Homemade Peanut Butter Cups are easy to make from scratch. You get to use your good quality chocolate and all natural ingredients!

homemade reese\'s peanut butter cups made from scratch on white plate

Oh the peanut butter cup.

So simple, so unpretentious, and so heavenly.

You might say well, why make peanut butter cups when you can buy them?

I have a few reasons.

1. I get to use my good chocolate and good peanut butter.

a peanut butter swirl in the jar

2. I always appreciate things more when I go through the process of making them myself. And I swear I eat less this way.

3. When I make these myself, I know there are only four ingredients. And none of those ingredients are preservatives or other stuff I don’t want in my body.

peanut butter cup from scratch on white stand

4. They’re just FUN — My friend Meagan’s kids just have the grandest time banging the pan against the counter like a bunch of whackadoodles.

You start by whipping peanut butter with a little bit of softened butter and confectioner’s sugar:

whipped peanut butter for peanut butter cup filling

And place a little dollop of the whipped peanut butter atop a small layer of melted semisweet chocolate (that’s been frozen for 15 minutes).

peanut butter cups dolloped into muffin wells

And you see how it’s not a flat surface? Just drop the pan on the counter a few times and it will flatten and smooth itself out, like this:

smoothed out peanut butter layers in paper muffin wells

Freeze for 15 minutes, then pour on the top layer of melted chocolate.

two stacked homemade peanut butter cups from scratch

Freeze for 15 more minutes until it hardens, then you’re good to go!

Here’s the full video on how to make the peanut butter cups, if video is your style. I talk a little bit about the different methods of melting the chocolate:

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Homemade Peanut Butter Cups on White Dish

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

Servings: 18
Prep Time: 20 mins
Chill Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins
 Homemade Peanut Butter Cups are simple to make yourself and only require a handful of ingredients!
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Ingredients

  • 16 oz semisweet chocolate chopped
  • 1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter
  • 2 tbsp butter softened
  • 1.75 oz confectioner's sugar, by weight (1/4 cup+2 tbsp, measured), sifted

Instructions 

  • Line a standard 12 cup muffin tin with paper cupcake liners.
  • Melt half the chocolate either in a double boiler (the safer method) or in the microwave (the more dangerous, but easier/lazier method). I opt for the latter. If you don’t know how to melt chocolate this way, read my Explanation of Chocolate Behavior article.
  • Distribute the melted chocolate into the 12 muffin tins (I use a cookie scoop to portion the chocolate), only barely filling the bottom of each cup. If the chocolate does not lie flat, drop the pan repeatedly on the counter, and it will flatten and smooth itself out. Place the pan in the freezer for 15 minutes.
  • In the meantime, whip the peanut butter, butter, and confectioner’s sugar together with a hand mixer until mixed and light. Taste it and make sure the sweetness is to your liking. Place small tablespoons of peanut butter into each cup, then drop the pan repeatedly on the counter again, so the peanut butter layer is flattened out. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
  • Melt the last 1/2lb of chocolate, and portion small spoonfuls of chocolate into the cups, one cup at a time, immediately dropping the pan repeatedly on the counter to flatten each cup. In my experience of making these, the chill from the peanut butter (because it was just in the freezer) will harden up that top layer of chocolate very quickly, so you must flatten out the tops immediately after you pour the chocolate into each cup. Place the peanut butter cups in the freezer for 15 minutes to set the top layer of chocolate.
  • You can either refrigerate them for a peanut butter cup with more bite, or leave them at room temperature for a softer, creamier bite. Just peel the wrapper off, and enjoy!

Notes

 *If you'd like a softer chocolate to bite into, you can do a chocolate ganache instead of melted chocolate (here's a post on how to make it, but it's basically just heavy cream and chocolate), or you can stir in 2 tbsp of avocado oil into each 8-ounce batch of chocolate, and that will make it softer.

Nutrition

Calories: 185kcal, Carbohydrates: 20g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Cholesterol: 3mg, Sodium: 4mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 17g

Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Author: Joanne Ozug