats and blend them up myself.

• Chia Seeds: Chia seeds add health benefits for the gut and also just a little bit of satisfying crunch to these healthy peanut butter cups.

• Unsweetened Baker’s Chocolate: This is the base of the chocolate coating on the peanut butter cups. Make sure you get unsweetened baker’s chocolate to keep this protein treat refined sugar free.

• Coconut Oil: Coconut oil is the fat source that helps the baker’s chocolate melt properly without using any dairy. This recipe uses such a small amount of coconut oil, you don’t even taste the coconut.

Instructions

Make the Peanut Butter

Step 1

To a medium-size bowl, add all peanut butter ingredients.

Step 2

Mix thoroughly until everything is fully combined.

Step 3

Set aside while you make the chocolate.

Make the Chocolate

Step 1

To make the chocolate, place baker’s chocolate and coconut oil in a small pot on the stove and heat on low. Stir constantly to prevent overheating.

Alternatively, you can use a double boiler or a glass bowl inside of a pot of simmering water to prevent overheating.

Step 2

Once the chocolate and coconut oil are melted and combined, turn off the heat and let chocolate cool for 3-5 minutes.

Step 3

Once chocolate has cooled slightly, add in the honey and mix until everything is combined and smooth.

*See note in recipe card.

Assemble the Peanut Butter Cups

Step 1

Use a silicone peanut butter cup mold or line a regular muffin tin with cupcake wrappers.

Step 2

Spoon enough chocolate into each muffin cup to cover the bottom.

Step 3

Scoop about a tablespoon of peanut butter mixture for each muffin cup and shape it with your hands into a disk slightly smaller than the muffin cup so that it does not touch the sides. If there is any peanut butter mixture remaining, add flattened bits of it to each peanut butter cup until it is all used.

Step 4

Spoon the remaining chocolate over the tops of each peanut butter disk, dividing the chocolate evenly. Use the spoon to push the chocolate around to ensure it covers the top and runs down the sides so that the peanut butter will be fully surrounded by chocolate. You do not need much chocolate for coating the tops, only about 1/2 teaspoon each.

Step 5

Place the muffin tin in the fridge for 1 hour or the freezer for 30 minutes to harden.

Step 6

Pull the muffin tin out of the fridge or freezer and remove the cupcake wrappers.

* See note in recipe card.

Step 7

Store in an airtight container with parchment paper between any stacked peanut butter cups. Keep in the fridge for up to one week or in the freezer for up to one month.

Substitutions & Tips

• If you don’t want or need these to be dairy free, you can substitute butter in place of the coconut oil in the chocolate coating.

• I have had issues with the chocolate seizing when I melt it with the honey. It is best to melt the chocolate and coconut oil by themselves and then add the honey after the chocolate has cooled a bit. This is also better for preserving the immune benefits of the raw honey.

• These can be made with almond butter if you need to avoid peanut butter.

• When you are working with the peanut butter mixture, it is helpful to wear gloves to prevent it from sticking to your fingers.

• If you use a regular muffin tin with cupcake wrappers to create the Reese’s peanut butter cup effect, they may stick a bit to your chocolate when it’s time to remove the wrappers. To get them off, simply work your way around the peanut butter cup, gently tugging the edges of the wrapper down. The bottom peels off easier than the sides, so once you get the wrapper started peeling on the bottom, the rest will come off pretty easily.

• These can be stored in the fridge or freezer. If you decide to keep them in the freezer, let them sit at room temp for about 10 minutes to soften before serving. Otherwise they will be quite hard to bite into.

• It is best to store these peanut butter cups with pieces of parchment paper under them so that they don’t get stuck to each other or the bottom of the container.