Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

If you have been following our blog for the past year or so, you have probably noticed we love all things "chocolate peanut butter".  As I mentioned on Sunday, we definitely inherited this from our Dad.  For Father's Day this year, I decided to send him a homemade version of his favorite candy - Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  He loved these and said they were even better than Reese's.

A few of our other favorite Peanut Butter Chocolate treats include:

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Double Chocolate Salted Peanut Bark
Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte
Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Rice Krispie Bars
Buckeyes

Chocolate-Covered Peanut-Butter Cups
Yields: 24 peanut butter cups
Source:  Small Measures, found on Design Sponge 

Ingredients
3 cups chocolate (milk, dark, semi-sweet, bittersweet, white - whatever you prefer!)
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup graham crackers, crushed
1 teaspoon sea salt

Directions
1. Line a mini-muffin pan with 24 paper liners. Set aside.

2. Melt 1 1/2 cups of the chocolate in a double boiler. Alternately, you could do this using a microwave, melting the chocolate in short bursts. Remove the bowl of melted chocolate from the stove and turn off the heat.

3. Using the back of a spoon or a pastry brush, paint a layer of melted chocolate onto the bottoms and sides of the paper liners. Don’t skimp on chocolate here; coat the liners generously. Set the bowl aside with any remaining melted chocolate left in it.

4. Put the muffin pan in the refrigerator for 20 minutes while you make the peanut-butter filling.

5. In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, crushed graham crackers, powdered sugar and salt. Stir with a spoon until well combined.

6. Return the bowl used to melt the chocolate to the top of the double boiler. Turn the heat to medium-high. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of chocolate and melt.

7. Meanwhile, divide peanut-butter mixture into 24 even amounts.

8. Remove the muffin pan from the refrigerator. Put one mound into each paper liner. Tap down each mound with your fingertips to “nest” it into the chocolate bottom.

9. By now, the chocolate added to the double boiler should all be melted. Using a spoon, dollop the top of each peanut butter mixture mound with a generous portion of chocolate.

10. Use the back of a teaspoon to smooth out the tops (alternately, use the spoon to make a swirl atop each cup).

11. Place the muffin pan in the refrigerator. Within one hour, your cups should be set, depending how cold your fridge runs.

12. Remove the pan from the refrigerator before sharing with others.