Sugared & Stirred

dairy-free. still delicious.

dark chocolate

Dark Chocolate Mini Peanut Butter Cups

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Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (and eggs!) have to be were one of my all-time favorite candies before I began my dairy-free journey. Now I’m talking low-key obsessed. When I lived in San Francisco I would stop by the store on my walk home and buy two King-Size packs. And eat them all (would not recommend). So I love chocolate peanut butter cups!

When Bon Appetit came out with a Gourmet Makes episode about Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, I was S-O-L-D. I had to try this better, more Reese’s-like version of peanut butter cups! I took Claire’s recipe from the video and made it with dairy-free dark chocolate and coconut sugar. The results were stellar. Soft, delicious peanut butter cups that I could store at room temperature without worrying about the peanut butter being a gooey mess.

Since these Peanut Butter Cups are created by a professional pastry chef, they’re a little different (and more time consuming) than the ‘ole melt-pour-freeze method we all know and love. For these cups, you will boil the coconut sugar with a bit of water and then slowly beat that into the peanut butter. This creates a firm and pliable peanut butter “dough” that you’ll be able to cut out and press into your melted chocolate pools. You’ll top those with more chocolate and voila! Peanut Butter Cups!

The recipe below makes quite a few candies, so feel free to halve it. And if you prefer regular size cups vs the minis then you can make that happen, too. Just trim your regular muffin liners down and be sure your peanut butter circles are slightly smaller than the liners (you’ll need a bigger circle cutter than what I used for the minis).

Some of the ingredients I love for this recipe:

Natural unsalted peanut butter is made solely from peanuts and doesn’t include any added sugars, salts, or oils.

Dark Chocolate is the easiest (and most affordable) chocolate to find without dairy. I recommend the Pound Plus bars from Trader Joe’s if you have one near you!

Coconut Sugar is an unrefined, low GI sugar. It has no coconut flavor and makes for a great better-for-you alternative to white, granulated sugar.

Yield: ~30 Mini Cups

Dark Chocolate Mini Peanut Butter Cups

Dark Chocolate Mini Peanut Butter Cups

These Vegan Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups are ultra rich and creamy! A better-for-you version of a favorite childhood candy that no one can pass up!

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Additional Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted, natural creamy peanut butter
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup coconut sugar
  • 3 Tbsp water
  • 12oz dairy-free dark chocolate, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp coconut oil

Instructions

  1. In a medium or large bowl, beat together the peanut butter, vanilla extract, and salt until just combined; set aside.
  2. In a small saucepan, bring the coconut sugar and water to a boil and cook until mixture reaches 248°F (firm-ball stage). Remove from heat and slowly pour/beat into the peanut butter mixture.
  3. Scrape the mixture out onto a piece of parchment paper and allow to cool slightly. Place another piece of parchment paper on top and roll the mixture into a slab 1/4" thick. Allow to cool completely.
  4. Using a small cookie cutter (or other round object - I used a 1" piping tip) cut circles out of the peanut butter slab. The size of your circle cutter depends on the size of your muffin or candy liners. Keep circles on the parchment paper and freeze.
  5. Line a mini muffin pan with muffin liners. If you don't have a mini muffin pan, you should still be able to fill mini muffin liners without one.
  6. Melt your chocolate, along with 1/2 tsp of coconut oil, using the double boiler method or a microwave, being careful not to burn the chocolate.
  7. Remove peanut butter cut outs from the freezer and double them up (stack 2 together). Spoon enough chocolate into each liner to cover the bottom. Add 2 stacked peanut butter cut outs to each, pressing down slightly. Add enough chocolate over each one until the peanut butter is totally covered.
  8. Allow your peanut butter cups to set at room temperature. I recommend storing leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature to keep the peanut butter from drying out.

Notes

For the double boiler method: in a medium saucepan bring 1" of water to simmer. Add your chopped chocolate and 1/2 tsp of coconut oil to a heatproof bowl - one that's big enough to sit on top of your saucepan without touching the water. Place bowl on saucepan and stir often until chocolate is melted.

Recipe loosely adapted from Bon Appetit

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

30

Serving Size:

1 mini cup
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 129Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 62mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 2gSugar: 9gProtein: 3g

calculated nutrition information may not always be accurate

© Rachael Ng | Sugared & Stirred
Cuisine: American / Category: Vegan

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Peanut Butter Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
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Walnut Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies (dairy-free!)

by 2 Comments

If you’ve been following my blog or Instagram, then you know I’m a sucker for chocolate. Specifically, big pools of melted chocolate enrobed in a perfectly sweet and crispy cookie. I mean, COME ON. Look at that chocolate!!

I love using coconut oil in place of butter in my version of a classic chocolate chip cookie, because I always have it on hand + it’s easier on the wallet than vegan butter. I find that coconut oil creates a cookie that’s crispy at the edges and totally reminiscent of a regular ole buttery cookie. You can even use refined coconut oil to lessen the chance of tasting the coconut. 

