However, every once in a blue moon, I get into a semi-domestic kick. Baking has always been a draw for me (though I've been getting better at cooking over the years). And so, when my friend (whose daughter is severely allergic to peanuts) was going to come over for a girls' night tonight, I took it upon myself to make her one of her favorite treats - with a twist.
She adores peanut butter cups. But that poses a problem. If she eats peanut butter, she can't be near her daughter. So that only ever happens when her daughter is out of town for the weekend at grandma's house. But because it was supposed to be a relaxing, fun girls' night, I really wanted her to have that "peanut butter cup" experience, minus the peanut butter.
So I searched online for a recipe, and I found this. So I bought the ingredients and immediately started following the directions. It's a fabulous recipe, but I did tweak it a bit. Below I will give you my step-by-step instructions, as well as photos. (Seriously, this is WAY more pinterest-y than I EVER get. So enjoy it while it lasts.)
What you'll need:
1 12 oz. jar of creamy Sunbutter (sunflower seed butter)
2 c. confectioners sugar
2 11-12 oz bags of milk chocolate chips
2-3 tbsp water
mini baking cups
1. Slowly heat the chocolate chips in a small pan/pot on the stove. (I started just below medium, to get the pan warm, and then turned it down to 1/simmer to keep the pan warm enough to keep the chocolate melted but not hot enough to scorch it.)
2. While the chocolate is melting, empty the Sunbutter jar into a mixing bowl. Add confectioners sugar and 2-3 tbsp of water (as needed). Mix until blended well. (It does not have to be super smooth, but the water comes in handy as the sugar makes the mixture quite dry.)
3. With a small spoon, dollop out enough chocolate to coat the bottom and sides of a mini baking cup. Use spoon to smooth around edges. Repeat for as many cups as you want to make. You may want to split up your batch into several smaller batches, i.e., place 12 or so cups on a plate at a time.
4. Place your cups in the freezer for about 15 minutes so the chocolate can harden. (This is why it's easier if you put the cups on a plate.)
5. Once the chocolate is hardened, use a spoon to scoop out the Sunbutter mix into each chocolate cup. Press it down (with your thumb or the back of a spoon) into each cup.
6. Dollop enough chocolate onto the top of each cup to cover the Sunbutter. Once all the cups have chocolate on top, place them in the freezer again to allow the chocolate to harden.
7. If you have odd amounts of chocolate and Sunbutter mixture left over, but not really enough to make any more cups, you can toss the remaining Sunbutter mixture into the pan with the heated chocolate, mix it around, and have a bit of "unofficial" chocolate-Sunbutter fudge. :)
8. Store uneaten Sunbutter cups in a container in the fridge.