Description

Vanilla cashew butter cups are the perfect homemade treat for any Holiday. They are simple, yet impressive and easy to make.

Ingredients

Scale

Chocolate coating

14 ounces dark chocolate bar, divided (about 3 1/2 4 ounce bars)
1 3/4 teaspoon coconut oil, divided

Vanilla cashew butter filling

3/4 cup + 1 to 2 tablespoons of 3 ingredient vanilla cashew butter – (click here for recipe)

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Instructions

Prepare: If you haven’t already, make a batch of my vanilla cashew butter, and allow it to cool completely. This can be done several days to weeks in advance. Note: you will need about 3/4 cup + 1 to 2 tablespoons of the cashew butter for this recipe, the rest you can enjoy. YUM! Also, just before you are starting to make the cups place 16 mini silicone muffin cups or other mini paper cups on a rimmed baking sheet and set aside.
Melt chocolate for bottom coating: Place 4 ounces of the chocolate bar, broken up, in a microwave safe bowl. I like to use a glass spouted measuring cup so that the handle is easy to grab out of the microwave. Also add 1/2 teaspoon of the coconut oil. Microwave on high in 30 second increments, stirring in between until the chocolate is fully melted.
Make bottom coating: Measure out 1 teaspoon of the chocolate into each cup. Use the back of a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon to push the melted chocolate all the way up the sides of each cup, making sure no major holes are visible. You need to work quickly before the chocolate starts to set too much, work in batches if needed.
Freeze bottom layer: Place the baking tray with the chocolate cups in the freezer for 5 minutes, or until solid.
Add the cashew butter center: Add 1/2 tablespoon of vanilla cashew butter to each cup, using a spoon to spread out the cashew butter into a mostly even layer.
Freeze the cashew butter center: Place the baking sheet in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cashew butter is solid to the touch.
Melt the top chocolate coating: Returning to the same chocolate bowl melt the remaining 10 ounces of chocolate along with the 1 1/4 teaspoon coconut oil. Microwave on high in 30 second increments, stirring in between until the chocolate is fully melted.
Make the final chocolate layer: Measure out about 2 teaspoons of melted chocolate on top of the now frozen cashew butter cups and use the back of a spoon to spread the chocolate over the entire cup.
Finish: Freeze one last time, for 15 minutes, or until solid. Carefully remove the cups from the molds.
Serve/store: Store the cashew butter cups in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 to 2 months. To serve you can either eat them straight out of the fridge, the chocolate is a little hard – or you can allow them to sit at room temp for 15 to 20 minutes to soften up the chocolate. The butter gets all gooey. They are kind of messy this way (but I love them), so have a napkin ready.

Notes

Variation: The way the cashew butter cups are as written in the recipe is how I prefer them. The only sugar comes from what is in the dark chocolate. However, you can add powdered sugar to the cashew butter to sweeten it more. This will also turn the cashew butter into more of a paste so that when at room temp they aren’t super gooey, the consistency will be more like what you think of with a Reese’s peanut butter cup.

Powdered sugar: To add the powdered sugar simply mix the 3/4 cup +1 to 2 tablespoons of the cashew butter with 1 tablespoon + 3/4 teaspoon powdered sugar until well combined. Continue with the recipe as stated above.

Vegan/dairy free: To make this recipe vegan/dairy free simply use vegan and/or dairy free chocolate.

Prep time does not include time needed to make the vanilla cashew butter (about 30 minutes). Also, the prep time may seem like a long time for something so easy, but I did include the hands off time needed for all the freezing, so it’s a lot more down time than it sounds like.