Chocolate is a real food in itself – not just a food accessory. It is highly concentrated, small in bulk, but has remarkable high food value. Because of this, armies from the days of the Revolution to World War II have carried chocolate in their rations. It is included in the emergency field rations and parachute rations of our armed forces today. A wholesome, nourishing food, it makes possible many delicious and healthful combinations.
Baker’s Favorite Chocolate Recipes, 1943, USA.
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My mom gave me this recipe book some time ago. I once told her that it was my favourite kind of gift. I adore old publications, their historical references and the surprise and delight of enduring messages found within their soft, yellowing pages.
That, and anything my mom makes with her hands. She’s a visual artist. I’m not. I can’t draw a stickman – not without sweating anyway.
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So today, a real food recipe. (Not from Baker’s mind you, but yours truly).
Silky and delicious, dark chocolate two-bite wonders.
Three ingredients is all you will need to make your own peanut butter cups: quality dark chocolate, natural peanut butter and raw peanuts.
All Natural Miniature Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups:
- 200 grams 75% cocoa chocolate (two large bars)
- 1/4 cup (or so) nuts only peanut butter, smooth or crunchy as desired
- 1/4 cup peanuts, some chopped and some not
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Makes 12 miniature chocolate peanut butter cups.
Melt chocolate in a sturdy pot on stove over lowest heat.
Meanwhile, place 12 miniature muffin cup liners into muffin cups. Once chocolate has melted, pour first layer of chocolate – about one flat tsp – into each cup.
Allow chocolate to solidify in fridge for approximately 10 minutes.
Remove muffin tray from fridge and place about 1 tsp of peanut butter in a ball-like shape over each layer of chocolate such that it does not cover the full surface of the chocolate. This will allow the second layer of chocolate to fill in along the sides of the cup for closure. I have found that working with cool peanut butter easiest – if you use room temperature peanut butter, it will likely spread to fill the cup.
Return peanut butter cups to fridge to solidify before enjoying.
Notes:
If you, or your family, are unaccustomed to dark chocolate, you can simply start with a mix of dark and milk chocolate and slowly phase out the milk chocolate over time.
Be sure to store your peanut butter cups in the fridge. I also like to freeze mine if I make a larger batch. I enjoy them straight from the freezer. Moving them from freezer to fridge however does not work very well. It’s best to choose one temperature to store them at to avoid discolouration and taste changes.
These look beautiful. I can never get my peanut butter cups to have such an authentic shape.
I LOVE THIS! Peanut butter and chocolate cups are my favorite candy but I haven’t indulged myself in a long time. These seem like the perfect treat to make at home
Oh my deliciousness! I haven’t ever made candy but this may be my first attempt. This looks so yummy!
the miniatur chocolate looks yummy!
the photos that show the peanut butter in the middle makes me mouthwatering :D
tq for sharing, sure mom and kids will loves it! ;)
Thanks birthday girl! (you don’t look a day over 25 :)
Vanessa, I think I may be in love with your blog.
Thanks for checking in Em – all good!
Love it!! What a great idea and I love dark chocoalte and peanut butter!
So cute and perfect!!
yes, you and me both. I seem to be accumulating a LONG list of holiday yummies from the blogosphere….! xo
hee-hee… I know what you mean… the mini size goes down easy :0 I don’t put colour on my nails very often but it seems to work with my fall mood – thanks Nami!!
thank you so much! just a little experimenting helped tune things a bit. I’m glad you stopped by. Have a great day –
We definitely find them swoon-worthy :)
ha-ha! Thanks Karen – I hope you had a great trip.
I have enjoyed catching up with your blog since returning from Europe. The chocolates and the baked oranges…which will I have after your delicious sounding stew.
Swoon. Dark chocolate is my favorite of all chocolates…and PB is my favorite….of everything. These look fabulous!
Those look brilliant – I’ve never had mine come out quite so well… thanks for the tips!
