Homemade chocolate peanut butter cups.

As some of you may already know, I LOVE peanut butter. I can happily eat it on it's own straight from the jar. The first time I ever tried peanut butter was last year, in the form of a Reece's peanut butter cup - one little bite and I was in heaven. They taste incredible, like nothing I've ever tasted before. The down side to Reece's cups are all of the calories they contain. If they weren't so calorific, I'd treat myself to them everyday! My boyfriend surprised me with a packet of them yesterday. I really enjoyed them, but felt a little guilty afterwards. So I decided I was going to make some peanut butter cups of my own, and make them less calorific, so I can enjoy them without the guilt. I've wasted no time at all in getting on and making them. I made them first thing this morning - I was that eager. What I came up with turned out better than expected! They are delicious! Just as good as Reece's cups, in my opinion. I will definitely be making these regularly, as they taste far too good not to. Peanut butter is a massive weakness of mine, but now I can enjoy it, smothered in chocolate, without any guilt. Yay! :)

This recipe makes around 10 "cups" and is approx. 50 kcal each. If you make more/less than 10 just divide 510 by however many cups you made, that will give you the approx. amount of calories each one contains. :)

Ingredients:
- 12 small squares of plain cooking chocolate
- 2 tbsp reduced-fat peanut butter
(You will also need mini cupcake cases. You can buy these cheaply in Sainsburys - under £1 for 100 cases).

Method:

1. Fill a small saucepan with water and place on a high heat, then turn the heat down once the water's at boiling point. Place the chocolate into a glass bowl and place that over the saucepan. It's important to make sure you don't let the water touch the bottom of the glass bowl, as this will burn the chocolate (tip some of the water out if you have to). Once it's all melted, put aside for a couple minutes to cool a little.

2. Using a teaspoon, put about 1/2 tsp (you can always add more if you feel you need it) into the bottom of a mini cupcake case. Swirl the chocolate halfway up the sides of the cases - try and get it as even as possible all the way around. Once done, put it into the fridge and begin with the next one. Continue to repeat this (making sure you place each one in the fridge as they're done) until you've done approx. 10, but make sure there's quite a bit of chocolate leftover, as you'll need it later.

3. Meanwhile, get another glass bowl and place the peanut butter into it. Put the bowl over the saucepan of water you used previously. Make sure you stir it occasionally, until the peanut butter becomes smooth and liquid-y. Set aside to cool a little, whilst you're continuing step 2.

4. Once step 2 and 3 are complete, place the chocolate back onto the saucepan to keep it warm and melted. Take out a chocolate "cup" and use a teaspoon to fill it with peanut butter - try not to fill it up over the top of the chocolate sides. Shake it a little to flatten the filling. Place it back into the fridge to cool down. Keep repeating this until all of the cups are filled and back in the fridge.

5. Now take a filled cup and use a teaspoon to place a blob of melted chocolate on top (you can always add more if you need it). Use the underside of the spoon to s[read the chocolate around so it's completely covering the peanut butter and touches all of the sides of the case, to seal the peanut butter in the middle. You need to do this step as quickly as possible (if you're not quick, the heat from the chocolate will make the peanut butter too soft and the filling and chocolate will start mixing together). Place back in the fridge as you finish each one, to harden the chocolate.

The method is very repetitive and quite time consuming, but you have to work as quickly as possible, so the melted chocolate and peanut butter doesn't get too cool. You can use this recipe to make milk chocolate and white chocolate peanut butter cups too, but you'll have too adjust the calories. These will keep for a few days. Store in the fridge, to keep them from becoming too warm and melted. Fingers crossed, if they're done correctly, they'll look like mini Reece's peanut butter cups once they're peeled out of their cases. They'll also have a soft peanut butter centre - yum yum! ;)


P.S.  I'm sorry for the awfully confusing instructions. I made this recipe and method up myself, for a change. As you can probably tell, I'm not very good at it. I'm better at writing what I think about things, rather than how to actually make things. So big apologies, and I hope it's understandable!