Happy Peanut Butter Cups – Gluten-Free & Vegan

Chocolate and peanut butter: two flavors that make me happy. I like to make these little happy treats for birthdays and other sweet times. The process isn’t too complicated and with only 3 ingredients, you can’t go wrong. Note that the quality of the peanut butter you choose will affect the overall taste of the dessert, so use good stuff (organic vs Skippy, for example).  I hope they make you happy too. 

Total time: about 40 minutes from prep to eat 

Servings: 10-12

Ingredients

7 ounces of Vegan CHOCOLATE MORSELS or SQUARES
4 tablespoons of COCONUT OIL
3/4 cup good quality PEANUT BUTTER
12 cupcake PAPER LINERS 

DIRECTIONS

• PLACE 10 to 12 cupcake paper liners in a flat baking dish.
• In a double boiler* on medium heat, MELT the chocolate with 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. STIR occasionally until completely combined. TURN off heat but leave on the stove to stay warm.
• In a small bowl, MIX peanut butter and 2 tablespoons of coconut oil until well combined.
• SPOON a small amount of the chocolate/coconut oil mixture into each cup; enough to cover the bottoms.
• FREEZE the cups for a few minutes to set; 2 or 3 minutes should be fine.
• Remove cups from freezer and DROP a small spoonful of peanut butter/coconut oil mixture on top of the hardened chocolate/coconut mixture in each cup.  FLATTENING with the back of a spoon. 
• Then SPOON more chocolate/coconut oil mixture into each cup. If you want them to be like Reeses then put in enough chocolate/coconut oil mixture to cover all the peanut butter. I just drizzle chocolate on top for a pretty effect. 
• FREEZE until ready to serve (at least 15 minutes to harden).
• THAW to serve:  REMOVE the treats from the freezer about 30 minutes before you want to serve them. REMOVE the paper liners and place the naked treats in the refrigerator to thaw. If the treats get too soft they can lose their shape. If they do throw them back in the freezer for 5 minutes until they harden again.   

 *NOTE: Instead of a double boiler, I use a saucepan with about 1 inch of water in it with a heat safe bowl on top. Make sure that the bowl does not touch the water, as you want the chocolate to steam not boil. 

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