How delicious and cute these choco peanut butter cups are! These mini size is dangerous for my big mouth. I can eat in one bite and a few of cups won’t be enough. I love the colorful liners and your nice mani. I haven’t mani for a long time… very fall color!
Kelly,
OMG, I shall make these over the holidays. WOWWWWWWWWWW.
& I loved hearing a bit of history, too. Xx You are FABUlous.
http://myinnerchick.com
oops, checked my recipe again and i definitely did not use coconut oil. for some reason i thought i did!
Aren’t they easy? (and fun!) thanks Kay.
Thank you France – they are the first ones taken with my new camera…. something happens in the fall… cravings for concentrated food – do you think it’s a Canadian winter layer thing? :0
Always a good plan to carry quality chocolate in one’s purse! :)
What a great recipe, we love chocolate and peanut butter together. We had a friend (lost her in their divorce) who carried good quality chocolate in her purse…ALL the time! She was German.
I love the simplicity! So easy, and perfect for those chocolate cravings I’ve been having lately…a lot…The pictures turn out beautifully Kelly!
I never knew how to make peanut butter cups but now I know.. I love this recipe and I am so happy you shared this with us. You know how I am about chocolate :)
Thank you sister – what, no comment on the polish?!! :0)
Yay! Thanks Elegant Eggplant.
Thanks Lisa – I agree – we really enjoy playing around with different nut and seed butters with these and I love Charles’ idea of cherries – yum, yum, yum.
xo
Oh, HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARIA!!!!!
Thank you Angie!
Thanks so much Linda – I think they would be delightful with almond butter. Let me know how it goes!
Hee-Hee, sounds just like me! I slathered the polish on for the shoot (just for fun – was in the mood) but literally within 2 hours after, it was chipping (I use my hands *a lot* and I’m not one of these careful, delicate with gloves in water kind of gals… maybe to my detriment – lol). It’s great that Mr N and Miss A like the dark stuff – it’s ideal if that’s the chocolate they come to know and not the sugared milk version.
Thank you Dima – though I make a lot of dark chocolate recipes, this is my first year making peanut butter cups.
Thanks Tinkerbelle!
me too – there’s an indescribable charm and comfort to them.
Oooh, coconute peanut butter…. YUM.
That’s so cool – you were in the marines Ann?!!
ha-ha! Thanks Joanna – I love your stoveless cooking though… I wonder how we could get the chocolate to melt for you – over a campfire?? :)
Thanks Stephanie – the recipes and the enduring messages are fun to visit.
you’re so right Alyssa, it’s a lovely gift. I just wish it didn’t soften quite so much out of the fridge.
I agree. Especially when you find old notes and hand-written recipes… you feel like your experiencing part of the past in the present. I was just chatting with a friend at the gym this morning about how there must be something to peanut butter in the fall… so dense and satisfying… our bodies are getting ready for winter (or something like that – LOL).
you’re funny :)
Thanks Amalia…sometimes simple is best in more ways than one. Cheers –
do you add the coconut oil to the chocolate? how does it work?
Really? All I see are pumpkins and squash – hee-hee xo.
It’s kind of neat to make your own peanut butter cups and these are *so* easy, there’s no hassle involved or big time demand. Simple, whole ingredients and a delicious payoff!
Thanks for dropping in Ana Helena.
That’s exactly the sound I make when I eat them!! :)
Thanks Sylvia; they’re pretty cute and very yummy.
Oh, there’s joy alright! ha-ha. Thanks Dzoli.
Sounds delightful! Peanut butter and chocolate, my favorite!! Sounds so easy to make too… Another one of your great recipes to try!
Thanks, Lynn
These loos delicious.. and all natural?!?! SOLD!
OMG – cherries – *love* that!!
