If you’ve never tasted White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, its time to change that. These sweet treats are a fantastic riff on the milk chocolate standby. You can make these smaller by using a mini muffin pan, but why would you want to?
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Why You’ll Love this Recipe
If you’ve never tried white chocolate and peanut butter together, you really must change that. These homemade peanut butter cups are similar to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, but this favorite candy has white chocolate and is made with simple ingredients.
Here’s why they’re so good:
- White Chocolate is a dreamy confection—slightly soft in texture with delicate undertones of vanilla.
- This peanut butter filling is creamy and perfectly sweet, but not too much.
- Make the cups for gifting!…Valentines Day, Easter, Mother’s Day.
- The prep time on these treats is pretty quick, they aren’t difficult to make
- This is one of those easy recipes that’s fun to customize. Use any sprinkles you’d like on top
- Make mini cups if you prefer, just use a small cupcake pan and mini cupcake liners instead of regular size which is used here
If you love chocolate-dipped things with sprinkles, think about making these fabulous decorated chocolate covered strawberries too!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here’s a list of the main ingredients, and for the full recipe and list of instructions, please scroll to the recipe card below.
- Peanuts: Honey roasted rule the day here. So, so good.
- Peanut Butter: Smooth peanut butter is best, room temperature, and organic if possible!
- Powdered Sugar: The secret ingredient to set the peanut butter 🙂
- Butter and Sea Salt: Just a little of each
- White Chocolate: Blocks or squares are best in this recipe (found on the baking aisle)
- Sprinkles: A must for this recipe!
Step-by-Step Instructions
For the full list of instructions, please scroll down to the recipe card below.
- Make the peanut butter filling, which is held together with a little powdered sugar
- Melt chocolate in a double boiler or saucepan with a few inches of water and a microwave-safe bowl is the best way to do this
- Assemble the peanut butter mixture and the melted chocolate inside the muffin tins with a paper cupcake liner
- Sprinkle with chopped peanuts or sprinkles
- Chill and enjoy!
Serving Ideas
There are so many ways to enjoy homemade candy, and here are just a few:
- Use them as hostess gifts by wrapping in cellophane bags or a decorative box
- Give a couple as a party favor, wrapped in a small gift bag with a cute ribbon
- Include these on a dessert table for any occasion
- Holidays like Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day are a great time to make these fun treats
Some ideas of what to serve at a gathering like this are:
- A Chocolate Hummus Dessert Tray and maybe some of these adorable Chocolate Dipped Rice Krispy Treats. Keep the chocolate theme going and make some white Chocolate Covered Popcorn too!
- Triple Chocolate Cookies (dark chocolate cookies on trays look great!)
- Since we’re eating all this chocolate, maybe start out with something healthy, like these cute Veggie Cups with Hummus and maybe a batch of these delicious Crispy Cauliflower Bites.
- Make it a party with a couple of Cast Iron Skillet Pizzas or an easy Skillet Taco Bake. Wow, won’t that be good!
Tips for Success
- Use a good quality white chocolate if possible, since it’s the star of the show. Avoid using chocolate chips as they don’t melt quite as easily as bar chocolate (try Ghirardelli White Chocolate Baking Bars, in the baking aisle of well-stocked grocery stores)
- There are lots of fun ways to use sprinkles on these homemade cups. Try chocolate covered sunflower seeds or just regular sprinkles too.
- When scooping the peanut butter mixture on top of the chocolate, use the back of a small spoon to level the mixture out before adding the final layer of chocolate
- Use regular chopped peanuts if you’d like instead of honey roasted. Sweet & salty is where it’s at! 🙂
- Avoid using natural peanut butter in this recipe, but organic peanut butter works great.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! My toppings are just a suggestion! Regular chopped peanuts and any kind of sprinkles would totally work!
I think so! I didn’t test other types of nut butters in this recipe, but I think nut butter cups made with almond or cashew butter would be delicious!
I don’t see why not! The creamy peanut butter does give a nice contrast to the crunchy topping, so there’s that to consider 🙂
Yes! This recipe is easy to double. You can also make this simple treat in a small muffin tin with mini muffin liners.
These cups are fine for a day or two, and will last a few days longer refrigerated in an airtight container.
More Recipes to Try:
Ice Cream Cake with Peanut Butter Ganache: Fabulous, with store-bought shortcuts!
Hot Chocolate Without Dairy: So creamy, rich and delicious!
Peanut Butter and Jam Cookies: Outstanding in every way!
Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce: Satisfying and so delicious!
If you’ve tried White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, or any recipe on Studio Delicious, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!
