Make your own homemade peanut butter cups and you’ll never go back to the store-bought kind again! These easy candy cups get their signature ridges from being molded in cupcake liners and are made with creamy milk chocolate (though you can certainly use dark instead) and a smooth and simple peanut butter filling (no graham cracker crumbs here!).
Try them out for yourself and see how easy they are to make!
It’s been 13 days since I last shared a peanut butter and chocolate recipe with you, so I think we’re about due for a new one, right?
Peanut Butter Cups are a classic candy dessert, but have you ever made them at home before? They’re simple to make (though I won’t lie, they can be pretty messy to make!) and require only a handful of ingredients. They’re also quite versatile and can be made using your favorite flavor of chocolate (I like to sub dark chocolate for the milk)
The filling is very similar to the one that I use for my buckeye recipe and my peanut butter bars, and you might notice that in both that recipe and in this one I don’t use graham cracker crumbs while many other recipes do.
Personally, I don’t like the graham cracker crumbs, though I tried this recipe using them several times (Zach also voted no on the crumbs). I think they make the filling much too gritty and chewy when it should be smooth and the flavor of the peanut butter should be the highlighting feature, not the awkward texture of the cracker crumb.
Tips for Making Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
- Heat the chocolate slowly.
Take care when melting your chocolate. Chocolate should always be melted slowly, so when microwaving your chocolate chips don’t heat the chocolate for longer than 25 seconds at a time and stir very well in between heating. You want to heat until it is just melted — if the chocolate gets too hot it can leave streaks in your peanut butter cups when finished baking, or even worse it will seize and become completely unusable.
I also recommend adding a teaspoon of shortening to the chocolate chips while melting to make the chocolate smoother and easier to spread into the cupcake liners once cooled.
- Use the right tools to make the process as easy and neat as possible.
Making peanut butter cups can be a pretty messy process. To keep things as neat as possible, I used a 2-teaspoon cookie dough scoop (affiliate) to distribute my chocolate into the liners and used a small pastry brush to evenly coat the bottom of each liner with chocolate. I also cover my entire surface that I’ll be working on with wax paper, so that any spills can be easily cleaned up once I’m finished.
I also recommend placing your cupcake liners on a cookie sheet before filling with chocolate and peanut butter. Once you’ve filled the liners, they will be hard to move without messing them up until they’ve set, so make things easy for yourself by putting them on a cookie sheet that you can move without mis-shaping your peanut butter cups.
These peanut butter cups usually require at least an hour for the chocolate to re-solidify so that you can easily separate them from their cupcake liners. If you wish to speed up the process you can place them in the refrigerator to harden faster, but this can cause some discoloration in your chocolate (it will still taste good, though!).
Enjoy!
Looking for more peanut butter & chocolate recipes? Check out my peanut butter blossoms or my peanut butter thumbprint cookies!
Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
Ingredients
- 1 cup (235 g) creamy peanut butter
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons brown sugar tightly packed
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (125 g) powdered sugar (add more if needed)
- 3 cups milk chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon shortening
Instructions
- Combine peanut butter and butter in a medium-sized bowl and use an electric mixer to beat together until well-combined.1 cup (235 g) creamy peanut butter, 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- Stir in brown sugar, salt, and vanilla extract.3 Tablespoons brown sugar tightly packed, ½ tsp salt, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Gradually add the powdered sugar, about ¼ cup at a time, stirring until completely combined. Set aside.1 cup (125 g) powdered sugar
- Roll about 2-3 teaspoons of your peanut butter mixture into a ball, slightly flatten, and set aside on a wax paper lined cookie sheet (if the peanut butter mixture is too sticky to handle, add more powdered sugar, stirring in 1 Tablespoon at a time until it is manageable).
- Set out 20 cupcake liners on a large cookie sheet.
- Prepare your chocolate by combining the chocolate chips and shortening in a large, microwave-safe bowl and microwaving in 25-second increments (stirring well between each) until chocolate is completely melted.3 cups milk chocolate chips, 1 teaspoon shortening
- Spoon a small amount (about 2 teaspoons) of chocolate into a cupcake liner and use the back of a small spoon or use a pastry brush to spread the chocolate so the entire bottom of the liner is covered.
- Press a prepared peanut butter ball gently into the chocolate layer, and then spoon additional chocolate on top until all of the peanut butter is completely covered in chocolate.
- Repeat until all cupcake liners have been filled.
- Allow cupcake liners to sit undisturbed until the chocolate has hardened (this may take over an hour), or you may speed up the process and place the cups in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
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Joe Parker
made these but puped the chocolate into a mini cupcake silicone tray, dropped a pb disc on the base, then piped the sides and covered the pb filling. roughly 3/8″ thick. We added dark chocolate and coconut later with a few flakes of sea salt for a dark side of the moon treat!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Joe! 🙂
Donna
Shortening kinda bothers me. Can I sun butter?
Sam
Hi Donna! Butter will work, but coconut oil would work even better. 🙂
Elizabeth
These are so tasty! I made them for a cookie exchange and they got rave reviews. I linked your recipe with a QR code on the label. One recipe made approximately 48 mini ones (using the mini muffin liners)
I put the filing in a large ziploc bag and made it super easy to pipe into the liners. Thank you for an amazing recipe.
H
Can you use natural peanut butter?
Sam
I don’t recommend natural peanut butter. I’m afraid it would separate. 🙁
Andie C
Yes you can use all natural pb!
Donna
hey Sam can I use butter flavor shortening,
Sam
Hi Donna! I haven’t personally tried it so I can’t say for sure. It could potentially make the filling a bit softer and change the texture of it.
Louise Krekic
You can use Kraft no salt no sugar added but it is emulsified so it doesn’t separate. I will use that peanut butter and also dark brown chocolate, I don’t like anything too sweet.
Amanda
Do
You
Have to spray the cupcakes liners first ?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Amanda! No, you do not. Enjoy! 🙂
Sandy
I am so sorry
I sm making these again. 2 days in a row
They are the best btw
my phone doesn’t have the biggest font and I just found where to add the salt. My apologies
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you love them, Sandy! Thanks for trying my recipe and for commenting. Enjoy your second batch! 🙂
Joanne
Don’t you need to temper the chocolate?
Sam
You certainly can 🙂
Sandy
I dont see where the salt is added in the instructions. Please help. thanks
Sam
Hi Sandy! Add it with the brown sugar 🙂
Beth
Best peanut butter cup recipe out there. I agree that the graham cracker style does not add anything. Really glad I found your recipe! Thanks!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Beth! 🙂
CHIPILIRO MMEMO
they are good we love em eish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sam
So glad you enjoyed them!! 🙂
Eric
These are the best. We made ours with almond butter (Barney butter) and dark chocolate. What an outstanding recipe. Thank you Sam
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Eric! Thank you for commenting 🙂
Kimberly @ Foodtalko
This is definitely food of the gods…mmm! Pinned!