These keto peanut butter cups feature a sugar free chocolate shell and a rich, creamy peanut butter center. They’re delicious and easy, so whip up a batch today!
Eat them plain or use them as garnish on keto peanut butter pie. Sweet and delicious.
Peanut butter is my Achilles heel. It’s my weakness, my downfall, my greatest temptation. And peanut butter cups have long been one of my favorite candies.
Thank heavens for these keto peanut butter cups so I can indulge without risk. I’ve been making these sugar free treats for about as long as I’ve been low carb. And they’ve saved me many a time when I needed a sweet bite to keep me on track.
My kids love them too and since they’re so easy to make. Along with my keto peanut butter fudge, we have them around almost constantly.
Why make your own keto peanut butter cups?
I created this recipe back in 2012 because I had no other option. At that time, you couldn’t buy good quality sugar free peanut butter cups like Lily’s or ChocZero. And I do believe I may have been the first person to make them.
But now that there are several good storebought options, why bother making your own? I have two reasons for you: cost and availability.
The pre-packaged cups cost about $1 per cup. My recipe makes 16 to 18 cups and comes out to less than 60 cents per cup!
Additionally, not everyone has access to Lily’s or ChocZero, whereas almost all of us can get our hands on some sugar free chocolate, peanut butter, and a little sweetener.
And I am one of those weirdos who takes pleasure in making things from scratch. If you are too, then I highly recommend having some fun with this.
How to make keto peanut butter cups
You will need:
- Candy molds – I recommend these ones because they are the exact same size as the storebought keto peanut butter cups.
- Sugar free chocolate
- Cocoa butter or coconut oil
- Peanut butter
- Butter
- Powdered or liquid sweetener
- Vanilla extract
Method
- Melt the chocolate. As always, I recommend doing this double boiler style to avoid seizing. Adding a little cocoa butter or coconut oil also helps thin the chocolate coating.
- Coat the candy molds. You want to use a little over half the chocolate to coat the bottom and sides of each cup.
- Freeze the molds. You want that first later of chocolate to firm up properly.
- Make the peanut butter filling. Simply melt some peanut butter and butter together, stir in some sweetener, and fill each cup almost to the top.
- Freeze the molds again to firm up the filling.
- Top with the remaining chocolate. Then freeze or refrigerate until firm.
Frequently Asked Questions
You bet! Any nut or seed butter will work here, including my Homemade Keto Nutella.
The filling for these keto peanut butter cups can be made with any sweetener, but it’s important to use powdered or liquid sweeteners to avoid grittiness.
That’s an easy switch. Be sure to use keto dark chocolate and swap the butter for coconut oil or palm shortening.
Yes but I want to caution you that the white chocolate doesn’t always melt that well and can seize very easily. Watch it carefully and stir constantly.
Yes you can. If you are using standard muffin cups, they will be larger and you will likely get only 12 cups. Only coat the sides with chocolate about ¼ of the way up.
You can do that too but I recommend placing them into a muffin tin so that they hold their shape.
I have a solution for that! I used to make these keto peanut butter cups with a chocolate shell made from scratch. I have provided those directions in the recipe notes.
Storage instructions
I recommend storing these keto peanut butter cups in the fridge in a covered container, but letting them come to room temperature before serving.
Have some fun baking with keto peanut butter cups
Obviously, you can just eat them as is, but it’s fun to add them to other keto recipes too. Why not try:
- Keto Peanut Butter Cup Poke Cake
- Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Pizza
- Keto Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed Brownies
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Fudge
Keto Peanut Butter Cups Recipe
Ingredients
Chocolate Coating:
- 6 ounces sugar free dark chocolate chopped
- ½ ounce cocoa butter (or 2 teaspoon coconut oil)
Peanut Butter Filling:
- ½ cup peanut butter
- 2 tablespoon butter
- ¼ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a heatproof bowl set over barely simmering water, melt the chocolate and cocoa butter together, stirring until smooth.
- Use the back of a small spoon to spread a little over half of the chocolate mixture on the bottom and up the sides of the candy molds. Freeze 10 minutes.
- In a microwave safe bowl, melt the peanut butter and butter together on high in 30 second increments, stirring until smoth. Whisk in the powdered sweetener and vanilla extract.
