Easy Peanut Butter Cups

A soft peanut butter base topped with thick chocolate, bite-sized bliss. These are just so easy yet so moorish and satisfying. The more elaborate peanut butter cups have the filling completely encased in chocolate. I took the quick and easy route, just two layers, they’re no less delicious.

Chris didn’t want a chocolate egg this Easter, as he went to grab a packet of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups instead. I declared “I’ll make you some home-made ones, the chocolate will be better and you’ll have heaps more!”

The recipe is based on Nigella’s Peanut-Butter Squares, in her fabulous How To Be A Domestic Goddess. I’ve tinkered with it a bit and pressed the peanut filling into petit-four cases rather than into a tin. You could of course do this and make bars/squares instead of cups, in which case double the peanut filling ingredients.

Easy Peanut Butter Cups

24 hole petit four tin, or mini muffin tin, lined with paper cases

• 30 g {1/4 stick} soft, unsalted butter
• 1 and 1/2 tbsp light muscovado sugar, or brown sugar. Dark is fine too.
• 100 g {4/5 cup} icing sugar
• 100 g {a generous 1/3 cup} peanut butter, smooth or crunchy
• 200 g {7 ounces} milk chocolate, or a combination of milk and dark.
• 1 tsp unsalted butter
• 50 {2 ounces} white chocolate to swirl {optional}

Place the butter, muscovado sugar and peanut butter into a mixing bowl. Sift in the icing sugar. Beat well with a wooden spoon into a sandy dough.

Take lumps of the dough and press them into the petit four cases to half fill them. Level them a bit with your fingertip.

Melt the chocolate, with the teaspoon of butter, in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, just an inch or so of water is enough, do not let it touch the bowl. Once it has just about melted spoon it over the peanut mixture in the paper cases, to the rim. Give the tin a sharp tap on the counter to level the chocolate flat.

If you would like to make pretty swirls, melt the white chocolate {I did this really gently, just 10 second bursts in the microwave. Don’t wait for it to become liquid, give it a poke and you’ll find it is soft enough to stir.} Put drops onto the milk chocolate and swirl in with a cocktail stick or similar.

Put the tin into the fridge to set the chocolate.

To make squares or bars, double the peanut dough ingredients and press into a 23 cm/ 9 inch square tin lined with parchment and pour the melted chocolate over the top. How easy is that!

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