A little more than a year ago, I started looking at houses in Southern California. I searched Zillow and Trulia nearly every day, clicking through all of the homes for sale in my price range to try to find the perfect one.
I always looked at the pictures of the kitchen first, and I immediately discarded any homes with a galley-style kitchen, the long and narrow kind with very little space to walk around. I knew I wanted to start my own TV show (and I did here!), and it’s a nightmare to film in a galley kitchen!
I also checked other aspects of the kitchen. Was it bright? White? With enough cupboards to shelve all of my cookie sheets and cake pans and muffin tins? Since Amy’s Healthy Baking is my full-time job, my kitchen is the main part of my “office”—and basically the most important room of my house!
After weeks of searching and clicking through pictures, I stumbled across my dream house. Although the story of touring and buying it is a story for another day, that happened almost exactly a year ago…
So I’m celebrating my one-year house anniversary with these Healthy Dark Chocolate Funfetti Peanut Butter Cups! They’re really rich and decadent, and they taste a million times better than the store-bought ones I grew up eating. (Sorry Reese’s!) Plus the rainbow sprinkles add such a cute and festive touch!
Even better? They’re made without any powdered sugar or artificial ingredients and nearly twice the size of Reese’s mini peanut butter cups—for just 41 calories!
My house celebrations may have included eating a second or third… But would you blame me? ?
These healthy homemade peanut butter cups are pretty easy to make—just a bit time-consuming! It’s the type of recipe where I turn on the radio in the background (or a baseball game, now that the season started up again!) and just enjoy the slow-paced process.
You’ll start by making the filling. It’s a combination of peanut flour (this kind!), a pinch of salt, and water. Yup—that simple! It’s important to use peanut flour because regular natural-style peanut butter is too wet and runny, so the filling wouldn’t set properly. I buy my peanut flour online here, and it’s shelf-stable and keeps for ages!
Next, you’ll stir in the rainbow sprinkles! I used these naturally dyed jimmies, and I bought them online here. Any sort of jimmies (the long thin kind) or thicker sprinkles (like star-shaped, heart-shaped, etc!) will work just fine. Don’t use nonpareils, the itty bitty balls! Those bleed, and their dye turns the filling a funky gray color.
Time to shape the filling! You’ll roll it into small spheres, and then you’ll flatten each filling sphere until it’s just a bit smaller than the inside of your mini muffin cups. You must flatten the filling! Think about it… Peanut butter cups have flat tops, so the filling should, too! ?
Tip: If the filling sticks to your palms and fingers, pour a little neutral-tasting oil (like canola) onto a paper towel, and rub that paper towel on your palms and fingers. The filling shouldn’t stick any more! (And remember to do that in between shaping each bit of filling!)
Once you’ve shaped the filling discs and lined your mini muffin cups with paper liners, you’re ready to melt the chocolate. I highly recommend bars of Ghirardelli chocolate or Lindt chocolate for this recipe! Do not use chocolate chips; those contain stabilizers that prevent them from melting properly.
Then dab a small amount of chocolate into the bottom of one mini muffin liner, carefully place a filling disc on top, and spoon more chocolate into the muffin cup. Gently move the melted chocolate around so it falls down around the sides of the filling to completely surround it.
See? Simple! It just takes a bit of time to do that for each peanut butter cup…
But once you’re done, you can pop your pan in the freezer so your peanut butter cups will be fully set and ready to enjoy in just 5 minutes!
Healthy chocolate peanut butter cup bliss! ??? And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your healthy homemade peanut butter cups!
| Healthy Dark Chocolate Funfetti Peanut Butter Cups | | Print |
- ½ cup (60g) peanut flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup (60mL) water
- 1 tbsp (12g) naturally dyed sprinkles (jimmies style!)
- ⅔ cup (149g) roughly chopped dark chocolate (see Notes!)
- Place cupcake liners inside of 24 mini muffin cups. Line a baking sheet with wax paper or parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut flour and salt until thoroughly combined. Stir in the water. Gently stir in the sprinkles.
