These were made the same day as the Peanut Butter Balls I posted earlier, but the filling is made from a different recipe, from a differe cookbook. These little winners are the closest any homemade peanut butter cup has ever come to the real thing. It's no surprise to me, and shouldn't be to you either by now, that this recipe comes to us from my Betty Crocker's Best Christmas Cookbook. If there is any arguement, it may be that the chocolate could be a little softer, but the slight crunch on these makes them over the top for me. The recipe has the filling patted out in a pan, refrigerated for an hour, cut into squares and then coated in chocolate. I coated the bottom of a ridged cup chocolate mold with melted chocolate, let it dry, added the filling and covered it with a smooth later of chocolate. Voila. A few hours in the fridge and you've got corner store perfection when you pop them out!
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups icing sugar
12 oz semisweet chocolate
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp shortening
Graham cracker crumbs are not called for in the original recipe but they really make it better. Mix that with the icing sugar and set aside.
I've learned from experience it's a little easier to blend the peanut butter and the butter together if you melt them together!
Then add that to the graham cracker crumbs and icing sugar and top the mix up with the peanuts and vanilla.
Melt your semi sweet chocolate and coat the bottom of your peanut butter cup mold, allow it to dry on the counter for about 20 minutes before you set it in the fridge for about 30 minutes more.
Now you can add the filling!
Resist the temptation to overfill, this will be the bottoms of the cups and you want them to sit flat.
Now cover with melted chocolate.
Be patient and leave these babies in the fridge for a while - hours even, if you want.
They'll pop out easily as long as they've been chilled long enough.
(p. 238)
