Peanut Butter Cups

I’m a particularly huge fan of the Trader Joe’s peanut butter cups. You know, the ones just staring you in the eyes while you wait in line to check out. And then you suddenly have chocolate-covered cherries, peanut butter cups, and a couple 75 cent wafer bars in addition to the 2 things you actually went in for.  Now you  don’t have to be tempted in the checkout line anymore. Cause I am bringing you the quickest, easiest, most delicious peanut butter cup recipe of all time. There are only three ingredients, it takes about 5 minutes, and then just toss them in the freezer for 30 minutes and they’re ready to go! These are great for gifts, or even better to keep a stash for yourself!

What you'll need

A small bowl, a double boiler (a heatproof bowl that sits over a pot of water on the stove) or a microwave-safe bowl, a mini muffin pan, and mini cupcake liners.

Ingredients

peanut butter
powdered sugar
chocolate chips

How to prepare your pan

Put the paper liners in your mini muffin tin!

How to use a double boiler

To use a double boiler, you ideally want a heatproof bowl with a lip so it can rest on the edge of the pot without touching the water in the pot.  You don’t need much water in the pot, but the goal is for the water to not touch the bottom of the bowl, so the bowl heats from the steam coming off the water. If you don’t have this, or if it’s not exactly this, that’s okay, whatever you have will likely work fine for this recipe!

How to make Peanut Butter Cups

You'll start by combining powdered sugar and peanut butter.  You want enough powdered sugar so that the peanut butter is not sticky to the touch.  When the peanut butter mixture is smooth and soft, you'll form little patties (or balls will work too) with your hands. You want them to be small enough that they can fit inside a mini-muffin cup with room around the edges. Set these aside. You should get somewhere between 12-15.  If you get more, that's okay too, you just may need a little bit more chocolate!

Now you'll melt the chocolate. You can do this in the microwave, but I usually do this in the double boiler.  You'll put the chocolate in the bowl over the pot. Be careful not to get water into the chocolate! Once the chocolate is fully melted and is smooth and liquidy, spoon a small amount into each of the 12-15 paper lined muffin cups, just enough to cover most of the bottom of the cup. I usually do these a couple at a time.  You'll then press a peanut butter patty or ball on top of the chocolate, and then spoon more chocolate on top, making sure it covers the top and sides of the peanut butter patties, filling the rest of the cup. Once all your cups are full, stick them in the freezer for about 30 minutes. The freezer speeds up the hardening process.  Once they've solidified, they're ready to go! You can store them in an airtight container at room temperature, assuming you have any left to store!

Looking for other chocolate recipes? Check these out:

Nutella Cups
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Better Than Box Mix Brownies
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Puppy Chow

Did you try this recipe?  Review and comment below, and share a photo on Instagram and tag @flourdeliz!

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📖 Recipe

Print Recipe

5 from 4 votes

Peanut Butter Cups

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Servings: 12 cups

Ingredients

• ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 ½ cups chocolate chips I used dark chocolate

Instructions

• Combine the peanut butter and powdered sugar until the peanut butter is no longer sticky. You may need a little extra powdered sugar.
• Roll the peanut butter into 12 balls, pressing each slightly flat to form patties. Set aside.
• Line a mini muffin pan with 12 paper liners. (Greasing the pan does not work well for this, so it's really best to use paper liners here.)
• In a double boiler, melt chocolate chips. (To do this, put the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl, and place the bowl in a pot of boiling water. Ideally, the bowl will not come into contact with water. It's best to use a bowl large enough to prevent the water from getting into the bowl.)
• Spoon a small amount of melted chocolate into the bottom of each paper liner.
• Press a peanut butter patty into each cup on top of the melted chocolate.
• Spoon melted chocolate over top of the peanut butter patty, making sure it gets on the sides of the patty as well, filling the cup to the top.
• Place in the freezer for approximately 30 minutes, or until chocolate has hardened.
• Allow to sit out for a few minutes before eating. I store these in my fridge or freezer.

This post was updated in January 2021 with an improved recipe, new photos, and additional information about the recipe, and in June 2022 with a new featured image.