Homemade Peanut Butter Cups Recipe

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15

Chill: 30

Total Time: 45

Servings: cups

Calories: 153kcal

Author: Becky Hardin

These homemade peanut butter cups have the same great taste as my favorite candy, but none of the artificial flavors and preservatives!

Line a mini cupcake tin with mini liners, and set the pan aside.
In a medium microwave-safe bowl, heat half of the chocolate, starting with 1 minute, and then checking and stirring every 30 seconds, until it is completely melted and smooth.
24 ounces melting chocolate
Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the melted chocolate into the bottom of each mini liner, until the chocolate is completely used. Let that layer of chocolate cool and set while you prepare the peanut butter filling.
In a medium saucepan, heat the peanut butter and butter together until they are melted. Remove from heat and then stir in the powdered sugar and vanilla until it thickens.
1 cup creamy peanut butter, ¼ cup unsalted butter, 1½ cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Drop about 1 teaspoon of the peanut butter mixture onto the cooled chocolate in the liners. Repeat until all of the cups have been topped with some of the peanut butter.
Melt the remaining half of the chocolate, and then drop about 1-1½ teaspoons over the peanut butter mixture, covering the entire top. Once they have all been covered, tap the pan onto the counter until the tops are smooth.
Let the cups sit until they are cooled, for about 30 minutes.

You don’t have to use a muffin tin to hold the liners, but it helps them have a uniform shape.
Make sure to stir the chocolate every 30 seconds while you are melting it in the microwave. It can burn easily so you want to keep an eye on it.
I used a teaspoon to scoop the chocolate and the peanut butter to keep them a consistent size and proportion, and was able to make exactly 40 mini cups.
Don’t spread the peanut butter completely over the chocolate. Leaving a small edge will allow the top chocolate to connect with the bottom chocolate, and it will hide the peanut butter filling. You can even pull the liners back just a bit when adding the top chocolate to make sure it connects with the bottom chocolate.
You can place the peanut butter cups in the freezer to have them harden faster.

Storage: Store homemade peanut butter cups in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.