Chocolate - Peanut Butter Cups

I always love giving Reese’s peanut butter cups to my Dutch friends and family. The idea of mixing chocolate together with peanut butter seems rather strange to most people living in Europe, so that is why I encourage them to at least try it; I happen to love the combination. Rather than a normal chocolate – peanut butter cup, this recipe has a peanut butter cookie-like base with a chocolate topping. It’s a Nigella Lawson recipe and it comes from her book ‘Nigella’s Christmas’, but I don’t think peanut butter cups should be eaten exclusively at Christmas – I could eat them all year around. These peanut butter cups were a real hit at my house, and even non-believers in chocolate with peanut butter were convinced. Did I mention that this is a no-bake recipe? Rating: 5 out of 5.

Chocolate - Peanut Butter Cups recipe: Nigella Lawson - Nigella's Christmas

Makes 24 cups
Ingredients for Base:
- 1 ounce (25 gram) soft dark brown sugar
- 3.5 ounces (100 gram) icing sugar
- 1 ounce (25 gram) butter, softened
- 3.5 ounces (100 gram) smooth peanut butter

Ingredients for Topping:
- 3.5 ounces (100 gram) milk chocolate
- 1 ¾ ounces (50 gram) dark chocolate
- Gold buttons and edible gold start to decorate, or other decorations of your choice

Instructions:
- Place all the ingredients for the base in the bowl of a food processor. Blend the mixture until the mixture takes on a sandy texture.
- Place 24 gold petit four cases in sets of miniature tart tins or mini-muffin tins (each indent about 1 ¾-inches in diameter). Use 1 teaspoon of the base mixture to fill the bases of the petit four cases. Press the sandy mixture down into the cases as best you can to form a layer at the bottom of each paper case.
- Place the milk chocolate and dark chocolate together into a heatproof bowl. Suspend the bowl over a pan of simmering water (the water should not touch the bottom of the bowl). Melt the chocolate gently while stirring. Spoon teaspoonfuls of the melted chocolate onto the top of each of the sandy bases of the petit four cases.
- Decorate the tops of the chocolate covered peanut butter cups with either a gold button or gold star in the middle of each and transfer them to the fridge. Let them set in the fridge, for about 30 minutes.


The first time I got to use my new mini-cupcake pan. And don't worry, I'm not going to make cupcakes with this pan; I think those small bites are just a tease.







I actually think mine tasted better than the original (no offence Reese's!). The peanut butter in mine was deliciously soft and I used really good Belgium chocolate.

Nigella Lawson suggest topping them with edible gold stars, which, considering it's Memorial Day, would have been nice, but I don't have any edible stars, so I used butterscotch chips.

Fastforward to 5:36 to see Nigella make these.