I was inspired by a friend’s sunflower butter cups to make my own version of this delectable and healthy treat! How can a peanut butter cup be healthy, you ask? Well, it’s all about having great ingredients full of healthy fats and antioxidant-rich cacao. Not to mention all of the amazing benefits of coconut oil! (see addendum below)
Apologies for the lack of precision on the recipe — it involved some trial and error through tasting, but I think you can’t go too wrong and it’s all about your own taste buds, so have fun with it!
Here goes the recipe…
Recipe: Peanut Butter Cups
Ingredients
- Raw unsweetened cacao chunks
- Virgin coconut oil
- Raw honey (local and unfiltered if possible)
- Vanilla extract
- Organic crunchy peanut butter (or any other kind of nut butter for that matter)
- Sea salt
- Mini cupcake papers/foils
- LOVE!
Directions
- Double boil roughly 2tbs cacao chunks, 2tbs coconut oil, 1tbs honey, pinch of sea salt and a dash of vanilla; flavor and sweeten to taste
- Pour thin layer of melted cacao mixture into small cupcake papers; put in freezer
- Add honey and salt to taste into your nut butter; form into quarter sized discs; put in fridge
- When first chocolate layer is hard, place nut butter discs in center
- Pour the rest of the cacao mixture into cupcake papers covering nut butter discs; press down disc with spoon if any is sticking out
- Sprinkle with sea salt and put in freezer until hard
- Enjoy cold!
Makes 10-12 peanut butter cups.
I hope you enjoy this treat as much as we do at the T Sisters’ household where we make pb cups like everyday!
ADDENDUM: from Nourishing Traditions (page 160):
ABOUT COCONUT PRODUCTS
Coconut oil–and whole coconut products that contain coconut oil–are nature’s best source of lauric acid, an essential saturated fatty acid that enhances the immune system and protects us against viruses, yeasts, parasites and other pathogens in the gut…
AIDS patients and others with compromised immune system function should consume 20 to 25 grams of lauric acid per day. Approximately 12 grams of lauric acid are contained in 2 tablespoons coconut oil…
YUM!
Nice one!
How many of these should I eat every day?
I think it depends on the individual and on the size of the pb cups but when we make a batch we probably consume 2-3 a day each, then when we run out after a few days it’s usually another week or two before the next batch is made. We do use coconut oil or coconut cream/milk pretty much everyday in some way – i’ll post other recipes soon! Keep in mind that the cacao has a fair amount of caffeine so if you’re sensitive to that don’t eat them too close to bed time.
Hi, could you tell me about the consistency of your chocolate. Does it stay at the desired state for the top chocolate piece, or did you have to reheat?
I keep the pot with the chocolate mixture in the hot water after double boiling (turn heat off) and that allows it to stay warm and liquid while I’m mixing up the pb and waiting for the first chocolate layer to harden. I usually store these in the freezer if they even last that long 😉