I packed these cookies with chopped dark chocolate (to get those melty pools!) and chopped walnuts – YUM! I added a bit of spelt flour, a nutritious, ancient whole grain, to add a bit more nuttiness to these cookies. I’m so happy with how these turned out, and let’s just say I was very tempted to eat the whole batch! Happy baking, friends!

1/2 cup coconut oil, solid
5 Tbsp granulated sugar
5 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg, room temp
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup spelt flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 cup chopped dairy-free dark chocolate
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1.) Bring your egg to room temperature by placing it in a glass of warm water for around 10 minutes. In a large bowl, beat together the solid coconut oil and sugars. Beat in the egg and then the vanilla; set aside.

2.) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet, stirring gently with a wooden spoon or large spatula until nearly combined. Add the chopped chocolate and chopped walnuts and gently combine.

3.) Scoop all of the dough balls, 1.5 Tbsp in size, onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roll dough balls smooth, making sure chunks of chocolate are visible on the top of each cookie. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

4.) Preheat your oven to 350°F. Prepare a second baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake cookies, six at a time, for 7-9 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Enjoy! Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.

Vegan Chocolate-Dipped Orange Shortbread Cookies

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These Orange Shortbread Cookies are flaky, delicate, melt-in-your-mouth goodness! I really wanted to utilize orange + chocolate again this season, because it’s one of my favorite dessert combos. An orange flavored chocolate shortbread cookie came to mind, but then I decided to leave out the cocoa powder and dip the baked cookies in dark chocolate instead! I love the mix of the light cookie with the rich dark chocolate!

My first few attempts at re-creating multiple shortbread recipes with coconut sugar weren’t my favorite. Coconut sugar is so much darker than regular can sugar, and the larger granules don’t lend a good hand to such a delicate shortbread cookie. I ended up using powdered sugar, which is what the original recipe from Epicurious calls for. I don’t find these cookies to be overly sweet, and my favorite part about them is how versatile the dough can be. Leave out the almond extract, replace the orange for lemon, etc – do your thing!

I think these cookies bake best with a thicker cut cookie, and the edges may spread a tiny bit. As soon as my cookies came out of the oven, I carefully (and slowly!) re-cut each one with my cookie cutter to clean the edges up a bit. In other words, don’t expect these cookies to come out looking super sharp. They’re packed full of delicious coconut oil, so they’re bound to spread a bit! As always, happy baking, friends!

Vegan Chocolate-Dipped Orange Shortbread Cookies
Makes ~15 cookies, depending on cookie cutter size

1/2 cup coconut oil, solid
Zest from one medium orange
1/8 tsp almond extract
Pinch of fine sea salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp corn starch
1 Tbsp unsweetened almond milk
2oz dairy-free dark chocolate
1 tsp coconut oil, solid

1.) In a medium bowl, beat the solid coconut oil until smooth and a bit fluffy, around 5 minutes. Using a big wooden spoon or spatula, stir in the orange zest, almond extract, and salt. Sift in the flour, powdered sugar, and corn starch and mix with a spoon. Add the almond milk and stir until dough comes together. It will be crumbly. Use your hands to form the dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic and flatten to a disc shape. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2.) Roll your dough between two pieces of parchment paper to 1/4″ or 1/2″ thick, depending on how thick you like your cookies. Use a cookie cutter to cut shapes (I used a 2″ circle), dipping your cutter in flour before each cut (I recommend a non-complicated shape, as you may have to re-cut the cookies post-bake). Gently move the cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet and re-roll leftover dough, cutting more shapes. Once all your cookies are transferred to the baking sheet, freeze them for 10 minutes.

3.) Preheat your oven to 325°F. Bake the frozen cookies at 325°F for 10 minutes. If the edges of your baked cookies look messy, carefully re-cut the cookies with your cutter. It’s important to be extra gentle with this step, because these cookies are quite delicate. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack.

4.) Once cookies have cooled completely, use a knife to shave your chocolate (make small cuts along the edge). Melt half of the chocolate shavings in 30 second increments in the microwave, stirring between each set. Once melted, add the second half of your chocolate shavings and stir until all the chocolate is melted. Add 1 tsp of solid coconut oil, stirring until melted and totally combined.

5.) Line a cooled baking sheet with parchment paper (or re-use the one from earlier). Dip half of each cookie in the chocolate and lay on your baking sheet to set. Immediately zest fresh orange over the chocolate. Alternatively, you can drizzle the chocolate over each cookie or cover your cookies totally by placing them on a cooling rack and pouring the chocolate over each cookie – you will need to melt more chocolate if you choose the pour method. Enjoy! Store leftover cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious