Homemade Peanut Butter Cups (Better than Reese’s)
This recipe presents several options. You can use White, Semi-Sweet, or Bittersweet Chocolate for these. I caramelized white chocolate for some, and used Bittersweet Chocolate Chips for the rest.
You can also make “Thick” or “Thin” cups. For me, the thicker have the better peanut butter-to-chocolate ratio, but you may like a bit less peanut butter. If so, use the larger amount of chocolate and make more peanut butter disks.
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12-16 Peanut Butter cups 1x
- Category: Candy and Sweets
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Scale
- 1/2 cup (128g) Smooth, All-Natural, Salted Peanut Butter (I like Trader Joe’s)
- 1/4 c (23g) Sifted Confectioners Sugar
- 1/4 c (about 25g) Graham Cracker Crumbs (about 4 squares’ worth)
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Natural Vanilla Extract
- 12–16 oz. (340-454g) (See Note 1) Semi-Sweet, Bittersweet, or white Chocolate chopped (or chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Line a muffin tins with 12 (for thick) or 16 (for thin) paper cupcake liners or cups. Set aside.
- Make graham cracker crumbs by placing graham crackers in a bag and crushing with a wine bottle or rolling pin. Be sure to stop crushing them before they become sandy or powdery. You still want some texture to the crumbs.
- Whisk together Confectioners Sugar, Graham Cracker Crumbs and salt. Stir in the Peanut Butter, along with Vanilla Extract. This will be the peanut butter filling.
- Divide the filling into 4 equal parts. Then separate each of the 4 parts into 3 (for a total of 12 Thick) or 4 (to make 16 Thin) small balls. Set each ball on a layer of parchment or wax paper, then place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Using a heat resistant bowl placed over a pan of simmering water, melt the chopped chocolate or chocolate chips, stirring occasionally, until smooth.
- Spoon a small bit (a teaspoon, or a bit more [about 5- 7 ml, more or less] into the bottom of each cupcake cup. Using the back of the spoon spread the melted chocolate so it covers the entire bottom of the cup, or jiggling the muffin tin a bit works well, too. Then, remove the peanut butter balls from the refrigerator, and press each one gently with your forefinger to form a disk. Place one of the peanut butter disks on top of the layer of chocolate in each cup.
- Spoon about 2 teaspoons or so of melted chocolate on top of each disk, smoothing the top and pushing it to the sides of the cup to cover the peanut butter disk. This will likely use most of the remaining chocolate.
- Place the filled muffin tins in the refrigerator to firm up. You can serve them cold or at room temperature. They will keep in an airtight container for a week or so, or longer in the refrigerator. (See Note 2)
Notes
- To make 12 “Thick” cups, use 12 oz (340g), or, to make 16 “Thin” cups, use 454 g (16oz., 1lb)
- Always store in an airtight container whether at room temp, in the fridge or the freezer. Peanut butter cups freeze extremely well. I’ve kept them frozen for up to 4 months. (They’re also delicious frozen, BTW!)
Keywords: homemade peanut butter cups, better than Reese's, Reese's copycat, white chocolate, dark chocolate, caramelized white chocolate, peanut butter cups, easy
