Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups from The Kind Diet

Last season, I saw Alicia Silverstone on Oprah promoting her vegan cookbook, The Kind Diet.

Oprah had several recipes to sample and most looked really good.  One that I really wanted to try was the peanut butter cups.  I finally tried them this week and as expected, they were amazing.  Chocolate and Peanut Butter are a natural combination, so the yumminess didn't surprise me.  

I made a few changes to the recipe - one, I used regular (not vegan) chocolate.  I actually used a mix of super dark and semi-sweet chocolate.   Also, I used creamy peanut butter and didn't add in any chopped nuts. I absolutely hate nuts in sweets.  I don't mind them in general, but in baked goods or candies, I cannot handle them!

Here is the recipe, with my changes in red.  Enjoy!


Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
1/2 cup Earth Balance butter
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter (preferably unsweetened and unsalted) (I used creamy, unsweetened and unsalted)
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs or 10 graham cracker squares
1/4 cup maple sugar or other granulated sweetener
1 cup grain-sweetened, nondairy chocolate or carob chips (I used half dark chocolate and half semi-sweet chocolate chips...neither were vegan)
1/4 cup soy, rice, or nut milk (I used chocolate soy milk)
1/4 cup chopped pecans, almonds, or peanuts (I omitted this)

1. Line a 12-cup muffin tin (I used a mini muffin pan) with paper liners. (If You Care makes unbleached liners made from recycled paper.) Set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
3. Stir in the peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, and maple sugar and mix well.
4. Remove the mixture from the heat. Evenly divide the mixture, approximately 2 tablespoons per cup (about one tablespoon per mini muffin cup), among the muffin cups.

5. Combine the chocolate and milk in another pan. Stir over medium heat until the chocolate has melted.
6. Spoon the chocolate evenly over the peanut butter mixture.
7. Top with chopped nuts. (I skipped this step.)
8. Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours before serving