Holiday Treats - Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

It's almost Christmas, which at my house means it's time to start making holiday goodies! For years my family has been making holiday treats ranging from chocolate peanut butter cups, toffee, and chocolate covered pretzels,  to bread, cinnamon rolls, sugar cookies, and so on. Once these treats are made we pass them out to neighbors, friends, family, and basically anyone who comes by the house.

This is the first Christmas that I haven't lived with my family and haven't been a part of the craziness that goes into making these goodies, but that didn't mean I was just going to sit at home and not do anything. Now I have my own neighbors, friends, and people coming over to my house, so I'm carrying on the tradition...on a smaller scale, but I'm carrying it on nonetheless.

This vegan chocolate peanut butter cup recipe is just the first in a series of posts on holiday treat-making. It's a big crowd pleaser, and the best part is, it's not hard to make at all...although, I will admit, it's a little time consuming...but it's worth it!

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients:

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup soy butter (I use Earth Balance)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Set out 24 mini cupcake liners on a flat surface. I usually put them on a baking sheet, just to keep them all together.

Combine the peanut butter, soy butter, and vanilla and mix well until creamy. There should be no lumps.

Once peanut butter mixture is smooth, add powdered sugar. If the mixture doesn't hold together when you roll it into a ball, add a bit more powdered sugar.

Set the peanut butter mixture aside.

Pour about 1/2 lb of semi-sweet chocolate chips into a small saucepan and heat over medium to low heat. Stir continuously until all the chocolate chips have melted. Be sure to keep stirring, otherwise it will burn. Note: use a double-broiler if you have it.

Pour a bit of chocolate in the bottom of each of the cupcake liners. Then take a little bit of the peanut butter mixture, roll into a ball, and put on top of the chocolate in the cupcake liner. Once you have placed a little bit of the peanut butter mixture in each liner, pour chocolate over top until the peanut butter center is completely covered. Note: you may have to heat up some more chocolate to finish covering all 24 cupcake liners, depending on the size of your cupcake liners, how much peanut butter you use in the middle (I use a lot because that's my favorite part), and how much chocolate you like.

 Let the peanut butter cups cool overnight, or until the chocolate has hardened.

Makes 24 mini chocolate peanut butter cups.