Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
Hi guys. It’s been a while. So… I know I keep promising you the rest of the Homemade Pasta 101 series of articles, and I still will complete them. Really, I swear. (I know, me thinks she doth protest a little too much.) But, here’s the deal, I finally realized I’ve been avoiding blogging because I feel like I must write these articles, but I need a break from thinking about pasta, pasta making, looking at pictures of pasta and all things Italy. Now how spoiled does that sound? Tired of writing about Italy. And yet, lucky/spoiled brat girl that I am, must admit that it’s true. I’ve been going through Italy photos, and making pasta for like a month non-stop. And lovely though the trip was I find I’m ready to get into a holiday (read: Christmas) frame of mind.
What can I say, Christmas is my favorite holiday? Or maybe I should blame Thanksgiving and the wonderful long weekend we had in Vail for getting me into the winter/holiday/vacay spirit? I don’t know. But I’ve got cakes, snow boots, cookies, eggnog, and fireplaces on the brain now. I kind of figure that whatever started it all doesn’t really matter now, it’s time to change gears for a little while. I hope you don’t have sheets and sheets of pasta waiting somewhere for me to get myself together, but I’m so far gone down candy cane lane that the matter can’t be helped for the time being.
Thanksgiving week/end was a total blast. Aiden had the entire week off. We chilled. We watched too much TV. We had play dates with school friends. We had a relaxed holiday, and actually managed to see most of the family without feeling rushed. (Actually we celebrated Thanksgiving twice and got to spend a day each at two different houses.) Then we did a long weekend in Vail, just Charlie, the kids, and I. We went snowmobiling, ice skating, sledding, and drank plenty of hot chocolate… Then we came home and did a low key family celebration for Charlie’s birthday. Yeah. Awesome.
I hope you all head an equally fun and relaxing holiday weekend. Dis you travel or stay home? Was there way too much turkey? Do you still have leftovers? Since we didn’t host any of of the family Thanksgivings at our house, we are leftovers free at this point, leaving plenty of room in the fridge for the Christmas cookies/treats/junk(!) I’ve already started producing. Yes!
So I kinda felt like I just had to kick off my Christmas recipes this year with homemade peanut butter cups. Because:
a. peanut butter + chocolate = heaven
b. Peanut butter cups are Charlie’s absolute favorite candy, and I love Charlie. (And now you love Charlie too because Charlie = peanut butter cups.)
c. Homemade peanut butter cups would make such a cute homemade food gift for friends and family if I stick em’ in a mason jar.
d. I have a lot of mason jars I should return to people and I bet they will be happier with me if I return them full of chocolate goodies.
d. peanut butter + chocolate = heaven
I rest my case.
Homemade Peanut Butter Cups- Yields about 24 peanut butter cups. Adapted, barely, from Carey Nershi’s recipe via Food 52.
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 20 ounces chocolate of your choice (I used as mix of milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and semi sweet chocolate.)
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
- mini cupcake pan
- mini cupcake liners
- Prep the mini cupcake pan by placing a liner in each cup. Set aside.
- Use an electric hand mixer to whip together peanut butter, butter, and sugars, in a bowl. the mixture will be very thick. Set aside.
- Add all chocolate and vanilla to a microwave safe measuring cup. Heat the chocolate in 30 second increments in the microwave, until smooth. Stir frequently to prevent burning.
- Pour a small amount of the melted chocolate in the bottom of each cup liner. (Look to fill the liner about 1/4th of the way.) Place the cupcake pan in the fridge for about 5 minutes and allow the chocolate to harden.
- Place a small ball of the peanut butter on top of the chocolate in each cup. Do not allow the peanut butter to touch the sides of the liner. (Look to fill the cup about 2/3rd s of the way.)
- Pour the remaining chocolate over the top of the peanut butter in each cup. Shake the pan gently to allow the chocolate to smooth out over the peanut butter. Return the pan to the fridge for about 30 minutes and allow the chocolate to fully harden. Remove the chocolate from the pan, and eat!