- Working with a small amount of the peanut butter mixture at a time, shape into a small sphere. Flatten the sphere until it’s just barely smaller than the mini muffin cup. Place onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the filling mixture. (If the mixture sticks to your hands, see the Notes below!)
- Place the dark chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 30 seconds. Stir for 1 minute. Continue to heat for 10-second intervals, stirring for 1 minute between each, until the chocolate has completely melted.
- Dollop a small amount of melted chocolate into one mini muffin liner, enough to cover the bottom, and carefully set one of the flattened filling spheres on top. Spoon more melted chocolate on top, carefully spreading it so it drips over the sides of the filling and into every nook and cranny of those liners. Repeat with the remaining chocolate and filling discs.
- Once all 24 mini muffin cups have been filled, place them in the freezer for 5-10 minutes (or the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes) or until the chocolate has hardened. Store in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to eat.
These are the naturally dyed jimmies that I used, and I buy them online here! Regular jimmies (not naturally dyed) will work, as will any thicker-style sprinkles (i.e. star-shaped, heart-shaped, etc.). Do not use nonpareils (the itty bitty balls) because their color bleeds and turns the filling a funky gray color.
If you like more sprinkles, then increase the amount by up to an additional 1 tablespoon (for a total of 2 tablespoons).
I prefer my peanut butter on the salty side, so I usually increase the salt by an additional ¼ teaspoon!
Use regular bars of chocolate, not chocolate chips! Chocolate bars melt better and taste smoother than chocolate chips, which often contain a stabilizer to help them hold their shape. I love these Ghirardelli bars and these Lindt bars for this!
Flattening the filling ensures the tops of your PB cups are smooth and flat too, not rounded from the sphere poking up out of the chocolate!
If the filling sticks to your palms and fingers, pour a little neutral-tasting oil (like canola) onto a paper towel, and rub that paper towel on your palms and fingers. The filling shouldn’t stick any more! (And remember to do that in between shaping each bit of filling!)
Paper liners will better peel away from the peanut butter cups when they’re cold, straight from the refrigerator or freezer! If storing in the freezer, let them thaw on the counter for 5-10 minutes before eating.
{gluten-free, vegan, low carb, low sugar}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Dark Chocolate Espresso Peanut Butter Cups
♡ Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough “Peanut Butter” Cups
♡ Healthy Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter Cups
♡ Healthy Funfetti Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
♡ Healthy Double Chocolate Funfetti Cookies
Happy 1 year house anniversary! And OMG these peanut butter cups are epic.
Awww thank you SO much Liz! You’re a sweetheart! 🙂
Happy house anniversary! These look like the perfect celebratory treat. I’ve never made anything with peanut flour before but I’m always curious about it when I see it in stores.
Thank you so much! It’s a fun ingredient — I absolutely love it! 🙂
This would be a great movie snack on the weekends! I think my kiddos would like the peanut butter filling on the sweet side😊. Is there a sweeter (like a bit of trivia) I can add to the filling mixture when adding the water?
I’m sure I might be able to configure it out in some way, knowing me, coming up with some thought on how to make it sweet.
And then I’m on here looking for chocolate cupcakes…..and I run into these yummy treats.😀
Oh my goodness, Michelle — you’re just the sweetest!! It means so much that you’d like to try yet another one of my recipes… And that you’d consider making one of my chocolate cupcake recipes AND these PB cups! That’s the best kind of compliment! 😉
Yes, absolutely! We can definitely make the PB filling sweeter for your cute kiddos. If you’d like to use Truvia, I’d recommend starting with 2 tablespoons mixed in with the peanut flour and salt. (If they like things really sweet, then you could do 3 or 4 tablespoons instead.)
I might also recommend starting with 2 tablespoons of water (instead of the full 4), just to be safe, since Truvia absorbs and dissolves differently in liquids compared to peanut flour, so I’m not sure how adding it will affect the filling’s consistency. You may need the full 4 tablespoons of water, but it’s always easier to add more water to your mixing bowl than it is to remove it!
I can’t wait to hear what you and your kids think of these, Michelle! Your comments always put the biggest smile on my face and make my entire day! ♡