Raw Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups {The Recipe Redux}

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At choir rehearsal a few days ago, I declared to a table of pitch-perfect singers that sausage was my fourth favorite food in the world (a very sometimes food if I ever saw one). You can imagine the follow-up question.

“That’s strangely specific,” said our excellent choir director. “What are your top three foods?”

Well. Let me tell you. You need not look beyond the very first post of this blog to discover the answer. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

(Notice how I never changed the permalink for that post from the super cheerful “Hello, World!” WordPress uses for the default first post. I should have changed it to something more appropriate, like “Welcome to DOOM (Dietitian Of Overexcited Mutts)!”)

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Chocolate, peanut butter, and cheese. The food of (singing) champions. In particular, chocolate and peanut butter go together like Peter and a kitchen appliance catalog. That’s why I celebrated when I discovered this month’s Recipe Redux theme:

No-Cook Desserts – The raw food trend is sweetening things up with all sorts of treats from cocoa clusters and energy balls to puddings and panna cottas. Please share a no-cook dessert you are serving. No-cook usually means ‘super-quick’…and we always want to make time for a healthy dessert!

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Dessert time!  Not only do chocolate and peanut butter take center stage in this raw, vegan dessert, but my trusty mini-muffin pan also makes an appearance. Why? Besides the obvious reasons, a mini-muffin pan is perfect for keeping small the portion sizes of this rich dessert. Like many raw desserts, these chocolate peanut butter cups make liberal use of peanut butter, coconut, and avocados . While these foods are packed with healthy fats and other nutrients, they’re also calorie-dense, which means moderate portions are key. Mini-muffin pan = automatic portion control.

The recipe is adapted from this one and is melt-in-your mouth delicious. Keep these peanut butter cups in the freezer and pop ’em out to defrost for a minute before eating.

Raw Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

  Prep Time: 15 minutes

  Keywords: raw dessert vegan coconut chocolate

Ingredients (20 mini cups)

    Ganache Layer

    • 1/3 cup coconut oil
    • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
    • 1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup

    Peanut Butter Layer

    • 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
    • 1/4 cup almond milk
    • 1/2 ripe large banana
    • 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

    Chocolate Layer

    • 2 medium-sized ripe avocados
    • 1 tablespoon almond milk
    • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
    • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
    • Pinch salt

    Instructions

    In separate batches, blend each layer in a blender or food processor until smooth. After each layer in blended, place in a separate bowl. Arrange muffin papers in mini muffin pan or use a paper towel to spread a small amount of coconut oil in each cup.

    Drizzle 1 teaspoon of the ganache layer into each cup. If ganache is too stiff, heat in microwave for 10 seconds or over stove to soften (will need to wait for the ganache layer to cool in cups before adding additional layers).

    Add 1 teaspoon of the peanut butter layer into each cup and use spoon to smooth. Finally, add 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of the chocolate layer into each cup and smooth. Freeze for 3 to 4 hours. Remove from pan and serve immediately or transfer to tightly-sealed, freezer-safe container for storage. Can freeze for 3 months.

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    Q: Have you ever tried a raw dessert? What are your three favorite foods?

    26 Comments

    1. Chocolate and peanut butter (together) is my number one in terms of foods I love! Kind of just want to gobble a whole batch of these up!

    2. Definitely pinned these. They sound like perfection!!! Kind of like your coconut vegan donuts. I went out and bought a mini muffin pan the other day and made them. Nick LOVED them, but said they tasted more like mini biscuits, which, I had to agree, they did. I used brown rice flour, maybe that’s why. Either way they were fantastic AND husband approved!

      1. Mmm, mini biscuits sound great! I’ll have to try them with rice flour next, too 🙂

    3. Chocolate and PB desserts are definitely my favorite. I’ve never tried making homemade PB cups, let alone healthy ones – thanks for the inspiration!

    4. these look awesome. i’m such a chocolate-peanut butter lover. yum. (and i love that you’re such a fan of teetering food towers… :))

      1. Haha, you’re right! I try to be subtle about it … okay, not all THAT subtle … 😉

    5. Well, I adore your first post because peanut butter, chocolate and cheese would be top 3 for me too (followed by bacon and shrimp.) I actually just started a Peanut Butter & Chocolate pin board because of these ReDux recipes and I’m pinning ever last peanut butter recipe – yessiree!

    6. Chocolate is just naturally meant to go with peanut butter, isn’t it? Scrumptious 🙂 My favorite foods tend to change a bit but I always love chocolate, tuna + salmon, freshly baked bread, muffins, mushrooms, cabbage, nuts, raspberries…and a billion other things haha. It’s too hard to rank them 😉

    7. These peanut butter cups look amazing, and your use of avocado and banana in the layers is so creative! I’ll have to give these a try!

    8. These are definitely calling out my name! Love raw desserts, and 3 favorite foods are…tomatoes, coffee, and….chocolate 🙂

    9. This looks good, nice use of the coconut oil. Gonna have to try!

    10. These look fantastic! And full of ingredients I LOVE.

      Amazing recipe Jessie…thank you for sharing. My family thanks you as well. 🙂

    11. Chocolate and peanut butter are a match made in heaven. No doubt. An these peanut butter cups couldn’t look any better. I love that they are raw and vegan too! Thank you for sharing Jessie!

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