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White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Ingredients
- For the PEANUT BUTTER FILLING
- 1/2 cup Peanut butter, creamy
- 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar plus more as needed
- 1 tablespoon Butter, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- For the WHITE CHOCOLATE
- 1 pound White chocolate, good quality, chopped into chunks. See recipe notes. 16 ounces
- 3 tablespoons Honey Roasted Peanuts, chopped
- 3 tablespoons Sprinkles
Instructions
- Make the PEANUT BUTTER FILLING
- Mix together peanut butter, powdered sugar, butter and salt with an electric mixer until smooth. It will be thick enough to form a small ball in your hands. If the mixture is too sticky, add a tablespoon of powdered sugar at a time, beating it with the mixture after each addition. It may take 2 or 3 extra tablespoons to form a small ball in your hand.
- Melt the CHOCOLATE
- Fill a medium saucepan with a couple of inches of water and place on medium heat.
- Add the chopped chocolate to a medium-sized heat proof bowl that will fit comfortably inside the saucepan, but not touching the water.
- Melt the chocolate in the bowl on medium low heat, stirring occasionally until most of the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and carefully place the bowl of melted chocolate aside, continuing to stir until all the chocolate bits are melted.
- Assemble the PEANUT BUTTER CUPS
- Line a standard size 12 cup muffin tin with disposable mini or regualar muffin tin liners. Spoon slightly less than a tablespoon of the melted white chocolate in the bottom of each.
- Measure a heaping teaspoon of the peanut butter mixture and flatten it gently with your fingers, then place it on top of the white chocolate in each cup.
- Spoon another tablespoon of the melted white chocolate over the top of each cup, making sure to cover the peanut butter layer.
- Gently tap the baking tray flat on a flat surface to release any air bubbles.
- Sprinkle a teaspoon of the chopped peanuts or sprinkles if using on top of each cup to decorate.
- Refrigerate the cups for at least 30 minutes to set the candy, then remove and serve.
Notes
- It’s best not to use white chocolate chips if you can help it..better to buy a bar of white chocolate and chop it yourself.
- I used chocolate covered sunflower seeds as decoration, but any kind of sprinkles will work.
Nutrition
- Super important to read the whole recipe before you begin
- Pay attention to the ingredient list and photos for the recipe
- If possible, prep your ingredients a little before you start
- Always use a sharp knife for safety
- Use the size of pan called for in the recipe
- For savory recipes, taste and season as you go
- Buy fresh, organic ingredients, locally sourced whenever possible
The original post of this recipe was February, 2019, and the text is below:
I just ate two giant cookies from yesterday’s all-day baking session. I fear this is a problem since it’s just 7:00 am and there are at least twelve hours until bedtime. The likelihood of healthier food til then is slim to none, since I’ve set the tone for the day so to speak.
Some of you may be rolling your eyes, thinking this girl has a big fat case of denial! Two cookies won’t ruin the whole day! But I’ve got homemade White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups on the kitchen counter too, you see.
Right next to those cookies, waiting patiently for me to bite them. I mean, I’m not really doing my job if I don’t eat a couple of everything, right?
These precious candies are the unicorn of the peanut butter and chocolate genre. Maybe you usually skip right over white chocolate, thinking it’s just not as good. SO not true. White Chocolate is a dreamy confection—slightly soft in texture with delicate undertones of vanilla. And the peanut butter filling is creamy and perfectly sweet, but not too much.
This is a sweet indulgence to enjoy slowly and mindfully, savoring each little nibble. Fair warning— this is a big piece of candy. Like a jumbo version of the size you buy in the orange package.
My logic is, if they were small you’d probably eat two anyway, so why not save yourself time? 🙂
Oh. My. Yum! These look awesome!
Thank you!
These sound so good, and they’re super cute! White chocolate is something I’ve never seen in a peanut butter cup. Absolutely love that idea!
They are tasty…I have to stop myself!
White chocolate definitely doesn’t get the love that milk chocolate does! But these cups looks so amazing! What a perfect treat for Spring!
Thank you!
Those are so delicate and pretty! I love how you decorated them and the use of white chocolate. I always wondered how they made the peanut butter centers so good. I am a peanut butter addict so this is right up my alley. Great post!
Thank you so much!
I’ve actually never tried white chocolate peanut butter cups….I know I should probably correct that soon. I actually like white chocolate & peanut butter cups so I’m sure I’d love these.
Def worth a try, hope you like them!
These peanut butter cups are so pretty! Love the brightly colored sunflower seeds too. Very festive for spring.
Thank you so much 🙂
I feel like I’ve been doing it wrong my whole life! How have I never tried white chocolate with peanut butter?! These are adorable… can’t wait to try making them.
Right? Me too! Thanks 🙂
These look so delicious! I love white chocolate and peanut butter together!
Thank you !
cute ! such a good and clean dessert option for the kidos !
Thank you 🙂
I love homemade chocolate cups and this white chocolate version looks delicious! They’re so easy to make a great for when your sweet tooth cravings hit.
No doubt…chocolate is my “go to” 🙂
These are gorgeous! I love the idea of using white chocolate with the peanut butter, frankly it’s hard to go wrong with anything chocolate and peanut butter! I can’t wait to give this a try.
I couldn’t agree more! 🙂