Vegan Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
Equipment
- Muffin Liners (Silicone is ideal)
Ingredients
- 20 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate (Vegan)
- 12 oz. Reduced Fat Peanut Butter (See NOTES)
- 3/4 cup Powdered Sugar (more if needed)
- 1/4 cup Crushed Graham Crackers, Biscoff Cookies or Peanut Butter Powder (optional, see NOTES)
Instructions
Peanut Butter Patties
- In a food processor, crush the graham crackers or Biscoff cookies if using (you should need about 3 of the full rectangular crackers) until they are a fine dust.
- If using Peanut Butter Powder (which is my preferred method these days) you may only need 2 Tbsp depending on the type of peanut butter you are using. So start with that much and add more as you need.
- Combine peanut butter, powdered sugar and graham crackers or Biscoff cookies or Peanut Butter Powder using a hand mixer. The mixture should be soft but not sticky. A lot like Play-Doh! As long as you can easily roll it into a ball and it doesn't fall apart. If it's to crumbly, add more peanut butter. If it's too soft and sticky, add more powdered sugar / cracker crumbs / peanut butter powder.
- Use a tablespoon to scoop out some of the peanut butter mixture (about 15 - 18g worth). Roll it into a ball, and then flatten it into a patty that's slightly smaller than the bottom of your muffin liner. You can do this by hand, or you can add the ball to a parchment lined baking sheet. Then top it with a small piece of wax or parchment paper and press down with something flat and hard (I used a small glass bowl).
- Once all patties have been formed, add them to the freezer to firm up for about 20 minutes.
Melting the Chocolate (Double Boiler)
- To melt your chocolate you have two options. Use a double boiler, or get a saucepan and fill it with a couple inches of water. Next place a heat proof bowl on top of the saucepan, making sure the bottom of the bowl isn't touching the water.Add in the chocolate and then place on a stovetop over medium heat. Once the water begins to steam, whisk the chocolate until it melts. Once it's 90% melted, remove from the heat and continue whisking until it's totally melted.
Melting the Chocolate (Microwave)
- Alternatively the second method, which is much easier and faster (and my preferred way) you can simply microwave the chocolate in 15 - 30 second increments, stirring in between. Once it's 90% melted, stir and let the residual heat melt the rest.
Making the Peanut Butter Cups
- Drop in about a tablespoon of melted chocolate into a muffin liner. Place a peanut butter patty on top, and press down to ensure there's chocolate surrounding it. Then cover the patty with about 2-3 tsp of chocolate until it's totally covered. You can lightly tap the liner on the countertop to flatten out the chocolate.
- Once they are all done, add them to the fridge to firm up for about 15 - 20 minutes.
- ENJOY!
Freezer Friendly Option
- Something I've been doing recently is making all the peanut butter patties, flash freezing for 20 minutes, and then adding them to a freezer safe container. Then whenever I have a craving for a Reese's, I'll melt a little chocolate (you'll need about 1 oz. of chocolate per Reese's cup) and just make 1 or 2 at a time! So if you don't want to make 24 Reese's at once, you can do that too!
Notes
Peanut Butter - Reduced Fat Skippy or Jif works best. If you can't find that, I recommend a No-Stir Peanut Butter. I don't recommend a Natural Peanut Butter where the oil is separated and requires stirring.
Graham Crackers, Biscoff Cookies, Peanut Butter Powder - Using one of these will help the texture of the Peanut Butter to achieve that Reese's texture. I personally love the Peanut Butter Powder because it's the easiest, amps up the peanut butter flavor and keeps it gluten free.
Storage
- Store in the fridge, or at room temp and eat within 3-5 days (they never last that long in my house!) You can also freeze them so they'll last even longer.
- Storing them at room temp will give you a softer chocolate experience, just like a real Reese's. If you store them in the fridge or freezer they will be firmer and snappier.
- Also, if you store at room temp, I suggest keeping them on parchment paper (or something non-stick) so they don't stick to the plate / tupperware that you're using.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!