Homemade peanut butter cups made with only a few simple ingredients! These naturally sweetened treats can easily be made keto for a low-carb dessert recipe.
If you read my Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies or my Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars post, you know my family is BANANAS over peanut butter. And chocolate. Specifically the combination thereof.
For our last family gathering, I made these homemade peanut butter cups, and the crowd went wild! It wouldn’t be the Mueller way unless everyone went crazy over peanut butter and chocolate!
What makes these different from store-bought peanut butter cups?
You have the ultimate control of the type of chocolate and peanut butter that goes into the cups, as well as the type of sweetener. If you enjoy dark chocolate and prefer to keep your treats cane sugar-free, you can absolutely do that here!
Not to mention, these things are a total ball to make! If you like doing cooking or baking projects with children, this is a GREAT one! I also see these as a thoughtful gift for loved ones for any holiday (Valentine’s Day, anyone?!).
I made my peanut butter cups large using a regular sized muffin tray and muffin papers, but you can also make tiny peanut butter cups by using a mini muffin pan. I made mine nice and thick, so I ended up with 6 large (and thick) peanut butter cups. You can likely spread this out to 7 or 8 if you don’t want them as thick.
Let’s melt some chocolate!
How to Make Homemade Peanut Butter Cups:
Place the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 20-second increments, stirring between increments, until melted and completely smooth (this will take about 40 to 60 seconds total).
Line a muffin tray with muffin papers. Spoon a thin layer of melted chocolate onto the bottoms of the muffin papers. Place in the freezer for at least 15 minutes, or until the chocolate has set up.
While the chocolate is setting up, mix up the peanut butter mixture. In a small bowl or ramekin, stir together the peanut butter and protein powder (or coconut flour) until completely combined. The mixture should be thick and no longer sticky (it should leave a light layer of grease on your hands, but not stick to them). If the mixture is very sticky, add more protein powder or coconut flour.
Divide the peanut butter mixture into even-sized balls (again, if you’re making large peanut butter cups, you’ll want 6 balls of peanut butter). Press the balls on top of the bottom chocolate layer, and smooth the peanut butter into an even layer. Cover with melted chocolate, then sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
Refrigerate for 1 hour, or freeze at least 15 minutes, until peanut butter cups have set up completely.
What Type of Chocolate Should I Use?
I use regular semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you can also use your favorite dark chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar. Just note if you use chocoalte with high cocoa content, you may need to add extra coconut oil (or coconut milk) in order to get it to melt properly.
What Type of Peanut Butter Should I Use?
Pre-stirred unsweetened peanut butter is recommended! If you use natural peanut butter that has a lot of oil separation, just be sure you stir it very well until it reaches a creamy (non-separated) consistency.
You can use either creamy or crunchy! I personally love a nice textural crunch to my peanut butter cup. If you’re using a peanut butter that is already sweetened, there is no need to add any additional sweetener, unless of course you want to.
How To Make Keto Peanut Butter Cups:
You can make this recipe keto (low-carb) by using stevia-sweetened chocolate chips (or your favorite sugar-free chocolate) instead of dark chocolate chips. Rather than adding pure maple syrup to the unsweetened peanut butter, you can use a liquid sugar-free sweetener, or your favorite powdered sugar-free sweetener such as monk fruit sweetener, erythritol, or xylitol.
How to Store Peanut Butter Cups:
These PB cups are stable at room temperature, but I recommend storing them in the refrigerator in a sealed container just to be sure they don’t melt if your house is warm. You can also keep them in a zip lock bag in the freezer.
Recipe Adaptations:
Replace the peanut butter with nut butter of choice. You can use almond butter, walnut butter, hazelnut butter, cashew butter, etc. Just be sure the nut butter mixture is a paste (not sticky) when you use it to fill the peanut butter cups – this may require adding extra coconut flour or protein powder, depending on the consistency of your nut butter.
Peanut butter it up!
My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your support!
If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!
Ingredients
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips, see note*
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1/4 cup unsweetened peanut butter
- 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- 3 Tbsp protein powder, or 1 Tbsp coconut flour
- 1 pinch sea salt, to taste
Instructions
- Place the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 20-second increments, stirring between increments, until melted and completely smooth (this will take about 40 to 60 seconds total).
- Line a muffin tray with muffin papers. Spoon a thin layer of melted chocolate onto the bottoms of the muffin papers. Place in the freezer for at least 15 minutes, or until the chocolate has set up.
- While the chocolate is setting up, mix up the peanut butter mixture. In a small bowl or ramekin, stir together the peanut butter and protein powder (or coconut flour) until completely combined. The mixture should be thick and no longer sticky (it should leave a light layer of grease on your hands, but not stick to them). If the mixture is very sticky, add more protein powder or coconut flour.
- Divide the peanut butter mixture into even-sized balls (again, if you’re making large peanut butter cups, you’ll want 6 balls of peanut butter). Press the balls on top of the bottom chocolate layer, and press the peanut butter into an even layer. Cover with melted chocolate, then sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour, or freeze at least 15 minutes, until peanut butter cups have set up completely.
Bridget
Tuesday 25th of February 2020
What are the nutritional values per large PB Cup?
Julia
Friday 28th of February 2020
Hi Bridget!
I added the nutrition facts to the recipe card. I calculated it based on using pure maple syrup (instead of zero-calorie sweetener), and based it on 6 large PB cups. Hope you enjoy! xo
Sabrina
Tuesday 4th of February 2020
yum, what a fun recipe, thank you and for the keto options too
Julia
Thursday 6th of February 2020
My pleasure! I hope you enjoy, Sabrina!
Julia
Tuesday 4th of February 2020
Of course! Let me know if you try them! xo