dairy free peanut butter cups

I saw this recipe online and was instantly intrigued.  I read it over and over, inside and out. I went to sleep thinking about coconut almond cups surrounded by chocolate.  Not a bad way to go to sleep..

That night, my father came to me in a dream.  I made these for him in the old kitchen; in the house where I grew up.  It was so detailed, in the dream, how I slowly melted the chocolate on the stove, and how I made the almond spread, step by step.  When I served them, my dad was just beside himself with joy, smiling and laughing and laughing and laughing.  And then I woke up.  I knew I had no choice.  He had spoken:  I simply had to make them.

















With some modifications, of course.  For starters, I would have to make them dairy free, which at this point is kind of a no brainer.  Second, I would have to change the sweetener.  I have a problem with artificial sweeteners, mainly just because they are artificial.  You can sing and dance all you want about how it's made from real sugar, or how it's made with natural sweeteners found in fruit.  And even if they are better for you than sugar, I still can't get past the name.  Artificial sweetener.  But, I think, more than anything else, I have been fantasizing about sweetened condensed coconut milk somewhere in this recipe.

But unfortunately, we will not be having almond joy cups.  A couple of days ago, Ian was eating his regular cereal with his regular almond milk, and his upper lip swelled to the size of a grape.  We gave him some benedryl, the swelling eventually went down, I put in a call to his allergist, and lo and behold, we have to re-test him for an almond allergy.  No tree nuts until he has been tested.




















I just couldn't shake it though.  The cups have been on my mind all day.  I had to go to Michael's today, and I just happened to stumble upon the cup molds.  Now, the universe had spoken.  I knew right then, that I was going to be making some sort of cup tonight.

Enter the peanut butter.

I did consider making coconut peanut butter cups, but I really want to hold out for the almond.  Hopefully Ian's tests are almond friendly..  And really, what's wrong with regular ol' peanut butter cups?

Absolutely nothing.





















Dairy free peanut butter cups

2/3 c. Enjoy Life chocolate chips, separated
about 1/3 c. peanut butter

On low heat, melt 1/3 cup of the chips.  Take a small spoon and put about a teaspoonful of melted chocolate into each cup.  (I used these mini cups that I bought at Michael's).  Create a pool in the bottom of the cup and take the back of the spoon, kind of pushing the chocolate up the sides.  After you are finished, place the chocolate filled mold into the fridge or freezer to set.  It may take 30 minutes to an hour, depending on where you put it.

When set, scoop about 1/2 teaspoon (I really didn't measure) into the bottom.  Wet the back of the spoon a little bit and smooth the peanut butter into the mold.  Wetting the spoon keeps it from getting sticky.  Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1/3 cup of the chips.  Using the same small spoon, put a dollop of melted chocolate on top of the peanut butter and spread it all around making sure that it fills in all the gaps out to the sides.  Put it back into the fridge and let set for a few hours or overnight.  That's it!