When Dawn at VanillaSugar posted a recipe for peanut butter cups a while back, I commented that I’d better not make them, ever. Or I would NEVER leave home. I resisted for a while…but when it came time to think about how we’d show Emma’s absolutely wonderful–wonderful!!!–teachers how much we love them, homemade chocolate peanut butter cups leapt to mind. (Both are serious foodies.)
All this time I had been thinking, could I really make these myself? Surprisingly, they were incredibly easy. I had all the ingredients on hand (probably a subconscious pantry stockpile for one of those I-have-to-make-it-immediately moments), and when Emma came home from school yesterday we dug in.
I tripled Dawn’s recipe to make 28 large-size cups (no minis for us!). I’m not a fan of sweet-cum-salty so I halved her salt suggestion, and though I prefer milk chocolate to dark I stuck with dark because I had some 72 percent TJ’s on hand, and knew it would work/be good. My favorite peanut butter is TJ’s unsalted crunchy, but Emma insisted smooth would be better…and because of the slight crunch of the graham crackers, she was right. Would have been crunch overkill with the peanuts, too.
I don’t think I’ll leave home today as there are a few that didn’t fit on the teachers’ plates. Too bad….
24 to 28 regular-size candies
30-36 oz. bittersweet chocolate (at least 60-70% cacao), broken into pieces
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
3/4 cup crushed graham crackers, crushed finely…but not to a powder
1 1/2 t. salt (double this if you like a saltier version)
In a bowl, mix together the peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, graham crackers, and salt. Put in the fridge to harden a bit so it’s easier to form into balls.
In a double boiler, melt the chocolate.
Line regular cupcake tins with 3 to 4 liners per each compartment. (This will help hold the structure of the peanut butter cup.) Using a pastry brush, brush the melted chocolate on the bottom and sides of mini cupcake liners; when in doubt, add more chocolate, since this will be the base for your candy. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, form peanut butter mixture into tablespoon-size balls—I flattened mine out a bit. Remove the cupcake tins from the freezer, and place the flattened balls in the middle, not touching the sides, of each cup. Spoon remaining melted chocolate on top, making sure to get it around the sides.
Place the peanut butter cups back in the freezer for another 15 minutes to set. Then, leave them at room temperature. (NOTE: I have to tell you just pre-post that leftovers do not hold up—mine were not v. good beyond 24 hours…but there was only one left.)
Let’s just say that we went to sleep super satisfied.
Another reason for the great day was The Lovely Blog Award, given to me by Debora at lickedspoon.
I pass it along to:
• Elra at elrasbaking, who always leaves such lovely comments on my posts, and
• Elyse at confectionarycreations, whose confections are totally, completely…right up my alley!
When you accept the award, please post it on your blog with a link to unconfidentialcook. Then give it to up to 15 other blogs that you’ve recently discovered and contact them so they know they’ve been chosen.
Oh My! These look like the Ultimate treat. Decadent. They look perfect! Congrats on your award!!
By: Donna on June 5, 2009
at 2:21 am
Such a delicious treat Catherine, and what a pleasure to receive this award. Thank you!
By: elra on June 5, 2009
at 5:01 am
These look heavenly! Deliciously dangerous in every way. Emma’s teachers are very lucky indeed.
By: lickedspoon on June 5, 2009
at 9:19 am
These look SO good! I’m a huge peanut butter cup fan.
By: Sara on June 5, 2009
at 10:21 am
lucky teacher! if I were the teacher, I’m sure I’d let out a squeal of delight when I see those! Yum! I bet it’s much better than Reeses…..
By: Jescel on June 5, 2009
at 10:23 am
Oh man these look insanely tempting. We’re going to have to make these soon.
By: Phoo-D on June 5, 2009
at 12:24 pm
Delightful chocolate peanut butter cups! Yum! Congrats on the award!
By: Natasha - 5 Star Foodie on June 5, 2009
at 6:59 pm
Congrats on your new award: well deserved Catherine 8)!!
