Vegan Chocolate Caramel Peanut Butter Cups
Easy vegan chocolate caramel peanut butter cups. Made with 4 ingredients in under 30 minutes. These are the perfect vegan alternative to the beloved peanut butter cups.
Servings 9
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips, vegan
- 1/2 cup peanut butter, natural smooth
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted (see notes)
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Line a muffin tin with 9 paper liners or use a silicone muffin tin. Set aside.
- Start by making the vegan caramel. Melt the coconut oil in the microwave until liquid, for about 1 minute. In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, maple syrup, melted coconut oil and pinch of salt. It should become a smooth thick caramel-like sauce. Set aside.
- Melt a 3/4 cup of the chocolate. You can use the microwave or a double boiler on the stovetop. I added the chocolate to the same cup that I used to melt the coconut oil and melted it in the microwave for 2 minutes. It's best to stop and stir every 30 seconds to ensure it melts evenly and doesn't burn.
- Pour the chocolate evenly at the bottom of each cup. Using a spoon, push some of the melted chocolate to the sides of the paper liners, about halfway to the top of each cup. This will make the sides of the cups and will ensure that the caramel doesn't pour to the sides. Place in the fridge on a flat surface and let chill for 5 minutes or until the chocolate firms up.
- Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1 cup of chocolate using the same method.
- Remove the chocolate cups from the fridge and place a heaping tablespoon of caramel in each cup. Top every cup with more melted chocolate evenly. Sprinkle the cups with a little bit of coarse or flaky sea salt. Place in the fridge and let it chill for 10 minutes or until firm.
- Keep the cups in the fridge or freezer.
Notes
If you don't want a light coconut flavor in the peanut butter caramel, make sure to use refined coconut oil.
You can choose to melt the coconut oil for a smooth caramel or you can use softened coconut oil (the texture of room temperature butter) and add the caramel ingredients to a small blender or food processor. Blend for a few seconds and you'll get a firmer caramel. Both are great!
I used the dark vegan chocolate from Enjoy Life brand. You can use your favorite chocolate.