Okay so I know there are a million recipes online for chocolate peanut butter bars or chocolate peanut butter cups…but this recipe!! I swear by it. I have become known solely because of this recipe: “the girl that made the peanut butter bars,” “Kelly’s Peanut Butter Dream,” etc. And I have tried several other recipes, but none I have liked as much as this one, that I adapted from an old family recipe. For me, finding the perfect recipe for chocolate peanut butter bars is like the quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. It’s just a must have! In my original recipe, I make these into bars by pressing the mixture into a 9×13-inch baking pan, but this time I decided to make them into humongous peanut butter cups. They are amazing. And since I think you could probably only eat one in a sitting, it’s like built in portion control!
I made this recipe last week and it made about 30 large peanut butter cups. I sold the peanut butter cups at the salon where I get my hair did at. The adorable owner of the salon, Michelle, organized a super cute fall boutique on their back patio and invited me to sell some of my baked goods and also let my sister and I set up a booth selling our wreaths!
Me in all my glory….hawking my baked goods!
My gorgeous sister and I selling the wreaths we decorate!! You can check out and buys wreaths from her website or from her Etsy shop: Booth Family Ranch. Everyone needs a cute wreath for their front door!!
Okay back to business…these chocolate peanut butter cups! A couple of notes: you can make these in a 9×13-inch baking dish or cupcake lined cupcake pans. If you use a baking dish, I suggest lining with foil and spraying with cooking spray for easier removal and cleanup. Also, as much as I love my Kitchen Aid mixer, mix this by hand. I tried to be lazy once and mixed it in my Kitchen Aid and it messed with the texture.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Print RecipeIngredients
- 2 cups creamy peanut butter (I used regular Skippy brand)
- 1 cup butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3-3/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2/3 cups crushed Nilla Wafer cookies
- Chocolate ToppIng:
- 4 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter, divided
Instructions
Line three cupcake pans with cupcake liners. Set aside. Place Nilla Wafers in a ziplock bag and pound them until they become crumbs. I like if there are still a few larger chunks left of the Nilla Wafers. It gives a nice texture to the peanut butter cups. Leftover crumbs can be stored for later use as an ice cream topping.
Melt the two sticks (one cup) of butter in the microwave in a large microwave safe bowl. Add the peanut butter into the melted butter and stir. Add two teaspoons of vanilla extract to the butter mixture. Next, add the powdered sugar into the butter mixture, cup by cup, stirring by hand. Make sure each cup of sugar is incorporated into the butter mixture before you add the next cup of sugar. After the sugar is incorporated into the butter mixture, add your cookie crumbs and stir until well mixed.
Use a cookie scoop to scoop approximately three tablespoons of the cookie mixture into each cupcake liner. Push the mixture down to the bottom the the liner. Place the cupcake pans in the fridge to chill for 15-minutes.
After the cookie cups have chilled, prepare your chocolate topping. In a microwave safe bowl, place two cups semisweet chocolate chips and one tablespoon peanut butter. Microwave in 10-second intervals, stirring in between. Be careful not to scorch your chocolate or over cook it. And whatever you do DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM THE CHOCOLATE MELTING IN THE MICROWAVE! It only takes me 1 to 1-1/2 minutes to melt the chocolate.
Remove one cupcake pan from the fridge and use your cookie scoop to scoop the desired amount of chocolate on top of the cookie mixture. I filled mine to the top and it was a pretty substantial layer of chocolate. Continue filling the cookie cups with chocolate until you run out of chocolate. Make your second batch of chocolate topping and finishing filling the rest of your cups. Put cupcake pans back in the fridge to set.
After chocolate has set, remove the cookie cups from the cupcake pan and store in an airtight container. Peanut butter cups will keep for at least a week in the fridge.
Notes
If you want to make these into bars, press all of the cookie mixture into your greased 9x13-inch pan and chill in the fridge for 15-minutes. Prepare chocolate topping as above (you can use 2 cups of chocolate chips for a thinner layer of chocolate or all 4 cups if you want a thicker layer), and spoon the melted chocolate mixture on top of the cookie mixture. Put back in the fridge to chill. Once the chocolate has set, remove the pan from the fridge and let it sit on the counter for 10-minutes so it is easier to cut. Cut into bars and store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Thanks for stopping by!! Leave me a comment…I would love to hear what you think of this recipe.
XOXO,
Kelly
PS- I shared this recipe on Candy Plan Monday!! Click HERE to check all the candy recipes out 🙂
4 Comments
Chuck Jones
October 5, 2016 at 7:26 AMThe PB cups are the bomb. I had some at the booth the other night. We hand selected a few others as well and split them later as a sampler.
Stitch Fix- Andrea does that as well. They send nice stuff.
Always enjoy the treats. One of these days we are going to kitchen collaborate a project.
Kelly
October 6, 2016 at 2:05 PMHi Chuck! Thanks so much to you and Andrea for coming out the other night! You guys are seriously the best! Glad you guys liked the treats too. Good to know Andrea has been happy with Stitch Fix…I am super excited to see what they send me.
And yesssssss….we definitely need to collaborate on a project. I think we could just open a place- you do all the BBQ and I can do the desserts!
Aushia Kruse
October 12, 2016 at 2:15 AMKelly-
I am going to try and make these chocolate peanut butter cups this weekend!! They look delicious!! I have never done stitch fix before but a few of my friends have and they love it!! I have been thinking about doing it too. I wear scrubs all week to work so I haven’t really kept up with the trends to much!! I can’t wait to see what you get and how you like it. I have heard that sometimes you don’t like anything in the box and other times you love it all.
Kelly
October 12, 2016 at 2:23 PMHi Aushia! Thanks so much for checking out the blog and leaving me a comment! Made my day 🙂 If you make the PB Cups, let me know what you think of them!!! I get my Stitch Fix “fix” on Friday, so I will definitely do a review! I am hopeful I like at least one thing from the shipment….I am hoping it will help get me out of my rut. I think when you were scrubs or a uniform at work everyday like we do, regular clothes just become a second thought. I secretly like wearing a uniform everyday at work though so I don’t have to think about what I am going to wear!!! Hahahaha.