- Remove the chocolate cups from freezer and fill almost to the top with the peanut butter mixture, leaving enough space to cover with remaining chocolate. Return to freezer for another 10 minutes or so.
- Rewarm the remaining chocolate gently over low heat and stir until smooth. Spread over the peanut butter filling to the sides of each cup. Chill until set, 20 minutes.
Notes
-
¼ cup butter
-
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
-
¼ cup powdered Swerve
-
2 tablespoon cocoa powder
-
½ teaspoon vanilla extractIn a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, unsweetened chocolate and sweetener together, stirring until smooth. Stir in the cocoa powder and vanilla.Let cool 5 to 10 minutes, until somewhat thickened, the proceed as directed.
Christa says
These are a staple in my house – so yummy! I’m wondering if there’s a way to make the chocolate less dark and more ‘milk’ like? Perhaps more cacao butter and Swerve? Not everyone in the family is a fan of dark chocolate.
Carolyn says
These are SO delicious. I wanted to pass along though that the net carbs (if you use the ingredients you suggest; subtract fiber; do NOT subtract the erythritol) is actually close to 10g. Jsut worthy of noting for people counting their macros.
Thank you for the recipe!
Carolyn says
You should absolutely be subtracting the erythritol, since it doesn’t affect blood sugar at all for most people. I see this first hand since I test my blood sugar regularly. It’s the only sugar alcohol that has almost zero carb impact.
Cass says
I made these the other day, and they were delicious! I used crunchy peanut butter, and couldn’t find cocoa butter so ended up using coconut butter. I bought some cocoa butter online today so I can follow the recipe precisely next time. With that said, it was delicious, and I have been trying sooo hard to save one to give to someone that I won’t see until Wednesday… I hope just one survives, they’ve been such a hit at home, who knows!
Marie says
Thanks so much for adding in how to make the chocolate shell by hand if sugar free chocolate is not available, We live in a rural area. This recipe has added to my 9 year old son’s quality of life so very much dealing with the disease of childhood diabetes. He can eat this treat and no extra pokes for blood sugar or extra shot needed. Just great blood sugar control. God bless you!
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it, Marie. I hope you will read this post that I just put up for Diabetes Awareness Month! https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/donating-diabetes-awareness-month/
Maria Bear says
Birthday cake idea … made for my 11 year old…. make recipe in a 9 by 13 pan,,, ist layer pb and second layer chocolate. Top with birthday candles! 🙂
Harmonium guide says
These look awesome!!
Wren Tidwell says
fabulous as always! Carolyn you have set yourself apart as THE go to person when I need a recipe for just about anything. I also used Almond Butter (Justin’s) because I believe the nutritional value of almonds is way better than peanuts. The addition of butter and vanilla just takes it over the top. So delicious!
Carolyn says
Thanks so much, Wren!
Kate says
I’m searching through your comments but haven’t seen exactly what I’m looking for, sorry if it’s been asked already!
Can I swap the butter for coconut oil and peanut butter for sunbutter?? My son is allergic to dairy & peanuts and I’m LCHF t1 diabetic! Looking for a shared treat :-P!
Carolyn says
yes and yes!
Faith Parent Hendrickson says
Thank you for this question/answer post! I want to make this with either sun butter or almond butter and NO dairy due to same allergies. <3
Michael Romero says
Thanks Carolyn, these were absolutely the closest thing to the real deal. I did modify them slightly
by using almond butter and sugar free dark chocolate to make them. I added 2 Tbls of butter to the chocolate and added the vanilla and they came out great. Looking forward to making these again and again.
Lori says
I made these today but with 70% chocolate as that was all I had. They are really tasty, this is a keeper recipe!
Rachel says
Could I use cacao butter in place or in addition to the butter??
Carolyn says
Don’t sub it altogether, I think it would taste a little strange and not have the right consistency. Try half butter, half cocoa butter.
Rachel says
Ok! I’ll try that, thanks! I’ve got a bunch of cacao butter;)
Wren Tidwell says
So what is the difference between cocoa butter and cacao butter?
Carolyn says
Not sure there is one. Maybe cacao is raw?
Jamie Walczynski says
Hello I was just wondering what everyone is using for peanut butter? Peanut butter in a jar is very high in carbs and I just dont know how the nutritional value for carbs can be so low with any random peanut butter. Any help would be great with this I am starting Keto and want a few treats to help out.
