If you love chocolate and peanut butter together as much as I do, you’re going to love these Keto Buckeye Bites. Inspired by traditional buckeye candies, they have a tender chocolate cookie cup, a creamy peanut butter filling, and a silky chocolate ganache. They’re rich, bite-sized, and perfect to bring to a gathering.
Now of course, you could just make my Keto Peanut Butter Balls. Or some of my Keto Peanut Butter Brownies. Or any one of my many delicious peanut butter treats (yes, I am obsessed!). But these keto cookie cups are adorable and easy.
So I admit it… this is just another delicious way to get one of my favorite flavor combinations into my mouth. The contrast of textures is wonderful. The tender cookie, fluffy peanut butter center, and smooth chocolate topping all come together in one perfect little bite.
And they make the perfect little treat to bring to parties and get togethers!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Chocolate and peanut butter! If you love this flavor combo as much as I do, you will love these little cookie cups!
- Bite-sized treats: Perfect for taking to parties or enjoying at home.
- Easy to make: Nothing complicated here! Just bake up the cups, fill with peanut butter, top with chocolate, and serve.
- Great presentation: These buckeye bites are adorable and eye-catching.
- Low carb recipe: Each serving of 2 bites has 4.4 grams net carbs.
Ingredient Notes
- Almond flour: A finely ground almond flour will give you the best consistency. Do not confuse this with defatted almond flour, which is really fine and powdery and will make your batter overly thick.
- Cocoa powder: I always recommend Dutch process cocoa for a deeper chocolate flavor.
- Sweeteners: I recommend a brown sugar replacement for the cookie cups and powdered sweetener for the filling and topping.
- Peanut butter: Choose a natural creamy peanut butter for the right texture.
- Cream cheese: This helps make the filling super creamy.
- Heavy cream: Heavy cream makes the best base for chocolate ganache.
- Unsweetened chocolate: This is 100% cocoa chocolate with no sweetener whatsoever.
- Baking staples: Butter, egg, baking soda, vanilla, salt.
How to Make Keto Buckeye Bites
- Prepare the cookie dough: Whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Whisk in the melted butter, egg, and vanilla extract until the dough comes together.
- Bake the cookie cups: Divide the dough between 24 mini muffin cups. Press into the bottom and up the sides of each cup. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, then gently reform the wells in the center. Let cool in the pan.
- Make the filling: Beat the peanut butter with the cream cheese and sweetener until well combined. Add the heavy cream to help smooth it out.
- Fill the cups: Divide the filling between the cooled cookie cups.
- Prepare the ganache: Heat the cream and sweetener together until simmering. Add the chopped chocolate and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
- Top the cookie cups: Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the ganache over the peanut butter filling. Refrigerate 20 minutes to help set the chocolate.
Tips for Success
I highly recommend using silicone mini muffin cups for this recipe, so they don’t stick to the pan. Parchment paper liners may also work, but silicone has more structure, so it’s easier to form the cookie cups.
The cookie cups will puff up during baking, so be ready to gently re-form the wells after they come out of the oven. You want to be able to fill them nicely with the peanut butter filling!
The keto chocolate ganache will seem thin at first but will continue to thicken up as you whisk and as it begins to cool. Wait until it’s thick enough to drizzle over without running down the sides of the cups.
Sweetener Options
As always, I want to walk you through the best options that will give the recipe the correct consistency. You are always free to use your favorite sweeteners but it’s good to know how your choices will affect the recipe.
For the cookie cups, I recommend an erythritol-based sweetener, with no allulose. Allulose makes cookies very soft and fragile, and they can also brown a lot more and even taste a little burnt.
The filling and ganache require powdered sweetener, but both erythritol and allulose based varieties will work. I actually like a little allulose in the ganache, as it keeps it shinier for longer.
Keto Buckeye Bites Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Cookie Cups
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1/3 cup brown sugar replacement, erythritol-based recommended
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Peanut Butter Filling
- 6 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 ounce cream cheese
- 1/3 cup powdered sweetener
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Ganache
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sweetener
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cookie Cups
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and line 24 mini muffin cups with silicone or parchment liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Whisk in the melted butter, egg, and vanilla extract until the dough comes together.
- Use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop to divide the dough between the prepared cups. Press into the bottom and up the sides of each cup.
- Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until slightly puffed and the edges are just firm to the touch. Remove and let cool a few minutes, then gently reform the well in the center with the end of a wooden spoon or another blunt rounded kitchen utensil.
- Let cool completely in the pan.
Peanut Butter Filling
- In a medium bowl, beat the peanut butter with the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the sweetener until well combined.
- Add the heavy cream and beat until smooth. Spoon the filling into the cooled cookie cups.
Chocolate Ganache
- In a small saucepan over medium low heat, whisk together the cream and sweetener. Bring to just a simmer.
- Remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let sit to melt 5 minutes, then add the vanilla and whisk until smooth.
- Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the mixture over the peanut butter filling. Refrigerate 20 minutes to help set the chocolate.
To decorate:
- Leave them plain or melt a little peanut butter with some butter and drizzle overtop. Or simply had a peanut half for garnish!
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Buckeyes are creamy peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate, leaving the top of the ball exposed. They originated in Ohio, because they resemble the poisonous nut of the famous Buckeye tree.
Store these treats in a covered container on the counter for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to 10 days. They can also be frozen for several months.
This recipe has 7.6g of carbs and 3.2g of fiber per serving. That comes to 4.4g net carbs per serving of two bites.
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Made these today and they are delicious! Unfortunately my ganache would not thicken up like the photos here and most of it ran off the peanut butter filling. I tried putting them in the freezer to help the topping stick better, but still no luck. Any suggestions why it wouldn’t thicken up? I made no changes to the ingredients.
Thanks!
I can’t wait to try these! I make anything peanut butter and chocolate (usually Buckeyes) on the Ohio State game days! Of course, they are done this year! But I won’t wait to try and make these! Thanks for all of your fantastic recipes!!
Hope you enjoy them!
Yummy,
Thanks for sharing
Really needed some “cheer me up” with being locked in with all the snow and ice….these are amazing. Thankfully I had all the ingredients and they were really easy to make. Thinking this is going to be a regular snack from now on.
Hang in there and stay warm!
Hi Carolyn! Is it baking soda or baking powder? It says baking soda in the ingredients and baking powder in the directions. Thank you!
Sorry, will fix. It’s baking powder.
Great! I made the right decision and used baking powder!! Can’t wait to see how wonderful these are!
Baking soda or baking powder?
These look amazing. Can’t wait to make them!
Yummy
This recipe is easy to follow and it was delicious, very rich peanut butter flavour. Tastes like a recess peanut butter cup.
Thank you!