Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

Peanut butter is one of those ingredients that we seek for warmth, comfort, and childhood nostalgia.  We loved eating those orange-packaged peanut butter cups as kids, so for Valentine's Day, we thought these homemade versions would be a perfect treat.

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups (adapted from The Kind Diet; note our version is non-vegan while the original is all-vegan.  Please reference the original version linked here for the vegan recipe)

Ingredients (makes 24 cups)

1 cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups crunchy peanut butter

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 cups unsweetened chocolate chips

1/2 cup milk (we used vanilla soy milk because we had it on hand)

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Line two muffin tins with paper liners.

2. Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat.

3. Add peanut butter, sugar, and graham cracker crumbs.  Mix well.

4. Remove the mixture from heat.  Evenly divide the mixture amongst the 24 cups.

5. Combine the chocolate and milk in another saucepan.  Stir and melt over medium heat.

 

6. Spoon the chocolate evenly over the peanut butter (We had a little trouble covering the whole surface as the chocolate sauce was thick.  To thin out the chocolate a bit more, we would recommend keeping the chocolate warm and adding a bit of butter if necessary).

7. Add chopped pecans on top.

8. Chill pans in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

These homemade peanut butter cups are incredibly addictive and are wonderful to share with loved ones.