These are so cute. I like how you garnished them with a peanut. I make these all the time for my kids and add different filling in them like dried fruit with jelly or nutella! Can’t beet making homemade treats!
omgomgomg :D I’m going to use my newly created Twitter account to “tweet” about these… *that* is how awesome I think they look. So awesome… I’m thinking you can do a lot with these too. Other nuts in the centre… maybe some cherries, oh my goodness (I have a serious chocolate weakness!)
Yummy. Yummy. Yummy. These are one of my all-time favourite treats !!
Very Cool to know that they are also nutritious :)
oh kelly, thank you for sharing this greedy recipe: perfect for my b-day…… (today).
aria
Yes, vintage cookbooks could be really interesting and valuable. Those peanut cups look amazing!
Kelly, I absolutely love this!! Why had I not thought of this!! How perfect to make these with dark chocolate! Many years ago I would make candy with Baker’s chocolate then, of course all the dark chocolate benefits came out and well I made them no more. The simple, pure ingredients are wonderful. I will try this with almond butter and chopped almonds as I prefer it over peanuts. I can’t thank you enough for sharing this! It’s awesome! And I need to check out your other links to the pate and clusters!
First of all, love the finger nail polish! :) I always try to pull of a manicure by the paint is usually chipped by the end of the day (if not sooner). LOL. Now back to the peanut butter cups. You know I’m not big on chocolate, but Mr. N and Miss A are chocoholics – and they seem to enjoy dark chocolate too. I have a feeling I’ll be making these soon – they just happen to be Mr. N’s favorite kind of candy! :)
They look fabulous, I do some similar peanut butter cups, but this recipe is just so simple, I love it :) thx for sharing :))
these look fantastic! ive bookmarked the page to try
I love those old cookbooks, I found one the other day that still had a handwritten piece of paper stuck in the pages with notes on a recipe. It’s like a little piece of history.
Yum! I’m going to try this with the coconut peanut butter my sister brought me from Hawaii!
Delicious! What a beautiful job you did making these! Way, way, WAY back when I was in the Marines and we got a c-rats meal that had chocolate….it was like GOLD! The other thing that was “tradeable” was jelly and crackers….sigh….even in the military sugar is king!
oh HOLY MOLY. this looks fabulous–stoveless may turn into simply a fanblog of inspired edibles…because I’m definitely tryin’ this baby!
Thanks,
Joanna @ Stoveless
Old cookbooks are so great. You just never know what wonderful recipes you will find! These look delicious and would really make a wonderful gift!
I love dark chocolate. These would make nice homemade gifts for the holiday season. Very nice post!
I have some cookbooks I’ve inherited from my mom too, and it’s always such a treat to crack them open!
These look so good…I particularly like the hefty amount of peanut butter you filled them with.It’s a peanut butter to chocolate ratio I could certainly deal with ;)
Oh Kelly, now this is a recipe after my own heart! Chocolate, peanut butter, and nuts?! Heck yes.
Wow these look wonderful! I love that everything is natural and that you used only 3 ingredients! I love natural peanut butter and dark chocolate, so I’m going to have to try this out! :)
pb cups are one of my fave treats. i’ve also made them with coconut oil…soo good.
love these! yours came out so pretty! seen them all over the blogosphere. i really want to try making this with sunbutter….!!!
Wow! I’ve been wanting to make these for a while now.
Wow! This is my kind of treat. Thanks for sharing!
Mmmm, mmmmmm….these look marvelously delicious~
ha-ha!!! I put the nail lacquer on expressly for the photo shoot so thank you for noticing dah’ling :o)
Kelly, what a lovely nail lacquer! Oops, I wanted to say chocolate cups!
I also enjoy greatly old cookery books. Even without illustrations they have an unusual charm. I have never heard of this book, but if I ever see at I will buy it.
I also couldn’t live without dark, rich in cocoa chocolate. I always make sure I have some in the kitchen just in case I urgently need it.
It must be delicious , loved at first sight
I can imagine the joy when you bite in those and all the flavours burst greeting you:)Great recipe’:)