Your peanut butter cups look decadently rich & so appetizing!!
By: Sophie on June 6, 2009
at 4:41 am
I made every bite count! I loved them and my Daughter softball team love them:)
Thanks for sharing such wonderful peanut butter cups. Congrats
to YOU on your New Award!
By: foodcreate on June 6, 2009
at 6:19 am
These are just delectable. It would certain ensure my college-age kids would stay home for an eve. Bookmarking this. I don’t use TJ products. I need to try them.
By: Claudia on June 6, 2009
at 9:26 am
Oh! And congrats on the award. It is truly a lovely blog!
By: Claudia on June 6, 2009
at 9:27 am
I saw these at Dawn’s and yours turned out fabulous. Wow, my favorite candy of all time!
By: noble pig on June 6, 2009
at 9:36 am
you know, i’ve tried my hand at these a couple of times, but they’ve never turned out so lovely. very nicely done!
By: grace on June 6, 2009
at 10:20 am
I saw these on vanilla sugar’s site as well. I will have to make these for my students one day. These look great! I wonder if they would taste good with semi-sweet chocolate. I’m not a fan of bittersweet.
By: Memoria on June 6, 2009
at 1:25 pm
Memoria, I will make them with my fave, milk chocolate, next time and I see no reason why semi-sweet wouldn’t work. Just use a high-percentage of cacao.
By: Catherine on June 6, 2009
at 3:03 pm
Those peanut butter cups look incredible. They look like the real deal. I’ll have to try this outl. Thanks for sharing!
By: Hayley on June 6, 2009
at 4:29 pm
I am so glad I just found your blog!
I made graham crackers the other day and really wanted to use them in some sort of dessert and your recipe sounds perfect!
Thanks!
~SweetKaroline
http://sweetkaroline.wordpress.com/
By: sweetkaroline on June 6, 2009
at 6:26 pm
I can’t believe how silky smooth they look. They look absolutely divine but I’m afraid I don’t think my waistline can handle any further sweets at the moment.
By: Mariana on June 6, 2009
at 6:58 pm
GOSH! looks soooo decadent and sinful! for some reason, I think this would be a great honeymoon treat!
By: burpexcuzme on June 6, 2009
at 7:41 pm
Since I moved to the US, I’m learned to enjoy peanut butter. Now I’m addicted to it. THanks for posting such a wonderful recipe
By: Jackie @ PhamFatale.com on June 7, 2009
at 2:14 am
yum! i woudn’t leave the house either. chocolate and pb are one of my favorite combination of all time.
By: cindy on June 7, 2009
at 11:43 am
You cannot go wrong with these trets for the teachers. That is sweet of you to think of them! I think I would have made sure a few did not fit on the plates too!
By: RobinSue on June 7, 2009
at 1:37 pm
Oh my, am I ever in trouble!
(I pretty much want to eat my screen right now).
By: Marian on June 8, 2009
at 9:42 am
very cool photos of this treat
By: justcooknyc on June 9, 2009
at 4:48 pm
These look so incredibly rich and decadent. Luscious!
By: Monica H on June 9, 2009
at 8:25 pm
What an elegant and lovely dessert! I love this, it’s such a great idea. cant wait to try this out.. yumm yumm!! btw congrats on ye award.. u rili deserved.
cheers!!
~nora~
By: nora@ffr on June 10, 2009
at 10:30 am
As one of Emma’s teachers who received the yummy Choc PB Cups…WOW! What a chocolate fix! I shared these yummies with some good friends and all were shaking in their boots! Thank you for such a treat, the CPBs and for the other treat…Emma!
By: francine on June 10, 2009
at 7:55 pm
Thanks Ms. Pam.
We’re gonna miss you so much next year!!!!
Love,
Emma
By: Catherine on June 10, 2009
at 9:09 pm
These would not be safe in my house…not for one minute!!!
By: Aggie on June 18, 2009
at 4:18 am