I got my start as a candy maker back in the early 1990s, when I was a young mother living in central Maine, far from family. We lived in a pretty rural area where people set up small stores & businesses at their homes. While exploring the area with Kelly (a toddler at the time) I came upon one of those stores. This particular one sold baking & candy making supplies. We wandered in & looked around. I had no experience with making candy, just a serious sweet tooth and a desire to try my hand at it.

The store had an impressive collection of candy molds. One of the molds was in the shape of mini Reese’s peanut butter cups – my favorite candy at that time. The store also published a newsletter with recipes that used some of the items they sold. (Great marketing plan!) That particular issue of the newsletter contained a recipe for homemade peanut cups. I bought the mold with the intent of trying the recipe. I have been making batches of peanut butter cups every since. They were my best selling item when I made and sold homemade cookies & candies. Peanut Butter Cups are also the one thing I can’t get in the door without when we see our extended families for Christmas.

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups 

Makes approximately 160 mini peanut butter cups

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 3 – 4 pounds of Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Melting Wafers

Directions:

Mix the peanut butter, butter, and vanilla in the large bowl of a stand mixer until well blended.  Add in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until it is all well blended.  Refrigerate the peanut butter filling until it is firm enough to work with, at least one hour.

Combine the ingredients for the peanut butter filling.

Shape the peanut butter filling into small disks. (Extra powdered sugar can be sprinkled on your hands to prevent the filling from sticking to your fingers.) The discs should be about 3/4s of the width and height of the wells in the mold. Refrigerate the discs until assembling the candies.

Shape the filling into discs.

Melt the chocolate in small batches in the microwave or in a double boiler, following the package directions.  Place a small bit of melted chocolate into each well of the mold, then add a disk of the peanut butter filling to each well. The filling should not touch the sides of the wells. Fill each well with chocolate, covering each disc completely.

Coat the peanut butter filling in chocolate.

When all the wells of the mold are filled, tap the mold gently on the countertop to release air bubbles in the wells.  Chill the filled mold for 5 minutes in the freezer, keeping it flat or for 15 minutes in the fridge. Turn the candies out of the molds onto wax paper and allow them to come to room temperature.  Repeat the process until all of filling is gone, melting more chocolate as needed.

Lots & lots of mini peanut butter cups!

They also make great gifts!

Store the peanut butter cups at room temperature with wax paper between the layers in a tightly sealed container for up to a month.

Delicious!  ~Linda

Peanut Butter Cups   Makes approximately 160 mini peanut butter cups

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 3 – 4 pounds of Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Melting Wafers

Directions:

Mix the peanut butter, butter, and vanilla in the large bowl of a stand mixer until well blended.  Add in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until it is all well blended.  Refrigerate the peanut butter filling until it is firm enough to work with, at least one hour.

Shape the peanut butter filling into small disks. (Extra powdered sugar can be sprinkled on your hands to prevent the filling from sticking to your fingers.) The discs should be about 3/4s of the width and height of the wells in the mold. Refrigerate the discs until assembling the candies, at least 1 hour.

Melt the chocolate in small batches in the microwave or in a double boiler, following the package directions.  Place a small bit of melted chocolate into each well of the mold, then add a disk of the peanut butter filling to each well. The filling should not touch the sides of the wells. Fill each well with chocolate, covering each disc completely. When all the wells of the mold are filled, tap the mold gently on the countertop to release air bubbles in the wells. Chill the filled mold for 5 minutes in the freezer, keeping it flat or for 15 minutes in the fridge. Turn the candies out of the molds onto wax paper and allow them to come to room temperature.  Repeat the process until all of filling is gone, melting more chocolate as needed.

Store the peanut butter cups at room temperature with wax paper between the layers in a tightly sealed container for up to a month.