Peanut Butter Cups – Vegan & Gluten Free

I used to be absolutely obsessed with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

In fact, I dare say that I once ate 24 cups in one night. No, that is not a typo. I ate 24 of those suckers in the span of 4 hours. Needless to say, I was not well that night.

These days, I’m not so reckless! And I adapted a recipe from my friend Brendan Brazier’s cookbook, The Thrive Energy Cookbook, to bring you these vegan, gluten free peanut butter cups. You will LOVE them, but please, whatever you do, do NOT eat 24 of them in one sitting!

Here is what you will need:

For the crust:

1 cup walnuts
2 cups peanuts
1 cup hazelnuts
1/8 cup cacao nibs
1/3 cup dates, pitted, soaked and chopped
2 tbsp pure maple syrup

For the Filling:

1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1/3 cup organic, natural peanut butter
3-4 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla

For the chocolate sauce Topping:

1/2 cup unsweetened cacao powder
1/4 cup coconut oil
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp maple syrup

1. To make the crust, pulse the nuts in a food processor until they are in small pieces. Then add in the dates, cacao nibs and maple syrup and process until a paste/ dough forms.

2. Line a pyrex dish with 12 silicone baking cups. Using an ice cream scoop (regular sized), scoop out a full scoop of dough and place into each of the cups. Then squish the dough along the bottoms and the sides of each cup, making the base for your peanut butter cup filling to live in.

3. Set aside.

4. Make your peanut butter filling by putting all of the ingredients in a food processor and blending until smooth. Then pour enough filling into each cup so that the filling comes up level with the top of the cup.

5. Place in the refrigerator – covered – for 1 hour to set.

6. Once the cups are chilled, it’s time to make the chocolate topping! Place all the ingredients for your chocolate topping in a high powered blender and blend until smooth.

7. Spoon out a dab of chocolate sauce and place over each peanut butter cup – just enough to cover the surface.

8. Chill for another 20-30 minutes and then enjoy!

9. The peanut butter cups can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 1 week. They should be served cold.