Salted Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Has anyone else been having one of those weeks? A little tired, a little stressed, a little unmotivated and forgetful? Maybe it's this weather or fear of catching the flu, or maybe it's me pressing snooze way too many times on my alarm this morning or turning to coffee for all the answers... coffee and these salted peanut butter cups.
Oh, peanut butter and chocolate. Is there any combo better than you? More specifically, is there anything better than a little indulgent cup filled with peanut butter, semisweet chocolate and a little flaked salt on top? No, no, and definitely not.
With that said, these are just what the doctor ordered for the kind of week I've been having. And regardless of your kind of week, these will most certainly make it better.
INGREDIENTS
24 oz bag of semisweet or dark chocolate chips or baking wafers
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Flaked salt, optional (but ugh why would u not)
DIRECTIONS
Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
Melt half of the chocolate (12 oz) either in a double boiler or by microwaving in short increments, stirring after 30 seconds, for about 2-3 minutes.
With a small spoon, evenly distribute melted chocolate into each muffin cup. Drop pan repeatedly on the counter to help chocolate flatten and smooth out. Freeze whole pan for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine peanut butter, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract. Whip with an electric hand mixer until smooth. Remove pan from freezer and place small spoonfuls of peanut butter mixture on top of each chocolate layer. Drop pan repeatedly on the counter again, to help flatten peanut butter layer. Freeze whole pan for 20 minutes.
Melt remaining chocolate. Working quickly, portion small spoonfuls of chocolate into each cups, three cups at a time, immediately dropping the pan repeatedly on the counter to flatten cups. If you don't do this in increments, the chocolate will seize and will not spread over the peanut butter layer!
Top with flaked salt, if desired. Freeze whole pan for 15 minutes to set the top layer of chocolate.
For a peanut butter cup with a firmer texture, serve chilled. For a softer, creamier texture (yessss), serve at room temperature. Store refrigerated in an airtight container up to 5 days.
