I'm pretty sure I have had a sweet tooth since I came out of the womb 33 years ago - I have always, ALWAYS loved sugar. You know how some people talk about craving salty snacks? I don't get these people. The people who would rather sit down to a bag of potato chips than a pan of brownies...that's like another language to me. Why go for crunchy, greasy, salty chips when you can have ooey, gooey, soft and delicious chocolate brownies?
Anyway, when I was growing up we did not have much junk food in the house. This is part of the reason I developed a knack for baking - if I wanted something sweet, I was going to have to create it myself. Some of my earliest memories involve making pancakes on Saturday mornings, whipping up a batch of chocolate chip cookies, or my Dad's favorite - the No Bake Cookie.
One other thing I did a LOT was to melt chocolate chips in the microwave, add a healthy dollop of peanut butter, mix well and pour onto a piece of tin foil. Then I'd stick that in the freezer for as long as I could stand it and have myself a homemade treat similar to a peanut butter cup.
It should be no surprise that I love all things peanut butter and chocolate. Heck, I even made my own peanut butter recently - yum.
But the shift in our nutrition habits recently have really forced me to get creative. Gone are the days of white sugar, chocolate chips and store bought peanut butter. You can imagine my excitement when I stumbled across this recipe from A Small Snippet. It is a "clean" recipe (ie, no white sugar...) and it reminded me of what I thought was such a genius creation of my own so many years ago.
For this recipe you will need:
3 Tblsp coconut oil
3 Tblsp coconut oil
1/4 c. + 2 Tblsp cocoa powder (the baking cocoa)
3-4 Tblsp peanut butter (if you really want it to be sugar free, make sure to pay attention to labels and look for no sugar in the ingredients list)
honey (to taste...probably 1-2 Tblsp)
3/4 tsp vanilla
pinch of kosher salt
You will start by melting the coconut oil, cocoa powder and peanut butter in a pan on low heat. Stir frequently and don't let the melting chocolate burn. Once this is smooth, you add your vanilla and honey to taste. Yes, you get to taste test while cooking. WIN. Then, add a good pinch of kosher salt and spoon into a mini muffin tin. Freeze for at least 10-15 minutes before indulging.
I did not have any mini muffin cupcake liners (blaspheme, shame...I ALWAYS have some! Oops) So I just greased my tin with a little coconut oil and it worked great. Less waste, right? I'm just being green!
Now obviously I am not toting this as a HEALTH food - but hey, I need a cheat treat every now and then and I'd rather it be full of ingredients I can pronounce. My family gobbled these up! This recipe makes approximately 12 mini sized peanut butter cups.
What's your go to cheat treat?
