Making Peanut Butter Cups That Rival Reese's Takes Just 3 Ingredients

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Candymaking is not for the faint of heart — if you've ever burned a batch of caramel or flubbed at making peanut brittle, you know this to be the case. However, there are several easy confections for beginner candymakers that are optimized for ease and success. Chief among them are homemade peanut butter cups. You only need three ingredients to make them, and if you've ever snacked on a Reese's, chances are that you can guess two out of the three right off the bat.

Besides chocolate and peanut butter, you'll also need to grab some powdered sugar to give your mixture stability, as well as a pan and liners to make the cups in. Some people use a lined muffin tin, which may be a bakeware tool you already have on hand, though you could also opt for a silicone muffin cup liner, like this Voirbleu mini tray on Amazon. Start by melting the peanut butter down and add powdered sugar until it loses its stickiness. Add a bit of melted chocolate to the bottom of the tray to form your base, plop in your firm peanut butter, and cover the entire thing in chocolate. After a brief field trip to the fridge, your homemade peanut butter cups will be ready to enjoy. 

Most recipes will call for chocolate, generally for these cups, noting that you can use semi-sweet, dark, or milk for your recipe. Beyond this, we would recommend substituting it for baking chocolate (or even better, couverture) so that you get an even melt. Chocolate chips contain stabilizers to help them keep their shape, which means they don't melt down as smoothly as a specially made melting chocolate would.

Aside from playing with the type of chocolate you use in your cups, you can also use different types of nut butter for your recipe. Smooth, creamy peanut butter will give you the closest Reese's copycat, but you could also use a funky-flavored peanut butter, almond butter, or a nut butter alternative, like one made with sunflower seeds, Biscoff cookies, or even granola. Go chunky or go creamy; as long as you use enough powdered sugar to give it a firm consistency, you'll be well on your way to a simple and tasty confection that'll satisfy your sweet tooth.