Healthy-Enough-for-Breakfast Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups are a decadent-tasting treat with a healthy ingredient list that will surprise you!
Do you remember a couple months ago when I made Mini Vanilla-Almond Cupcakes and gushed about Lisa’s blog? (The cupcakes were healthy enough to be breakfast – really, how could I not be smitten?)
Well, this treat is another of Lisa’s creations. When I swooned over her recipe for Double Peanut Butter Chocolate Cups a while back and noticed that she mentioned they were healthy enough for breakfast, I knew it would not be long before they graced my kitchen.
I only made a couple changes to Lisa’s original recipe: (1) I used powdered stevia (in packets) because that’s what I had on hand, and (2) I added a walnut half to the top of each candy (mostly for the crunch factor, but also because it looks pretty). If you have liquid stevia on hand you can follow Lisa’s recipe; if you want to play around with a sweetener other than stevia, here is a guideline on how sweet 1 packet of stevia is: the amount of stevia in 1 packet measures 1/2 teaspoon, which is about as sweet as 2 to 3 teaspoons of regular sugar.
Lisa had mentioned in her post that she likes using Tropical Traditions coconut oil to make these treats, so I was pretty excited when Tropical Traditions recently contacted me asking if I wanted to try this product. I’ve been using coconut oil for a few years now but this is the first time I’ve tried Tropical Traditions and I have to say, it’s a fantastic product. In my opinion, its pure, rich coconut flavor is second to none. Plus I love how they really take pride in their product…on their website it says “[Our coconut oil] is made by families who are coconut farmers using old-fashioned traditional methods that have been used in the Philippines for hundreds of years.”
If you’re wondering what you can use coconut oil in, I use it to make everything from fried eggs, to pan-seared fish, and to sauté veggies. I also like to play around with it in my baked goods (like muffins), and a little drizzle on a bowl of oatmeal or frozen yogurt is heaven. It’s an incredibly versatile product. If you want to try it for yourself, scroll down the bottom of this post for the giveaway!
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil (I used Tropical Traditions Organic Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil)
- 4 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 packets powdered stevia
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 4 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 packet powdered stevia
- 10 walnut halves (optional)
- Line a mini muffin tray with 10 paper liners. Stir all ingredients for the bottom layer together until smooth, and divide between the 10 mini muffin wells (each should be about half full). (Try not to dribble on the sides since it will give your candy a streaked look.) Put the tray in the freezer on a flat surface and freeze until solid (about 15 minutes, give or take a little while depending how cold your freezer is).
- Stir all ingredients for the top layer together until smooth, and divide on top of the set chocolate mixture. Transfer back to the freezer and freeze until partially solid (about 5 minutes), and then lightly press 1 walnut half into the top of each candy. Return to the freezer and freeze until solid.
- Store the treats in the fridge in an air-tight container in the fridge between layers of wax paper.
:: GIVEAWAY ::
Win 1 quart of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil!
You do not need to have a blog to enter this giveaway! To participate, subscribe to the Tropical Traditions Newsletter and leave a comment here letting me know. If you want to earn additional entries, you can do any of the following (please leave a separate comment for each so I can count them as separate entries):
- Leave a comment telling me your favorite kind of candy (healthy or not!).
- Share this giveaway on Facebook and leave a comment here.
- “Like” Tropical Traditions on Facebook and leave a comment here.
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- Follow Tropical Traditions on Twitter and leave a comment here.
- Pin something from this post on Pinterest and leave a comment here.
- Follow Tropical Traditions on Pinterest and leave a comment here.
This giveaway ends Saturday, July 21st at 9PM EST; after that the winner will be randomly selected and notified by email. Good luck to all!
Disclosure: I received the coconut oil that I used in this recipe for free from Tropical Traditions, and they are also providing the coconut oil for this giveaway. I was under no obligation to review this product, and as always, opinions stated are my own.
I’m Faith Gorsky, the writer, cook, and photographer behind An Edible Mosaic. My goal is to inspire you to get in the kitchen and try something new! Feel free to 
Thanks!! I’ll let you know how they turn out! :)
These look delicious, but Stevia gives me crushing headaches and triggers hot flashes. Would Agave Nectar be an acceptable substitute?
Hi Kimberly, I haven’t tried this recipe with agave nectar, so I don’t know for sure; my only concern is that it might prevent the candy from hardening properly. If there’s another powdered sweetener that you use, I’d try that first, otherwise, if you decide to experiment using agave, please let me know how it goes!
Faith – thanks so much for the response and good advice. You are probably right about powder vs. liquid. I don’t bake much, so I did not think of that! I’ll try it with xylitol first, and if that doesn’t work the experiments will begin!
I love the old time favorite Hershey’s candy bar. I am very interested in trying this new coconut oil. I have tried the new agave nectar and with diabetes I love to try the new alternative sweeteners and the new oils that come out.
G’day Faith! I am craving for one of these right now, true!
Mouth watering photo and can’t wait to try these with xylitol too! Thank you!
Cheers! Joanne
Viewed as part of Candy Recipe Round Up by Cravings of a Lunatic
My favorite candy is the Zero bar.
I think they would be healthier without the hydrogenated oil. Would it work to use natural PB instead of the regular which is full of unhealthy ingredients?
Tara, I haven’t made this recipe using natural peanut butter. If you give it a try, please let me know how it goes.
I have a quick question, and as always, I am late to the party!
I assume you are talking about the conversion of liquid stevia to your packet since that is what this recipe came from, but when I look at the whole sentence I think you might be talking about just weights and measures. Can you clear this up for me? Are you talking about a measurement or comparing it to the liquid Stevia? I have a package of Stevia in the Raw, 9.7 ounces. How much of that do I use?
You say:
” here is a guideline on how sweet 1 packet of stevia is: the amount of stevia in 1 packet measures 1/2 teaspoon, which is about as sweet as 2 to 3 teaspoons of regular sugar.”
I was really hoping to make these now. In fact, I have everything on my kitchen table, but I will pack it away and await your answer. I am dying to make these, especially with no sugar, they are almost a diet food!
Lauri, I’m glad you’re thinking of making these – they are so yummy!
I wasn’t talking about converting liquid stevia to powdered stevia – in my post above, I refer people to Lisa’s original recipe if they want to use liquid stevia instead of powdered.
I gave the amount of stevia per packet so that people who have a larger bag of stevia (instead of packets) can measure out the amount. As I noted, 1 packet of stevia is 1/2 teaspoon powdered stevia, so where the recipe calls for 2 packets of stevia, you would add 1 teaspoon of powdered stevia (or 2 packets of stevia).
I also noted about how sweet stevia is so that people can make adjustments according to their personal taste preferences if they want to.
I hope this helps and I hope you enjoy these if you give them a try! :)