these salted peanut butter cups are where it’s at

it’s not all kale and cucumbers around here my friends, these *vegan* peanut butter cups have also become a staple in this house. they win every contest my mouth has ever held, hands down. sweet, salty, peanut butter & chocolately goodness, a batch of these cures my sweet tooth for weeks days. the recipe was adapted from one in alicia silverstone’s book the kind diet. i’m on a dessert kick my friends, let’s enjoy it! i’ll be back with some meals to balance these out with soon, i promise.

the what:

1/2 cup earth balance vegan butter

3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter (organic, unsalted, no added sugar)

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (i found an organic, naturally sweetened kind at whole foods that did the trick)

1/4 cup turbinado raw sugar or other granulated sweetener

1 cup vegan chocolate chips (preferably the kind that are naturally sweetened)

1/4 cup rice, soy or nut milk

sea salt to sprinkle on top

the how:

– line a  muffin tin with papers. i used a mini-muffin tin and filled it up twice- 24 cups of heaven!

-melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat and then stir in the peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs and sugar.  when it’s melted/mixed, spoon the mixture into the muffin tins. you can play around with the peanut butter to chocolate ratio. i prefer more peanut butter with a thin layer of chocolate, and lou prefers them to be equally peanut butter and chocolate.  we’re so complex.

-in a separate pan combine the chocolate and milk. stir over medium heat until the chocolate has melted.

-spoon the chocolate over the peanut butter, filling the papers almost to the top.

-sprinkle with sea salt and then refrigerate *if you are using the mini muffin tin, i recommend sticking the first batch into the freezer for 10 minutes or so to get them to harden up so that you can remove them and make another batch. i also melted a little more chocolate/milk to satisfy lou’s ratio preference. ok, i doubled the chocolate. he made me.

-there are two schools of thought on how these are best eaten: 1. taken from the refrigerator one at a time, thawed and savored- a classy approach 2. eaten straight from the freezer by the handful, with the occassional bit of wrapper stuck to the cup {mine}.

bon appetit my friends!

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Reader Comments

  1. sarah yates|

    yes, they are amazing and too good to not be eaten all at once. it's true.
    @maggie: these are my weakness. totally guilty.

    Reply
  2. Laura|

    This is the NUMBER ONE recipe from Alicia's book for me. I make them again and again. Love that little touch of salt on top. So baller!

    Reply
  3. TeenyLittleSuperChef|

    You're right, these peanut butter cups are totally where it's at! They sound and look awesome. To hell with meal recipes. I'd eat these in place of a proper lunch or dinner any day. Thanks for the great recipe. I will be making these very very soon, I'm sure. Perhaps this afternoon…

    Reply
  4. Allie|

    Ooh these are so amazing. I love The Kind Diet. What did you do to adapt them? Just turbinado instead of maple sugar? I didn't notice any other changes from the book. The photo of the half eaten one is delectable!

    Reply
  5. sarah yates|

    hi allie!
    yes, substituted turbinado, made them mini, added sea salt, left out chopped nuts…. i think that's everything!

    Reply
  6. louise lynch|

    These look so good! I am off dairy and soy while nursing Jack and sometimes it feels like there are no treats left in the world for me. So happy to find that I am wrong.

    Reply
  7. sarah yates|

    oh louise, you're going to LOVE these! and totally new-mama friendly. 🙂

    Reply
  8. brigitte|

    I just made these! I wasn't convinced at first. They were a bit gooey. But straight out of the freezer? YUM! Love the salt on top. Thanks for posting!

    Reply
  9. Laurie|

    I can't wait to make these gluten free! Very cool website you have. I pinned these on pinterest too so you'll have some blog traffic increase soon. 🙂

    Reply
  10. Leila Piazza|

    Funny, I thought the freezer suggestion was just so they could be eaten than much sooner. Ha ha! Looking forward to savoring these sweeties!

    Reply