You'll never buy store-bought Reese's cups again after trying these homemade peanut butter cups. They are so easy to make and you only need 4 pantry-staple ingredients to whip them up!
Just like my peanut butter jelly cups and cookie dough cups, these delicious treats will satisfy any sweet tooth.
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🔪 What To Expect From This Recipe
- Easy to make. They're practically one of the easiest, yet most satisfying snacks you can make. Made with just 4 ingredients, that you most likely already have in your pantry.
- Great for special occasions. They're the perfect make-ahead snack and make amazing Halloween treats. You can use them as toppings for vegan cakes or cheesecakes.
- Allergy-friendly. These CopyCat Reese's cups are eggless, dairy-free, gluten-free, and made without tree nuts. You can also adapt them to be completely nut-free by using tahini or sunflower seed butter in place of peanut butter.
📝 Ingredients Needed
Here's everything you need to make this easy vegan peanut butter cup recipe from scratch:
Notes about the ingredients
- Smooth peanut butter: A good quality creamy peanut butter without added oils or sugar works best for this recipe. If you want to use American-style peanut butter then I recommend skipping the powdered sugar as they're usually sweetened already.
- Vegan chocolate: For less sweet peanut butter cups use good quality dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa content. Vegan milk chocolate will give a sweeter end result, similar to Reese's peanut butter cups.
- Powdered sugar: Otherwise known as confectioner's sugar or icing sugar, sweetens the filling and provides stability. Without the sugar, the peanut butter filling will be runnier, which is fine if that's what you're going for!
🥣 How To Make Peanut Butter Cups Vegan
(1) Melt the chocolate over a double boiler (bain-marie) and spoon a little into each cupcake liner.
(2) Carefully lift and tilt each liner individually, and swirl them around so that the melted chocolate coats the sides of the liners. Refrigerate until set.
(3) Add the peanut butter and powdered sugar to a medium bowl and stir until completely smooth.
(4) Transfer the peanut butter mixture to a piping bag or use a spoon to fill the chocolate cups. Don't fill them all the way to the top, as you need space for the final layer of chocolate.
(5) Give the muffin tray a shake so that the peanut butter settles evenly.
(6) Spoon the remaining melted chocolate into the homemade peanut butter cups.
(7) Refrigerate them for 30 minutes until completely set.
(8) Remove the chocolate cups from the muffin pan and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
👩🍳 Recipe Success Tips
- Make sure you use a muffin pan to hold the liners in place as they set. Without the pan, the paper liners will just wobble and collapse with the weight of the filling.
- I always recommend that you use a double boiler when working with chocolate. If you're unsure of how to make one check out this video by Food Network Canada.
- Try vegan white chocolate peanut butter cups with this dairy-free chocolate recipe. You can also make half and half with white and milk chocolate.
- If your chocolate is too thick and gloopy to pour, add a teaspoon of coconut oil and stir well. This will make it much easier to pour.
💬 Frequently Asked Questions
No, unfortunately, they contain dairy and are not suitable for vegans.
They'll last refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Seriously though, they never make it that far in my house!
Yes, place them in an airtight container, separated with a sheet of parchment paper between each layer to prevent them from sticking and freezing to one another.
Defrost them at room temperature for about an hour before serving, or in the fridge overnight.
Yes, you can swap out the peanut butter for any other nut butter of your choice. Cashew butter, hazelnut butter, and almond butter are all amazing.
To make them nut-free, use sunflower seed butter, tahini, or Biscoff spread (cookie butter). If using cookie butter, skip the powdered sugar as they'll already be sweet enough!
🥜 More Peanut Butter Desserts
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Description
Ingredients
- 300 g (10.6 oz) vegan chocolate
- 175 g (⅔ cup) smooth peanut butter
- 40 g (⅓ cup) powdered sugar (confectioner's/icing sugar), *see notes
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Line a muffin tray with 9 muffin cases.
- Finely chop the chocolate and add it to a heat-resistant bowl. Place the bowl on top of a saucepan that is about ¼ ways filled with simmering water (bain-marie). Stir the chocolate with a rubber spatula every so often to melt it evenly.
- Add one tablespoon of melted chocolate to each muffin case, and swirl the case so that the chocolate comes up around and coats the edges. Place in the fridge to set for at least 10 minutes.
- Add the peanut butter and powdered sugar to a bowl and mix using a spoon until smooth. Distribute the peanut butter between all of the chocolate cups, using a piping bag or spoon. Give the muffin tray a shake to help the peanut butter settle in an even layer.
- Pour the remaining melted chocolate over the peanut butter. Place in the fridge to set for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Storage
- Store them in an airtight container either and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. You can also freeze them in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Either leave them in the muffin liners, or separate them out with sheets of parchment paper to prevent the chocolate cups sticking to each other.
Notes
- Some white sugar in the US is not vegan, if in doubt use organic sugar.
- Make sure you use a muffin pan to hold the liners in place as they set.
- I always recommend that you use a double boiler when working with chocolate. If you're unsure of how to make one check out this video by Food Network Canada.
- Try vegan white chocolate peanut butter cups with this dairy-free chocolate recipe. Or try half and half with white and milk chocolate.
- If your chocolate is too thick and gloopy to pour, add a teaspoon of coconut oil and stir well. This will make it much easier to pour.
Nutrition
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*This recipe was originally published in December 2020. The recipe has since been improved and updated to minimize the ingredients used, simplify the instructions and make it even more delicious!
I used maple syrup instead of sugar with the peanut butter and came out delicious too!
Love your recipes. Thank you so much!
Sounds delicious Fernanda, thanks for your feedback!