Inside Out Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

It’s hard to believe February is over already.
It seems it came and went in a flash.
And though we have to bid farewell to National Chocolate Lovers Month, we have much to look forward to in the future. Specifically one day in the future…

Tomorrow, March 1st, is– get ready for it– National Peanut Butter Lovers Day!

While I myself am more of a chocoholic than a peanut butter-holic, I know many people just can’t get enough of that creamy, nutty goodness. So this post is dedicated to all you peanut butter fanatics! But if you happen to be more of a chocolate lover, fear not; this recipe is for you, too!

Today’s menu is featuring homemade Inside Out Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
If you’re not as excited as I am, you should be.

These babies are composed of a Reese’s peanut butter chip exterior and have a fudge-like interior. And guess what. They’re made with only three ingredients. The middle is a mixture of melted chocolate chips and Pillsbury frosting– a “cheater fudge” recipe I’ve come across a few times in the past week or so.

Oh, and did I mention you don’t even need to turn on the oven to make these?
Not that I need to convince you any more on this recipe.
I think the peanut butter speaks for itself.

So without further ado, I give you, my friends, Inside Out Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups!

Ingredients:

• 1 package (10 oz.) Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips
• 1 c. milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 of a 16 oz. container of chocolate frosting (I used Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Chocolate.)

Instructions:

1. Line a mini muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. Melt the peanut butter chips in the microwave on medium-high heat for one minute in a microwave safe bowl. Take the bowl out, and stir the chips, then heat in additional 30-second increments until melted and smooth.
3. Spoon a very small amount of the melted peanut butter chips into half of the liners. Melted peanut butter chips harden more quickly than chocolate chips, and you don’t want half of them to harden in a blob while you’re coating the sides of each liner. It takes a little time. Shake the pan around a bit to distribute the peanut butter on the bottom of each liner. Then use the back of a spoon to draw the peanut butter up and coat the sides of the liner, bringing it up as close to the top as you can. Dip the spoon in more melted peanut butter if needed. Repeat with all the cupcake liners (including the other half). Make sure to save enough melted peanut butter to cover the tops!
4. Put the muffin tin in the freezer, and in the meantime, make the filling. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave (in the same way you melted the peanut butter chips), and then stir in the chocolate frosting. Heat the mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds, and stir until combined and creamy.
5. Take the peanut butter shells out of the freezer, and drop the filling in by small spoonfuls. With damp fingers, pat down the chocolate filling to flatten it to just below the top of the exterior peanut butter walls. Pop them in the freezer for about ten minutes until the filling hardens.
6. To complete the peanut butter cup, you may have to re-heat the last bit of melted peanut butter chips to spreading consistency. Spoon melted peanut butter over the chocolate filling, and do whatever you can to spread it to the edges to seal the top and enclose the filling– Shake the muffin tin or spread with a spoon.
7. Put the peanut butter cups in the freezer until completely hardened, then remove them from the muffin tin, and store them in the refrigerator.

** Recipe yields about 20 mini peanut butter cups. Keep them in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

*Note: Try to keep the bottom and top layers of peanut butter fairly thin for two reasons. 1) If you make the bottom layers too thick, you may not have enough peanut butter left for all the tops. 2) Thick layers are harder to bite into.

On another note, I finally figured out why my crisp, good-quality photos were losing quality when I uploaded them. WordPress was automatically downsizing them, and they ended up slightly blurry. So I’m sorry for the low quality of some of the past few posts! But I think I’ve got it taken care of now. 🙂 Please enjoy these better-quality photos while you enjoy your peanut butter treats.

Happy National Peanut Butter Lovers Day!
How are you going to celebrate??

If you need more ideas, I can help you out there. 🙂

1. You could make your own peanut butter.

2. You could use that to make a grilled PB&J sandwich.

3. Chocolate Cookies with Peanut Butter chips are always a good idea.

4. Peanut Butter Blossoms would be delicious.

Happy celebrating!

© Milk & Cereal. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe.

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