Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups with Coconut

If you're like me and like playing around with chocolate and other ingredients for homemade candy around this time of year, you'll enjoy this recipe. So few ingredients and the result is outstanding! For the best results, I highly suggest using a silicone mini-muffin "tin" or at least the little silicone muffin cups fit into your metal muffin tin. Silicone makes the chocolate so easy to pop out once it's set. I would not recommend trying this with just a metal tin, but paper muffin liners may work if you're feeling adventurous.

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups with Coconut

Finished product

Ingredients:

-1 cup of dark chocolate chips or chopped up dark chocolate

-peanut butter of your choice (I used the Earth Balance coconut peanut butter)

-shredded coconut

Method:

Over a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips until completely melted but not burnt. (Or, you could do this in the microwave very carefully, on a lower setting, stirring frequently so as not to burn.)

Using a small brush or a little espresso or dessert spoon, gently spoon 1-2 tsp of chocolate into each mini-muffin container and, using the spoon or brush, "paint" chocolate up the sides to coat all around each cup form. Then put the whole thing in the fridge for an hour to set.

1st step - chocolate in the molds, set in fridge

After it's solid, take your peanut butter and microwave it very slightly - not so it is liquid-y, but just a little more soft/smooth than usual. Using a teaspoon, fill each muffin cup so that they are now 3/4 full. Then go back to your melted chocolate (mine was still pretty melty but if yours needs another 30 seconds in the microwave, that's fine) and gently spoon the chocolate over each muffin cup right about to the top. Make sure all the peanut butter is covered up.  Then sprinkle a little coconut over each cup into the chocolate.

Ready to go back in the fridge after filling

Return to the fridge and let set for another 60-90 minutes. Pop them out of the molds when done and enjoy! If you're not eating/serving right away it might be best to keep them in a Tupperware container in the fridge.