Full O' Peanut Butter Cups

My husband is peanut butter's biggest fan. Mix peanut butter with chocolate and he turns into a crazed lunatic, bent on the ingestion of his sweet ambrosia. Before we started flirting with veganism, he would lose his mind for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I once made an entire birthday sculpture for him that consisted of nothing but Reese's cups...

Needless to say, it was imperative that I either create or find a vegan version of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup! And it wasn't nearly as challenging as I thought it would be. Here's the recipe...

1 cup natural non-hydrogenated smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups (12-ounce bag) vegan chocolate chips
20 mini paper muffin cups
small pastry brush or paintbrush

• Use a double-boiler, or a heat-resistant bowl perched on top of a saucepan half full of water (which is what I do) to gently melt your chocolate chips over medium heat. Stir them frequently. Don't let them clump or burn.
• Reduce your stovetop to the lowest heat setting and keep your melted chips where they are.
• Pick up a muffin cup and use a teaspoon to dribble a bit of chocolate into the bottom. Then, take your pastry brush and sweep the chocolate up onto the sides of the cup. Go all the way to the top and make sure you're filling in all the crevices. Now, do this 19 more times!
• Place all of your prepared muffin cups onto a small cookie sheet and into the freezer . Leave them there to harden while you make your peanut butter mixture.
• Okay, this part is super-complicated... Dump your peanut butter and your powdered sugar into a bowl and stir together with a spoon. Whew! 
• Take your cups out of the freezer and evenly divide peanut butter mixture into them. I used a little cookie scoop filled only halfway for each one.
• Use your teaspoon to fill the cups all the way to the top with the remaining chocolate. 
• Place in refrigerator or freezer (my husband actually prefers them frozen) to harden.
• You'll probably want to store in the fridge or freezer because they are quite messy at room temperature.
• Pulling the paper off will be tricky the first couple of times, but you'll get a groove down and become a pro. I promise!

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