Make the BEST Homemade Peanut Butter Cups at home with this super easy recipe that uses only 4 ingredients. With some easy substitutions, these Peanut Butter Cups can be made vegan and are a wonderful homemade option for your favorite candy.
Of all of the food combos, peanut butter and chocolate have to be the best pairing that exists! It is easily a favorite in our home and what better way to enjoy this combo together than in a peanut butter cup! This famous Reese’s treat is my husbands favorite chocolate. Easily. They don’t last long in his presence. It only made sense for me to try test out a homemade version.
Thankfully, this homemade version is not only incredibly easy to make and economical, it tastes so darn good! So good, a batch of these doesn’t last too long around the hubs.
Did I mention that this recipe uses only 4 ingredients? Four. That’s all you need. Seriously, what are you waiting for, go make a batch!
Ingredients in homemade peanut butter cups
- Butter: melted unsalted butter is used to make these. You can also substitute coconut oil to make these vegan.
- Peanut butter: used in the filling and in the chocolatey coating too.
- Icing sugar: also known as powdered sugar or confectioners sugar.
- Chocolate chips: Semi-sweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips. You can also substitute vegan chocolate for a vegan treat.
**Note: Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post. **
How to make homemade peanut butter cups
- Make the peanut butter filling. In a bowl, combine the melted butter, 1/2 cup peanut butter and icing sugar until smooth.
- Prepare the chocolate coating. In a double-boiler, melt the chocolate chips. Add the remaining peanut butter and gently stir until smooth.
- Assemble the peanut butter cups. In a muffin tin lined with muffin cups or in silicon muffin cups, add a tablespoon of melted chocolate in each cup. Add a teaspoon (or as much as desired) of peanut butter filling in the center of each muffin cup, careful not to go right to the edges. You can spoon this filling in with a teaspoon or use a piping bag to do this. Top each peanut butter cup with another tablespoon or so of melted chocolate, so as to cover the peanut butter filling.
- Refrigerate to set them. Place in the fridge and allow to set (about 1 hour).
Tips for making the BEST homemade peanut butter cups
These homemade peanut butter cups are super easy to make and so delicious. In order to ensure these treats rival your favorite store-bought variety, there are a few tips I find make the best homemade version.
- milk chocolate chips are the closest to achieving the same chocolatey taste of our favorite store-bought version. That said, I have used semi-sweet chocolate chips too and they turn out super yummy. A 50/50 mix of milk and semi sweet), is my personal favorite.
- Healthier, natural peanut butters are not going to give you the same flavor or texture. I used Kraft smooth peanut butter in my homemade version but any similar pb will do.
- Use muffin liners or silicon cups to ensure easy removal. I personally have had the best luck with silicon cups and find them so easy to use but either will do.
- Use a generous teaspoon (or more) of the pb filling. In order to ensure the pb flavor comes through and does not get lost, don’t be stingy with the filling.
- Optional: I like to use a piping bag for the filling to ensure spreads out nicely in the center, rather than trying to smooth it out with a spoon. It’s less messy this way too.
How to make healthier, vegan and dairy-free peanut butter cups
As they are, I personally think these homemade peanut butter cups are far healthier than most store-bought versions (for the simple fact that they have less preservatives and additives) but it is a dessert and so I wouldn’t call these healthy. There are, however, some simple substitutions you can do to make these treats healthier and diet-compliant.
- Replace the butter in the recipe with melted coconut oil (or omit it entirely). This is a simple swap that not only makes the end result a bit healthier, but also vegan.
- Ensure your are using vegan chocolate chips. This is a no-brainer but if you plan to make these vegan, of course, your chocolate will have to be dairy-free.
I hope you give these homemade pb cups a try! Happy snacking!
-Cathy
You may also like:
Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudgsicles
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter melted (Can sub coconut oil for a vegan treat)
- 2/3 cup smooth peanut butter divided
- 3 tablespoons icing sugar aka powdered sugar or confectioners sugar
- 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips (can substitute vegan chocolate for a vegan treat)
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the melted butter, 1/2 cup peanut butter and icing sugar until smooth.
- In a double-boiler, melt the chocolate chips. Add the remaining peanut butter and gently stir until smooth.
- In a muffin tin lined with muffin cups or in silicon muffin cups, add a tablespoon of melted chocolate in each cup.
- Add a teaspoon (or as much as desired) of peanut butter filling in the center of each muffin cup, careful not to go right to the edges. You can spoon this filling in with a teaspoon or use a piping bag to do this.
- Top each peanut butter cup with another tablespoon or so of melted chocolate, so as to cover the peanut butter filling.
- Place in the fridge and allow to set (about 1 hour).
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
