Thanks for joining me this month in my Healthy Habits Challenge to Eat Less Sugar! I've technically made it to the end of my own sugar-free challenge that started January 1. While you might be thinking that I should totally celebrate this weekend and go out and eat tons of the treats I've been staying away from since January, I honestly have felt so good about the changes I've been making I plan to keep it up longer. I'll probably give myself a bit more leniency, but I definitely plan to stay 100% away from super-sugary foods like candy. Mostly because I know I have such a weakness that it is a slippery slope for me - but also because I figure there is so little good in them, if I'm going to indulge I might as well look for high-quality indulgences! But, though I won't be spending the weekend eating the bag of cinnamon bears that my mom sent me for Valentine's Day, it's entirely likely that I'll make up another batch of these lovelies! These scrumptious darlings are fantastic not only because you can make them as sugar-free (read: guilt-free) as you like, but they have the healthy bonuses of real peanut butter - not that faux-whatever that is inside packaged PB cups. Not that I can denigrate Reese's too much, because I won't deny that they are a favorite of mine. No longer, though - I am committed to bigger and better things!
So, let's raise our "cups" to making a healthy habit out of eating less sugar! And, as they say in Spanish ... "Salud! To your health!"
*I should explain that when I say you can make them as sugar-free as you like, I mean that you can sweeten up or down both the chocolate and the peanut butter filling depending on your preferences. The chocolate cup is definitely intended to be a dark chocolate so that the sugar content is lower. I try to stick with 72% or darker, and ideally 85% or darker. If you want to sweeten the chocolate a little more without added sugar, you can add Stevia. Same goes for the peanut butter filling: you can put it in au natural with no added sweetener, or you can sweeten it up a bit with either a touch of Stevia (don't overdo it or you get the aftertaste) or even a bit of honey.
12 SERVINGS
PREP: 15 minutes REFRIGERATE: 20-30 minutes READY IN: 45 minutes
| SIMPLE | HEALTHY | YUM |
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INGREDIENTS
- 6-8 ounces dark chocolate pieces (72% or higher, unsweetened baking chocolate can be used but will need some type of sweetener)
- 1 tablespoon butter or coconut oil
- 4 tablespoons natural peanut butter (with a drop or two of liquid stevia or 1/2 tablespoon honey, if desired)
DIRECTIONS
- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate pieces and butter/coconut oil. Melt by cooking in the microwave for 1 minute, then stir, followed by 30-second intervals of cooking with stirring in between until the chocolate is smooth.
- Using paper candy wrappers or a miniature muffin tin (greased beforehand), spoon in a thin layer of chocolate to each spot and spread slightly up the sides. Place the tin in the refrigerator or freezer to allow the layer to harden.
- Once you have a layer of chocolate in the bottom of each container, place approximately 1 teaspoon of peanut butter in each, followed by another layer of chocolate over the top. (You can also sprinkle the top with coarse salt for salted peanut butter cups.) Again, place the tray in the fridge or freezer to allow the chocolate to harden.
NUTRITION FACTS
1 piece 119 calories 8.8 g fat 7.4 g carbs 2.5 g protein 4.2 g sugar
Enjoy!
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