Healthy peanut butter cups made with dark chocolate, creamy all-natural peanut butter, pure maple syrup, and finished with a touch flaky sea salt. They are incredibly easy to make and the perfect sweet treat to enjoy!
The Best Peanut Butter Cups
Recreating your favorite store bought treats at home is a great way to make a healthier version and control the ingredients inside.
These healthy dark chocolate peanut butter cups are incredibly easy to whip up and are made with just a few simple real food ingredients that you likely already have in your pantry!
Reader Favorite Nut Butter Cups
Healthy Peanut Butter Cup Ingredients
Dark Chocolate: You can use dark chocolate chips, chunks, or your favorite dark chocolate bar.
Coconut Oil: This is added to the dark chocolate to help smooth it out a bit and help the chocolate harden once it is frozen.
Creamy Peanut Butter: Use a smooth and creamy peanut butter for this recipe that has minimal ingredients. Ideally, you want the peanut butter to only contain one ingredient – peanuts.
Maple Syrup: One of the benefits of using a plain peanut butter is that you can control the level of sweetness in these cups. If you want the peanut butter cups to have a little bit of sweetness, feel free to add one or two tablespoons of maple syrup to the peanut butter mixture.
Vanilla Extract: I love adding a little maybe syrup to the peanut butter to give the cups a delicious vanilla flavor.
Flaky Sea Salt: A sprinkle of flaky sea salt on the top of each cup is a must-have! Of course, it’s totally optional but I promise you that it makes a delicious difference.
Ingredients Swaps and Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I use a different nut butter? – sure! cashew butter, almond butter, or any nut or seed butter will all work in these cups.
- Can I use a different chocolate? – yes! if you do not prefer the flavor of dark chocolate you can go with semi-sweet or milk chocolate instead.
- Can I swap the sweetener? – yes! honey will also work in these cups if you don’t have maple syrup.
- Can I make a different size? – yes! you can make these cups as big or as small you would like! just use a different size muffin tin and liners.
- Can I make them less sweet? – You can leave out the maple syrup altogether if you would like to make an unsweetened version of these nut butter cups.
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make Healthy PB Cups
Step One:Â First, add the dark chocolate and coconut oil to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute and then stir. Microwave again for 30 seconds more and then stir. Repeat until the chocolate is fully melted.Â
Step Two:Â Next, line a mini muffin tray with muffin liners.
Step Three:Â Pour around 1 teaspoon of melted chocolate into the bottom of each muffin liner. Place the muffin tin in the fridge or freezer for five to ten minutes to let the chocolate harden.Â
Step Four: Add the peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla extract to a small mixing bowl and stir until well combined. Next, spoon around 1 – 1.5 teaspoons of the peanut butter mixture into the center of each cup.Â
Step Five: Cover the peanut butter filling with around ½ tablespoon more of melted chocolate until the filling is completely covered. Sprinkle each cup with a little flaky sea salt and then place in the freezer to harden.Â
Step Six:Â Once the peanut butter cups have hardened and set, remove them from the liners and enjoy!
Tips and Tricks
- Use muffin liners to ensure that the peanut butter cups don’t stick to your muffin tin.
- Be sure that the peanut butter layer is completely covered in chocolate. You can use your fingers or the back of a spoon to make it easier.
- Be sure to let the bottom layer harden in the fridge so you get that nice even bottom layer of chocolate.
How to Store
You can easily store these peanut butter cups in the fridge or freezer for a sweet treat whenever you want!
Fridge:Â Store the peanut butter cups in an air-tight container in the fridge for weeks.
Freezer:Â Store the peanut butter cups in an an air-tight container in the freezer for up to three months.
Our Favorite No Bake Desserts
No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
Creamy Strawberry Lime Popsicles
No Bake Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
I hope you give these Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups a try! They are so easy to make and a delicious healthier treat.
If you do give this recipe a try, I want to know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. You can also snap a photo & tag @allthehealthythings on INSTAGRAM. Your reviews help support All the Healthy Things and make it possible for me to continue to create the recipes you know and love.
Print
Homemade Healthy Peanut Butter Cups
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 24 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 24 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 12 oz dark chocolate
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Flaky sea salt for topping
Method
- Add the dark chocolate and coconut oil to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute and then stir. Microwave again for 30 seconds more and then stir. Repeat until the chocolate is fully melted.
- Line a mini muffin tray with liners.
- Pour around 1 teaspoon of melted chocolate into the bottom of the muffin liners. Place the muffin tin in the fridge or freezer for 5-10 minutes to let the chocolate harden.
- Add the peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla extract to a small mixing bowl and stir until well combined.
- Next, spoon in around 1 – 1.5 teaspoons of peanut butter into the center of each cup.
- Cover the peanut butter filling with around ½ tablespoon more of melted chocolate until the filling is completely covered. Sprinkle each cup with a little flaky sea salt and place in the freezer to harden.
