While writing recipes for my cookbook this past winter, I stopped by the baking aisles at the grocery store multiple times a week to stock up on jumbo-sized jars of cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and regular baking essentials. With five batches of baked goods to test every day, I ran through my stashes of flour and baking powder in the blink of an eye!
For one of the slightly more indulgent recipes, I wandered over to the candy aisle to pick up a bag of miniature peanut butter cups. As I scanned the shelves to locate the candy, another package caught my eye…
Dark chocolate Reese’s miniature peanut butter cups.
{Pause for a moment to let that sink in…}
Yes, dark chocolate PB cups. Dark chocolate! It felt as if I had found heaven on Earth, and I snatched up that bag faster than you can say, “Chocoholic!” I sprinted through the rest of my shopping at light speed before racing through the register and back to my car.
Before I even buckled my seatbelt or turned on the engine, I pulled the candy package out of my shopping bags and ripped it open. Rich, decadent chocolate aroma filled the air, and I carefully unwrapped my first little piece.
Pure. Bliss.
I had always felt like the traditional milk chocolate surrounding the peanut butter filling was much too sweet for my taste buds, and the dark chocolate version fixed that problem perfectly. Almost too perfectly… I plowed through the package in a week, setting aside just two handfuls for my cookbook recipes!
Oops.
So I came up with a solution to (a) save myself from spending half of my grocery budget on candy and (b) make something a little healthier without the sugar or additives… Clean “Reese’s” Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter!
This easy peanut butter is entirely clean-eating friendly, made with just 4 pantry ingredients that you probably store on your shelves already. Even better (or more dangerous?), it comes together in less than 10 minutes, which requires a lot less time than a trip to the store to get your chocolate and peanut butter fix!
Because the recipe itself is mindlessly easy—crush peanuts until creamy, then mix the remaining ingredients until smooth—let’s talk a little bit about the equipment you’ll need.
I’ve made this peanut butter in both my blender and food processor. These are the ones that I own, and both work equally well. However, if you’re making a double batch (which I highly recommend because this stuff doesn’t last long at all!), use whichever is larger. For me, that would be my blender. The more empty air space there is inside, the faster the process will finish—and the sooner you get to eat!
Note: For the best and creamiest results, use a blender or food processor with a strong motor and very sharp blades.
Isn’t that a beautiful sight?
As soon as you finish blending the peanut butter, it will be rather warm from the heat of the motor. This means it’ll be softer and potentially a little liquidy. Transfer the peanut butter into your jar (don’t forget to lick the spatula!), and chill for at least 4 hours. Overnight is best! Chilling helps it thicken to a regular spreadable peanut butter consistency.
And that means it’s easier to scoop out and eat straight from the jar with a spoon! Not that I’d know or anything…
| Clean "Reese's" Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter | | Print |
- 1 cup (150g) dry roasted unsalted peanuts
- 2 tbsp (10g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1-2 tsp Truvia (or other sweetener, to taste)
- Add the peanuts to a high-speed blender or food processor with sharp blades, and blend on low for 7-9 minutes or until creamy, scraping down the sides with a spatula as necessary. Add the cocoa powder, salt, and 1 teaspoon of Truvia, and blend until smooth. Taste, and add additional Truvia as needed. Transfer to an airtight container, and store in the refrigerator.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low carb, sugar-free}
More peanut butter recipes from other food bloggers…
♥ Homemade Peanut Butter by Texanerin Baking
♥ Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Peanut Butter by Sally’s Baking Addiction
♥ Honey Roasted Peanut Butter by The Housewife in Training Files
♥ Maple Syrup Spiked Peanut Butter by Vikalinka
That looks awesome! I’ve tried the pb cup spread, but I think a healthier version like this would be better 🙂
Thanks June!
Drooooooooooool! ‘Nuff said! <3
Aww you’re too cute Andrea! ♥
oh my….my mouth is watering just thinking about dark chocolate reese’s! I would have plowed through that bag too!
At least you’d be eating for two Meg, so you’d be totally justified in eating the whole bag! 😉 I don’t have that excuse — oops!
pass me a BIG spoon
How about your own jar to go with it Heather? 🙂
Hi! I tried this recipe but unfortunately my spread was crumbly more than it was creamy. Couldn’t understand what I did wrong, would love for someone to help me out.
Thankyou 🙂
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Sabhya! What kind of blender did you use? Not all blenders have blades sharp enough to turn the peanuts into really smooth and creamy peanut butter. If that’s what is happening to you, you can add a small amount of neutral-tasting oil (anything except coconut oil should work) to the blender until the peanut butter is no longer crumbly and gets that smoother texture. 🙂
Reading that you’re writing a cook book gets me really excited… im all over it
Thanks Marilee! It’s been published, and you can learn more about it and purchase a copy here! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try any of the recipes inside!
Hello Amy! I really want to try this recipe but I already have an almost full container of all natural peanut butter at home. Instead of buying roasted peanuts, I would like to use what I already have. Would you recommend it? And if so, which quantity of peanut butter should I use for this recipe? Thank you so much for your help. 🙂
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Pascale! I’d recommend about half a cup, or slightly more, of your natural peanut butter. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this!
No idea what went wrong with my attempt but my peanut butter didn’t turn out right! I made a double batch so 300g peanuts and it was bland and didn’t taste chocolatey or sweet at all! I’ve got no idea of how to rectify it, I’m thinking of just melting some dark chocolate and mixing it together but I wanted to keep the recipe healthy so I’m not sure.
I used unsweetened Cocoa and two teaspoons of sugar. I love reeses cups so I had an idea of what it should taste like but no success this time! I had a regular jar of peanut butter so I ate a spoon of that compare and the store bought peanut butter just tastes right. The perfect consistency and saltiness.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe John! How did you measure the cocoa powder, and what brand did you use? Did you make any other modifications to the recipe, other than doubling it? We’ll get this sorted out — I promise! 🙂
I tried this recipe and it the peanut butter was really creamy until I added the cocoa powder and it went really thick, like crazy thick. I added a tablespoon of maple syrup to try and help, it didn’t. I’ve done almond butter before and my processor works fine for this. Any ideas on how to cream it up again next time once I’ve added the cocoa powder, don’t want to be adding oil ideally.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Laura! There are two main things that could’ve factored into that incredibly thick texture. First, how did you measure the cocoa powder? Did you scoop it directly from the container with a measuring spoon, by any chance? Also, what’s the exact brand and model of the blender or food processor that you used? Once I know all of that information, I should have a better idea of what caused that issue and how to troubleshoot it! 🙂