You all know I love chocolate.

And I kinda think peanut butter is amazing, too.

(Yes, I have been known to occasionally eat a spoonful on its own – and I admit that while I was pregnant with my both my boys, my favorite snack was dipping bananas in peanut butter.)

But together… together they are a match made in sweet/salty treat heaven.

I’ve always enjoyed those peanut butter cups you can buy in the store… but they’d never been exactly what I was looking for – the ratio always seemed off, you couldn’t get crunchy peanut butter, and dark chocolate was just a dream.  Of course, they’ve added those options, but they’re hard to find and still not exactly perfect.

So, when I was younger, my mom and I invented our own version – and it’s a super, super easy way to get the exact treat you are looking for.

The Recipe:

Peanut Butter Cups

chocolate chips

peanut butter

muffin liners

Line muffin tin (either mini or regular) with muffin liners.  (You may want to lightly grease liners if you want really easy removal.  Usually I don’t, and just have to carefully remove the liners.)

Melt chocolate in a double-boiler (or in a glass bowl in the microwave at 50% power in increments of 25 seconds, stirring after each, until the chocolate is melted).  Pour 1/2 your desired chocolate in each liner.  Add your desired amount of peanut butter.  Top with remaining chocolate.  Refrigerate or freeze until solid.  Remove liners and enjoy.

(Notice there are no actual amounts listed – basically because it’s all up to you.)

The Results:

I admit I’d almost forgotten about this recipe.  It wasn’t until a friend of mine solicited help for using up some leftover melted chocolate that I remember these awesome goodies.  And I’m so glad I did.

(This is a great recipe to use up those half/quarter bags of chocolate chips you may have lying around.  Which is exactly what I did.)

And the best part is that the possibilities are endless.  For the outer chocolate part you could use dark, semi sweet, milk, white, a mix; heck you could make an inside-out cup with peanut butter chips.  As for fillings, why not try crunchy, creamy, almond butter, nutella… and the lists and combinations could just go on and on.

My personal choices for this evening: bittersweet chocolate and creamy peanut butter (only because we’d used our crunchy on all those sandwiches the last couple weeks) in a regular-sized muffin liner.

Please ignore the fingerprints…I couldn’t resist taking them out before they were completely set.

You’ve got to see the inside, too…

Yes, I took this picture from my lap on the couch.

Notice the ratio of chocolate to peanut butter – a little more chocolate than you’d find in the store brand ones – and absolute perfection for me.

So start your weekend off right, use up those partial bags of chips you have in the cupboard, and make some of these personalized and decadent dessert snacks.

So worth it.

Tagged: chocolate, dessert, recipe, snack