Carolyn says
I am not sure where you are getting that peanut butter is “very” high in carbs. A typical serving is 2 tbsp and is usually 6 or 7 g of carbs and 2 or 3 g of fiber. This recipe uses 1/2 cup so 4 servings of peanut butter. But the recipe makes 12 servings of peanut butter cups so every serving only has 1/3 of a serving of peanut butter. So it comes out to about 2 g of carbs and 1 g of fiber per serving. The rest is pretty much chocolate, which if you use unsweetened, is very low carb and very high fiber.
Lisa W says
Hey, LOVE LOVE LOVE these! I do have a question though. I used Liquid Stevia from Trader Joe’s. It left a bitter aftertaste. Is it the same thing? I added some stevia glycerite and it took that away and they were wonderful, but would love to use what you use. Still trying to make sense of all the sweeteners and the differences within them. Thank you for ALL of your recipes and information!
Carolyn says
I’ve used the liquid stevia from Trader Joe’s before and had no issues, but some people are really, really sensitive to the bitterness of stevia. You might be one of those people.
Common Sense says
Finally had a chance to try these – wonderful! I used my silicone mini peanut butter cup mold which worked perfectly. I also used pumpkin seed butter and Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder so mine were even lower in carbs. Easy, but a bit labor intensive carefully coating the cups with chocolate, etc.
The recipe made 28 mini cups with the following nutritional values from the Sparkpeople calculator:
Calories – 60
Total Fat – 5.83
Saturated Fat – 2.45
Cholesterol – 4.425
Sodium – 30
Total Carbohydrate – 1.7
Dietary Fiber – .93
NET CARBS = .77 per cup
Sugars – .046
Protein – 1.34
Thanks so much for the recipe!
Carolyn says
Great info, thanks!
Eileen s Thomas says
Thank you so much for making it so easy for me to stay on my lo-carb plan. I made these they are so good I used nectresse they were so good.
Carolyn says
Glad to hear it!
Michelle H says
I made these yesterday. I used Splenda instead of erythritol (which I normally do). The filling was really good. The chocolate was still too bitter. I did use unsweetened cocoa powder, so wonder if that had something to do with it. They were decent, but I think next time I’ll use a 75% dark chocolate and adjust the sweetener as necessary. Pretty easy to make, just a lot of down time between steps. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Michelle H says
To add as well, I used a mini muffin tin with mini muffin paper cups and it worked fine. That was one thing I wasn’t sure would work.
Carolyn says
Thanks for the tip!
Carolyn says
Hi Michelle…I think it’s the Splenda, personally. It just doesn’t mix well with Chocolate in my experience. It’s part of the reason I stopped using any sucralose. But yes, try a slightly sweetened chocolate for the coating and it may help if you’re using Splenda.
Michelle H says
I could try something else, but given that Swerve and other erythritols aren’t available at my local grocery store, I went with the Splenda which I already had, and is available.
Scott says
what is the saturated fat in the peanut butter cups?
Carolyn says
Not sure, probably pretty high. You should enter the ingredients into myfitnesspal, it will tell you. Please keep in mind, saturated fat is NOT the enemy it’s been made out to be.
Dawn says
I’m currently making a batch of these — in silicon mini-muffin cups! The ingredients are enough to make exactly 16 of this size. Looking forward to trying them!
Carolyn says
The muffin cups should work perfectly!
Dawn says
They did, and I’m pretty happy with the results. (Yum!) I think I might have put too much butter in the chocolate mixture because it starts melting on one’s fingers right away when they come out of the fridge, so I’m thinking of trying coconut oil next time instead. Obviously there will be a next time.
Carolyn says
They are pretty melty. Otherwise, the chocolate is too hard. But mine didn’t melt at the first touch, so maybe coconut oil or one less tbsp butter?
Donna says
What brand of peanut butter do you use?
Roxana | Roxana's Home Baking says
Peanut butter and chocolate is a hard to resist combo. Loving your guilt free cups!
Emily @ Life on Food says
I can stay away from peanut butter for the most part, not that I try, but when mixed with chocolate there is no stopping me. These look delicious. I don’t know if I made a batch I would be able to stop from eating the whole she-bang.