Perfect Peanut Butter Cups Recipes

HOMEMADE PEANUT BUTTER CUPS (BEST YOU'LL EVER HAVE!)

Steps:

• In a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter, maple syrup, powdered sugar, allspice, and vanilla until fully combined into a sticky mixture. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Divide the mixture into 18 even pieces, about 1 scant teaspoon each, onto the parchment paper. Then roll each peanut butter piece in your hands into a ball and flatten the top so it forms a disc. Make them as even as you can (see the photo).
• Test the size in a mini muffin cup to make sure that the peanut butter disc is just narrower than the size of the circle at the bottom, so that the chocolate will fully cover it. Set aside the peanut butter.
• Break the chocolate bars into small pieces.
• Start a small saucepan of barely simmering water.
• In a heat-proof bowl that is completely dry that will fit over the pan of simmering water, add about 2/3 of the chocolate pieces (we used a small metal bowl). Make sure not to get any water into the chocolate, since it will cause the chocolate to seize up! (There are fixes for siezed chocolate but it's not pretty.) You'll hold the bowl with the chocolate above the other saucepan with boiling water to create a double boiler (or you can use a double boiler if you have one!). Place a towel on counter next to the stove so that you can transfer the bowl to the counter as necessary and avoid any water getting into the bowl.
• Hold the bowl of chocolate over the simmering water. Allow the chocolate to melt a bit, then gently stir with a spatula until the chocolate fully melts and warms to 115°F. Use a quick-read digital thermometer to check the temperature often; the chocolate will heat quickly at the end.
• Once the chocolate is at 115°F, immediately remove it from the burner onto the towel. Add the remaining 1/3 of the unmelted chocolate (called seed chocolate) and stir constantly until it melts and the chocolate temperature falls to 84°F. Be very precise about the temperature, checking with the candy thermometer every so often.
• Here's the important part: When the chocolate is 84°F, return the bowl of chocolate to above the pan of simmering water, and bring it back to 90-91°F. Keep checking with the quick-read digital thermometer until it is 91°F, then remove from the heat immediately.**
• Working as quickly as possible, place about a heaping 1/4 teaspoon in the bottom of each mini muffin cup. Use the measuring spoon to spread the chocolate into a thin circle on the bottom. Bang the pan onto the counter a few times so that the chocolate evenly spreads.
• Continuing to work quickly, place the peanut butter discs into the centers of the chocolate, being as exact as possible.
• Then, pour about 1 teaspoon of chocolate onto the tops of all 18 cups so that the chocolate fills in around it to make a chocolate cup. If the chocolate looks like it's starting to firm up, you can return it to above the hot water and stir for just a minute to heat it back up. Keep working to evenly divide the remaining chocolate between the cups. Then bang the pan several times against the counter so that the chocolate spreads evenly and the tops are level.

PERFECT PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F; have ungreased shiny cookie sheets ready.
• In a large mixing bowl, with electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars; next, beat in egg, peanut butter and vanilla.
• In a smaller bowl, sift together salt, baking soda and flour (I do this through a sieve, not with a sifter).
• With a wooden spoon, stir flour mixture into peanut butter mixture until a dough is formed.
• If desired, you could stir in about 1/2 cup (or more) of chocolate chips now; I usually don't (even though I'm a chocoholic) as I often just want a pure peanut butter cookie with nothing else in it, not even peanut bits.
• Stash dough in fridge while you clean up the dishes; this step isn't absolutely necessary but the fridge slightly firms up the dough, making it easier to work with.
• Drop by heaping teaspoons onto cookie sheets and press down, criss-cross style, with a fork-- the classic peanut butter cookie look.
• If fork sticks to cookies too much as you press down, lightly flour the fork.
• Bake in preheated oven for 7 to 9 minutes, or until edges are slightly darkened (I like to cook these at 7-1/2 minutes).
• Do not worry if they don't look done; cookies firm up as they cool and if you want chewier cookies it is very important not to overbake them.
• Add an extra minute if you like crispier cookies.
• Remove cookies from sheets after letting them rest on sheets for one minute, then let cooked cookies cool on racks.
• Store cookies in a tin or in cookie jar (airtight containers are best).
• I use a one-inch scoop to make the cookies; the approximate yield I get is 4-1/2 dozen cookies.

PERFECT PEANUT BUTTER CUPS

Steps:

• In a large bowl mix peanut butter, cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar. Use a whisk if it's lumpy.
• I then use my smallest cookie scoop and fill, not quite to the top, Wilton 1 1/4 inch diameter mini baking cups. (You can buy them at Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire, and the fancy ones at Michaels.).
• Put them on a cookie sheet and stick them in the freezer to set.
• In the meantime melt the chocolate chips. Use a spoon and put a dollop on top, spread it out to the edges.
• Return to the freezer to set the chocolate.
• I've also used a Ziploc baggy with the corner snipped to fill the cups but find my cookie scoop much easier.
• If you don't have the mini baking cups you can spread into a 9x9 baking dish but I recommend lining with foil and when set; remove, turn upside down and cut into the peanut butter side.