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Wednesday 3 June 2015

5-STAR REVIEWS: PEANUT BUTTER CUPS


Food is a real passion of mine - I can be found constantly scrolling through the food boards on Pinterest. On my latest food board binge, I stumbled across this incredible recipe blog, which had me drooling all over my keyboard at all of the beautiful food creations. Seeing this recipe for Almond Butter Cups, and watching a look of sheer ecstasy flash across my boyfriend's face, I decided that they would become my next baking venture. Having a boyfriend whose one true love is peanut butter (and me, of course) means that my flat is never without a jar. Not being able to find almond butter in my local Sainsburys, I settled for peanut butter instead, in the hope that they would be just as delicious. Verdict? Perfection.


To recreate these gorgeous treats, you will need:
- 2 bags of chocolate chips (I chose milk chocolate, but dark chocolate would be the healthier alternative)
- 1 tub of smooth peanut butter (the one I used was 340g, and I used about 2/3 of it)
- 8 heaped teaspoons of icing sugar
- 6 cupcake cases
- 1 baking tray
- 1 big bowl and mixing spoon

These ingredients made me six peanut butter cups. If you want to make twelve (like I had originally intended to do), double the amount of chocolate chips. I made the vital error of using all of the melted chocolate on the bottom layer, and had to backtrack so that I had enough chocolate to finish my treats!


Step one: Melt the chocolate chips. The easiest way to do this is to place the chocolate chips in a microwaveable container, and heat them until they form a runny consistency. Unluckily, I don't currently own a microwave (#studentproblems), and so had to melt my chocolate a bit more manually. The best way that I know how to do this is to boil a pan of water, and place the bowl of chocolate chips on top. They should take about 2-3 minutes to melt, with you stirring every now and then to make sure that every last one has melted!

Step two: Pour half (not all, like silly me) of the melted chocolate into however many cupcake cases that you want to make. One tablespoon full is about the right amount. Then, place in the fridge to let the chocolate set.


Step three: Whilst the chocolate is setting, do not be tempted to eat the remaining melted chocolate (or lick the bowl like me...) I created balls of peanut butter and icing sugar by pure trial and error. I placed four big table spoons of peanut butter in a big mixing bowl, accompanied with eight heaped tea spoons of icing sugar, and mixed to my hearts content. If you find that it's not sticking together as well as you would like, add more peanut butter. If it's too sticky, add more icing sugar. I'm a genius, right?

Step four: After finding the perfect consistency, the mixture should start to stick together enough for you to form small dough balls. Roll a small ball in the palm of your hand, and put to one side. Do this however many more times that is required.

Step five: Once your chocolate has had time to set (I would say give it 15-20 minutes), get it out of the fridge and start to master your creations. Place each of your dough balls on top of each of the cases of melted chocolate, and flatten them down to fill out the whole case. I must say, this is a lot easier said than done...


Step six: Then, using the remaining melted chocolate, pour more into each case, covering the newly placed peanut butter dough balls. Using a teaspoon makes it so much easier, as you can spread the chocolate around if you don't have enough to work with (*cough* me). Place them back into the fridge for about an hour to set the chocolate again.

Step seven: Eat and enjoy.

I hope that you've enjoyed following me along on my little baking adventure, and that you thoroughly enjoy your treats if you recreate them yourself! Let me know down in the comments if you have any baking recommendations - it's fastly becoming a loved hobby (check out my previous baking posts here and here)

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