Peanut Butter Cups

To round out the birthday celebration I decided to try my hand at making some peanut butter cups. I found this recipe on Brown Eyed Baker and knew I had to try them. I was a little heavy handed on the chocolate with mine so they wound up with a higher chocolate to peanut butter ratio than a traditional Reese's but the flavor of the peanut butter filling was right on and delicious. They were very fun to make and I will definitely try my hand at them again and fill each cup with a little less chocolate for the peanut butter lovers in my family. This time my mom brought the leftovers to work and they were a definite hit with her friends there.

Peanut Butter Cups
From Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
4 cup milk chocolate chips (two 11.5 oz bags)
1/4 cup vegetable shortening

Directions:
Line a mini muffin tin with paper liners; set aside. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the peanut butter, butter and brown sugar over medium heat. Heat until completely melted and starting to bubble a little, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Add the confectioners' sugar a 1/4 cup at a time, stirring until completely combined with the peanut butter mixture after each addition. Set aside and let cool.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips and shortening together in the microwave on 50% power in 30 second increments, until completely melted, stirring after each burst.

Using a small cookie scoop or a couple of teaspoons, spoon melted chocolate into the bottom of each lined muffin cup.

Use a heaping teaspoon to scoop out the peanut butter mixture. Roll it into a ball, and then flatten it slightly into a disk. Place on the prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Once finished with all of the peanut butter mixture, refrigerate both the muffin tins and the peanut butter patties for about 30 minutes.

Place a peanut butter patty on top of each chocolate lined muffin liner. Then use a scoop or a spoon to add more melted chocolate on top and around each peanut butter patty. (If the melted chocolate firmed up, just pop it back into the microwave at 50% power for 30 seconds or so to re-melt.)

Refrigerate again for 30 minutes, then you are ready to serve! Store in the refrigerator or freezer.  You can keep at room temperature in an airtight container if you're going to serve them the same day, but they'll start to get soft if not a cool room temperature.