Keto Peanut Butter Cups (Low Carb, Sugar Free)
INGREDIENTS
- 340 grams (12oz) low carb milk chocolate
Peanut butter mixture:
- 100 grams
(3.5oz) peanut butter - 25 grams
(1oz) powdered erythritol (about 2 tbsp) - 25 grams
(1oz) whey protein powder
INSTRUCTIONS
- Mix all peanut butter ingredients very thoroughly, until it becomes a dough that does not stick to the sides of the bowl. For easier handling, refrigerate until used later.
- Make low carb chocolate. Or, use storebought chocolate and melt on low heat or in a double boiler. Remove from heat once liquid.
- Pour 12g chocolate (about 1 tbsp when hot) into each of the 12 cupcake wrappers.
- Chill cupcake wrappers in the refrigerator until firm, about 15 minutes.
- Take the wrappers and peanut butter out of the refrigerator. Place a 1/2 tablespoon ball of peanut butter in each wrapper and flatten until it nearly touches the edge of the wrapper.
- Stir the remaining liquid chocolate and then pour 16g chocolate (about 4 tsp when hot) over each filled wrapper. Chill in the refrigerator until hardened, about 30 minutes. Store at room temperature.
NUTRITION
| Makes 12 Servings |
| Amount Per Serving (1 peanut butter cup): |
| Calories 220 (79% from fat) | |
| Total Fat 20g | 30% |
| Saturated Fat 10g | 52% |
| Cholesterol 0mg | 0% |
| Sodium 20mg | 1% |
| Net Carb 2g | |
| Total Carb* 5g | 2% |
| Dietary Fiber 3g | 12% |
| Sugars 1g | |
| Protein 6g |
Reese’s peanut butter cups are among my favorite treats, and now I can even enjoy them on a keto diet thanks to this homemade version. These are larger than the brand name version and only 2g net carbs each, with a thickened peanut butter center surrounded by a smooth milk chocolate exterior.
It’s a no-bake recipe so the only work involved is melting the chocolate and assembling the peanut butter cups. This recipe can be used in conjunction with this tutorial on how to make low carb chocolate, or you can use storebought low carb chocolate by brands such as Lily’s.
Making the peanut butter mixture:
The first step is making the 3-ingredient sugar free peanut butter mixture. I use “natural” peanut butter, meaning it’s composed of only peanuts and salt without any sugar or other additives. I use the creamy (not crunchy) kind to mimic Reese’s cups. Make sure you stir up the bottle of peanut butter before using it, as there will probably be a lot of separation.
If you don’t want to use peanut butter, you can use any nut butter of your choice like almond butter or cashew butter. Other types of butter may vary in their stickiness, so you might need to adjust the amount of other ingredients so it’s easily spreadable.
I use powdered erythritol to sweeten the mixture, as I do with all of my keto dessert recipes. It’s about 70% as sweet as table sugar. You can easily substitute with your sweetener of choice by adding it to taste.
Lastly, I add in whey protein powder to thicken the peanut butter mixture so it’s easily spreadable and not too sticky. If you don’t have whey protein, you can also substitute with blanched almond flour. You just need something dry and low carb with a fine texture to help reduce the stickiness of the peanut butter.
Assembling keto peanut butter cups:
For the chocolate part, you can follow my recipe on making low carb chocolate or just buy storebought low carb chocolate. I recommend Lily’s brand, which can be found at Whole Foods.
Whether you’re making homemade chocolate or buying it, you’ll need to melt it. I suggest setting up a double boiler or a small saucepan over low heat, and using a rubber spatula for stirring.
I recommend getting disposable cupcake wrappers or reusable silicone molds. They will be partially filled by the peanut butter cup, and when they’re dry you can pop them out and they will look exactly like Reese’s cups.
Weight measurements are provided in the recipe instructions for the amount of chocolate added to each cup. You can use a digital food scale to make sure you’re adding the right measurements.
The recipe makes a total of 12 large peanut butter cups, or 12 servings. They taste best at room temperature on the same day they’re made. For leftovers, cover and store in a cool place at room temperature.
One of the best keto recipes I’ve ever tried…tastes (and looks) so close to the real thing! None of that post-bite cooling sensation that reeks of fake sweetener. For the next batch I may swap out just a bit of the whey powder in the peanut center with peanut powder to amp up the peanutiness just a bit (only because my taste leans more toward salty than sweet) . Kudos to Mr Savory/Sweet Tooth for the excellent low carb chocolate recipe.
I have not made this recipe yet. I have Monk Fruit In the raw sweetener. I am not sure how much of this I should use in place of the Erythritol. Can you help me with this?
I looked up “Monk Fruit in the Raw” and its packaging indicates that it measures the same as sugar. Erythritol (used in this recipe) is about 70% as sweet as sugar. So you should be using 17.5 grams (25 grams x 0.70).
Thank you Julia. I also wanted to ask about the whey flour you use. I click on the link and it brings me to chocolate flavored whey on Amazon. I have been using almond flour but the peanut butter won’t get dry enough to form a ball. It spreads out too much. I was wondering if the whey you use would be different as well as the whey flavor?
Thanks for asking about the whey protein powder. I’ve corrected the Amazon link; it should direct you to the whey protein powder that I recommend. It’s by the brand Isopure, unflavored, 100% whey isolate, and has zero carbs.
If your peanut butter is spreading too much, I would increase the proportion of dry ingredients. For example, adding small amounts of whey protein powder (or almond flour, if that’s what you’re using) into the mixture until it becomes dough-like.
Thank you so much! I will order the whey and see if that makes a significant difference.
Just made these.. They are awesome!!! Thanks for all your recipes…
I have made these a few times and every time… I always seem to need to half the chocolate (I make home made) and 1.5 the peanut butter this recipe calls for… I weigh out the ingredients… am I doing something wrong?
Hard to say without more information. Perhaps your cupcake wrappers are differently sized than mine?
Great recipe. My husband loves them.
I’m new to Keto. Where would I find erythriyol?
You can buy them online at Amazon. Click on the ingredient in the recipe box, which will link you to a product page.
The nutrition info appears to be a little off. Lilly’s milk chocolate bar has 12g fiber per serving, 2 servings per 3 ounce bar. 4 bars needed for this recipe. That would be 96g fiber just from the chocolate for the total recipe, or 8g fiber per serving, just from the chocolate. Am I wrong about this?
I calculate nutrition information based on the ingredients I actually use. In this case, I use my homemade milk chocolate recipe, as mentioned and linked to in the instructions. If you use something else, then the nutrition information will vary, as is usually the case with different brands.
ah okay, I missed that part. Thanks!
I recently made these and they are so delish! The only problem was that the chocolate (I used Lilys) was so hard to bite into. Also it seems that these are a lot of carbs. The Lily’s label says 5 net carbs per serving – which is 18 servings per package. The peanut butter cups make 12 servings. It seems like it’s a lot more than 2 carbs per serving with the chocolate alone! Thanks Sue
Did you use Lily’s dark chocolate? If so, dark chocolate has less fat than milk chocolate and so will have more carbs and be less soft. I recommend using milk chocolate, as stated in the recipe.
Amazing.
Thanks Crysta!
I didn’t know that making homemade PB cups were so easy!