Mini Peanut Butter Cups
Delicious homemade mini peanut butter cups! This recipe is so easy. You'll need chocolate chips, peanut butter and maple syrup (I add flaky sea salt, too).
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on December 5, 2024
These homemade chocolate treats are essentially grown-up, homemade Reese’s peanut butter cups. They are so good. I’m always tempted to keep the whole batch to myself!
I make my peanut butter cups with dark chocolate and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. You can make these peanut butter cups with milk chocolate and skip the fancy salt, if you’d rather.
My version is for you if you’ve ever walked down the freezer aisle at Trader Joe’s and grabbed the mini dark chocolate peanut butter cups and the salted dark chocolate-covered almonds. Also, we should be friends and eat chocolate together. I’ll bring wine.
I’ve been holding onto this recipe for Halloween. They’re a variation that I discovered when making Jessica’s chocolate peppermint cups earlier this year, which is kind of mean now that I think about it. I’m sorry. Now, you can enjoy them any time of year.
The Best Peanut Butter Cups
Three reasons to love this recipe:
- These peanut butter cups are far more tasty and somewhat more redeeming than your average Halloween haul.
- They’re also easy to make, requiring just a few basic ingredients.
- These homemade candies take about 15 minutes to put together. They’re ready after a 30-minute chill. Let’s make some!
Mini Peanut Butter Cups
Delicious homemade mini peanut butter cups! This recipe is so easy. You’ll need chocolate chips, peanut butter and maple syrup (I add flaky sea salt, too). Recipe yields 15 mini candies; multiply as necessary.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter*
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
- 6 ounces chocolate (that’s 1 cup regular-sized chocolate chips)**
- Flaky sea salt, optional
You’ll need mini muffin liners, too!
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter and maple syrup, and stir until well blended. Fill a mini cupcake pan with liners or arrange mini cupcake liners on plate(s) like I did.
- Melt the chocolate (I did this in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring after each one, or you can use a double boiler on the stove).
- Fill the bottom of each cup with 1 teaspoon of the melted chocolate. Add a small dollop of the peanut butter mixture in the center (about ½ teaspoon), then top it with another teaspoon of the chocolate.
- Freeze the candies for 5 minutes. Sprinkle sea salt lightly over the tops (if using), then freeze until firm, about 25 minutes more. Now they’re ready to eat!
- If you won’t be serving them all immediately, transfer them to a container or sealed bag. Store at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.
Notes
Recipe adapted from these chocolate peppermint cups.
*Peanut butter notes: I’ve used a range of natural peanut butters here, and they all work well (or you can make your own). If your peanut butter is salt-free, I would stir a little pinch of salt into the filling. Crunchy peanut butter works if you want some crunch. You can also use almond butter instead of peanut butter.
**Chocolate notes: I used Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips (60% cacao content) and thought they were perfect. Use chocolate chips that you enjoy on their own—I prefer darker chocolate, but milk chocolate will work, too.
Make it dairy free: Choose dairy-free chocolate chips. Check out Enjoy Life and Pascha brands.
Make it vegan: Choose dairy-free chocolate chips (see above) and maple syrup instead of honey.
Make it soy free: Make sure your chocolate is free of soy derivatives like soy lecithin (see above).
Make it nut free: Use sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter.
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Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Wow! These are so yummy. Next time I’ll add more peanut butter mixture. Somebody had a suggestion of using piping bags…such a great great idea! It made adding the peanut butter mixture so much easier and less messy. Thanks!
5 stars!!!
You’re welcome, Dave!
Simple to make and a delicious small treat for the sweet tooth!