How to make chocolate peanut butter cups
After the jack-o'-lantern and costumes, it would seem the thing that best defines Halloween is all that trick-or-treating loot. When I was a kid, Halloween wasn't over until my siblings and I emptied our bags at the end of an evening of trick-or-treating, trading sweets late into the night. My favourites were always the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
But as much as I continue to enjoy pulling back the orange wrapping to reveal the classic American peanut butter and chocolate treat, I've long wondered how hard they might be to make from scratch. Not changing much, mind you, but adjusting the flavours and texture just a bit and playing around with the type of chocolate coating for a richer, dark chocolate flavour.
Homemade peanut butter cups are actually simple to make, nothing more than a combination of peanut butter, powdered sugar and butter, with crumbled biscuits, such as vanilla wafers or plain tea biscuits, for added texture and crunch. I prefer ground crisped rice cereal, as it adds a light crunch without extra flavour. Form the pieces, freeze, then coat in chocolate – a fondue fork is perfect for this – and pop into little candy cups before refrigerating.
Chocolate chips make a perfect candy coating, and varieties range from rich milk chocolate to dark – the higher cocoa percentages lending a more assertive flavour to the chips.
Another trick is keeping the candies cold before they're coated. Most candy fillings are creamy when you bite into them, but they need to be solid to withstand a dip in warm chocolate. If the fillings are too soft, they'll melt. So freeze the candies before you coat, then dip them in chocolate a few at a time.
Your homemade peanut butter cups will easily last two to three weeks refrigerated and longer if frozen.
These aren't treats you'll be passing out to costumed children but rather sweets you can share at parties or use as homemade holiday gifts. Of course, you can also keep a batch – your own loot – for yourself.
Homemade peanut butter cups
340g peanut butter
½ cup (125g) butter, softened
2 cups icing sugar
6 cups crisped rice cereal (eg. Rice Bubbles)
700g milk or dark chocolate chips, or as needed
coconut oil, if needed
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the peanut butter and the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until smooth.
2. Place the rice crisps in the bowl of a food processor and crush to a very fine meal. Add the crushed cereal to the peanut butter mixture and beat to combine. This makes about 3 cups filling. Cover and refrigerate until very firm, 3 to 4 hours.
3. Divide the filling into tablespoon-sized scoops. Very quickly, roll the scoops into balls, then flatten slightly to form patties about 2.5cm wide by 1cm thick. If the dough begins to warm and get sticky, freeze the scoops until firm enough to mold. Freeze the formed patties, uncovered, on a baking paper-lined baking tray until solid, preferably overnight.
4. Melt the chocolate chips in a large microwave-safe bowl, stirring every 20 to 30 seconds until evenly melted. If the melted chips feel a little too thick, stir in a little coconut oil to thin the melted chocolate.
5. Remove just a few patties at a time (keep the rest of the patties frozen), and dip them, one at a time, in the melted chocolate. Tap the coated peanut butter cup a few times to remove excess chocolate and carefully drop each piece into a truffle paper cup, adjusting the sides as needed so the patty sits level in the cup. Repeat until all of the peanut butter cups are assembled.
6. Place the cups in the fridge until the chocolate is hardened before serving.
Makes about 50 miniature peanut butter cups.
Los Angeles Times
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