You are here
Dark Chocolate, Almond Butter, and Raspberry Cups
For times when you crave Reese peanut butter cups but don't want your health to pay the price that comes with them, you might find all the satisfaction you're looking for with the following simple recipe for chocolate, almond butter, and raspberry cups.
Listed ingredients will make about 5 large dark chocolate cups, assuming you use regular muffin/cupcake liners.
Ingredients:
200 grams (about 7 ounces) of dark chocolate chunks/chips
3 tablespoons of smooth almond butter
2 tablespoons of almond milk
Your favourite raspberry jam
Small handful of fresh raspberries
Sea salt
A few tablespoons of icing sugar (optional)
Directions:
1. Melt about half of your chocolate chunks in a heat-safe glass bowl that sits over a pot of simmering water. Be mindful about not using any more heat than you need to melt the chocolate, and avoid having steam and water droplets mix in with your chocolate, which will cause your chocolate to harden and take on a grainy texture. You want to watch the chocolate as it's melting and stir gently with a stainless steel spoon to ensure that it doesn't burn. If you have never melted chocolate in this way before, please do a simple google search on how to melt chocolate with a water bath before beginning, and please be mindful about using a heat-tempered bowl and not using too much heat.
2. Line a cupcake/muffin tray with five or six liners, and place one tablespoon of melted chocolate in each liner. Gently swirl the convex surface of your tablespoon to create space for the almond butter and raspberry filling - as you swirl, you can gently push the chocolate up the sides of the liner to create the sides of your chocolate cups. Strive to keep the sides relatively even. Once completed, you can put your tray of chocolate-lined cupcake liners into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes to harden.
3. In a small bowl, mix together your almond butter, almond milk, and a pinch of sea salt. If you prefer a dense nut butter filling, then use just one tablespoon of almond milk or none at all. If you want the same level of sweetness found in Reese peanut butter cups, you can add about two tablespoons of icing sugar and whisk together. If you prefer not to add any sugar, rest assured that your cups will still be somewhat sweet from the chocolate and raspberry jam.
4. In a separate small bowl, mash together raspberry jam and raspberries. You want to use one flat teaspoon of jam and one small raspberry for every chocolate cup you make.
5. Take your dark chocolate cups out of the freezer and fill each with one tablespoon of almond butter filling, gently spreading it evenly within each cup.
6. Add a little more than a teaspoon of your raspberry filling on top of the almond butter filling, and gently spread it evenly.
7. Melt the second half of your chocolate chunks/chips and put enough on top of each cup to cover almond butter and raspberry filling - it will be about one flat tablespoon of melted chocolate per cup.
8. Place your completed cups in the freezer for 30 minutes to set. They can be devoured at this point with a soft filling, or kept in the freezer in an air-tight container until needed - just let them thaw for 30 minutes or so before enjoying. The filling will approach the same density of the filling in Reese peanut butter cups with about 24 hours of freezing. After 24 hours of being in the freezer, if they still exist, keep them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Note: It's fine to skip the raspberry portion if you prefer chocolate almond butter cups.
For a printer-friendly version of this recipe without photos, please go here:
Join more than 80,000 readers worldwide who receive Dr. Ben Kim's free newsletter
Receive simple suggestions to measurably improve your health and mobility, plus alerts on specials and giveaways at our catalogue
Please Rate This
Related Posts | |||
Comments
I have been making my own
I have been making my own peanut butter cups for a while now, and there is a little boy in the marina where I live who wishes I would give him more than one at a time, heheh ;) I love the idea of adding fruit, Dr. Kim, and I will try doing that with my next batch, but I think I will simply use fresh mashed fruit that has been drained a bit, since I already add sugar to my peanut butter. Your basic recipe is not much different from mine, and the method of building the cup is the same. I use a blend of dark and semisweet chocolate, and add either a pat of butter or coconut oil to smooth the chocolate a bit more. I then add a small amount of powder sugar to the peanut butter and chill it in the refrigerator for a while to make it easier to handle. I can then spoon some out and shape it to fit on top of the bottom layer and leave room to pour the top layer of chocolate and ensure the filling is completely contained. When I pour the top layer on, I simply shake the muffin tin a bit and lightly tap it on the counter top, and that settles the chocolate in very nicely. I will also have to try this at some time using almond butter. I have an Omega 3 juicer that also makes nut butters.
peanut butter cups
I have been making peanut butter cups for years...Thrilled to see healthier substitutions. However, we make these in a 9x9 pan and cut to 1" inch squares for a much simpler making process. Will definitely give these a try, like the idea of fruit. I also add powdered sugar to peanut/almond butter.
Melting a teaspoon or two of
Melting a teaspoon or two of coconut oil with the chocolate will make the chocolate easy to bite into. Also, adding a teaspoon or two of coconut flour to the almond butter (or peanut butter) will thicken it up. I did not add a sweetener, but I would think honey would be excellent. Thanks Dr. Ben!