Homemade Peanut Butter & S’mores Cups

February 20th, 2009 Leave a comment Go to comments
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Make your own peanut butter cups—and s’mores cups, and fluffernutter cups. I’ve been wanting to do this for ages, and man…am I glad I did. It’s easy, kind of messy, and tons of fun.

Warning: Gratuitous candy photography ahead. I couldn’t help myself. I think my camera might still be semi-coated in chocolate.

How to make homemade, filled chocolate candies

These were such a hit with the Mouse House Crew that I’ll definitely make them again soon. The best part? Once you get the basic chocolate shell down, the possibilities for fillings are almost endless.

Chocolate-coated shells

This time, I filled some of mine with a sweetened peanut-butter paste, and some with marshmallow fluff and graham crackers for an all-in-one s’mores treat. Oh, and a handful got peanut butter and marshmallow fluff, in classic fluffernutter style.

S’mores cup

Here are a few more ideas for fillings

+Chocolate ice cream + a dollop of homemade fudge sauce (fill and freeze, then thaw in the fridge half an hour before serving)
+Peanut butter + jelly
+Marshmallow fluff + raspberry jam
+Dark chocolate fudge + chopped, brandy-soaked dried cherries

Peanut-butter cup

Homemade Peanut Butter & S’mores Cups: A note on ingredients

I used semi-sweet chocolate chips here, but use any kind of chocolate you like. Dark chocolate would be lovely, as well. For the peanut butter, I used smooth, but chunky (or even homemade) would be great.

For the marshmallow fluff, make your own (it’s easy, I swear!)—or use good ole Marshmallow Fluff in a jar.

(Fact #438 about The Hungry Mouse: The Mouse House is located not far from where Marshmallow Fluff was invented.)

Melting chocolate: To temper or not to temper?

In a word, I didn’t bother for these. Basically, tempering chocolate is a method of melting chocolate that helps it keep a nice gloss and a good snap.

If you like, definitely take the time to do this. It’s a good thing to do if you plan to keep them around for a while, and can help eliminate (harmless) spots of bloom on the surface.

Here’s a good explanation from Epicurious:

OK, Mouse! Make with the candy!

Yep, yep. Here you go. There are all sorts of recipes floating around out there for these. Here’s a step-by-step walk-through of how I made mine. Measurements are approximate, and depend on how much of each ingredient you add to each cup.

Homemade Peanut Butter & S’mores Cups

For the candy shells
3-4 cups chocolate chips

For the peanut butter filling
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the s’mores filling
1 cup marshmallow fluff
2 graham crackers, broken in pieces

Yields about 2 dozen mini peanut butter cups and 4-6 large s’mores.

I used mini muffin liners for the peanut-butter cups, and regular-sized ones for the s’mores.

Homemade Peanut Butter & S’mores Cups: Melt the chocolate

Grab your chocolate chips. Set a pot with an inch of water on the stove over high heat. Bring the water up to a boil, then drop the heat to low. Set a large, heat-proof bowl on top of the pot.

Add your chocolate to the bowl. It should immediately start to melt.

dscn5086

Stir it with a spatula until it’s completely melted. This should only take a few minutes. When it’s totally melted, turn the stove off and set the bowl on a board to cool.

Homemade Peanut Butter & S’mores Cups: Make the peanut butter filling

While your chocolate is cooling, make your peanut butter filling.

Put your peanut butter in a medium-sized bowl.

Add the powdered sugar to it.

Stir to combine well.

When you have a smooth, uniform mixture, add the vanilla extract. (If you wanted a different flavor in the filling, this is the place to add it.)

Stir to combine well. You want to end up with a smooth paste, like this:

Set the peanut butter filling aside. If you’re using additional fillings, gather them together now.

Homemade Peanut Butter & S’mores Cups: Make the chocolate cups

When your chocolate is still melted, but cool enough to handle comfortably, you’re ready to make your chocolate-coated cups.

Grab your muffin liners.

Put a spoonful of chocolate in the middle of the cup.

Using the back of your spoon, smoosh the chocolate around so that it completely coats the inside of the muffin liner, like this:

When your cup is coated, set it aside on a baking sheet or plate (use something that will fit in your fridge).

Repeat with the rest of the muffin liners until they’re all coated.

Homemade Peanut Butter & S’mores Cups: Chill the chocolate cups

When your cups are all filled, pop them into the fridge for about a half an hour, until the chocolate is totally solid. When you’re ready to fill them, take them out of the fridge.

Homemade Peanut Butter & S’mores Cups: Fill the peanut-butter cups

Check your melted chocolate before you start. If it’s too solid to work with, pop it back over a pot of warm water to loosen it up a little.

Put a small lump of peanut butter filling in the chocolate cup. How much you add is up to you. I’d fill them at least halfway up, so there’s a fairly even ratio of chocolate to filling.

With a finger, smoosh the filling down so that it’s flat.

Top with a spoonful of melted chocolate.

Spread the chocolate around with the back of your spoon. Basically, you want to create a chocolate seal, touching all the edges and completely covering the filling.

Set the finished peanut butter cup on a plate or tray (again, one that will fit in your fridge).

Repeat with the rest of the chocolate-coated cups.

Homemade Peanut Butter & S’mores Cups: Fill the s’mores cups

To make a s’mores cup, fill the bottom of the cup a little more than halfway full with marshmallow fluff. Set a piece of a graham cracker on top of the fluff. Press it down gently.

Top with melted chocolate.

Spread the chocolate around with the back of a spoon to completely seal in the filling.

Set aside on a plate or tray. Repeat as needed.

Homemade Peanut Butter & S’mores Cups: Refrigerate the candy

When all your cups are filled and topped with chocolate, pop your candy into the fridge to let the chocolate harden up. Give them an hour, at least, depending on how thick your top layer of chocolate is.

When the chocolate is hard, they should look about like this:

Homemade Peanut Butter & S’mores Cups: Serve and enjoy!

Here’s a peanut butter cup:

And here’s a s’mores cup:

Enjoy!

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