Quick and Easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Treat

This quick and easy chocolate peanut butter recipe is my new go-to for satisfying my chocolate cravings! I used to spend $4.00 a bar for Lily’s sugar free chocolate. The price being so high was helpful in keeping me in line— I would only allow myself to eat one row per day. But one day we didn’t have any Lily’s in the house and I wanted chocolate!! So many recipes call for starting with some sort of chocolate bar, and all I had in the house was raw cacao powder. Mixing it with peanut butter was clearly the solution! Our peanut butter was a little too thick, so I added butter and the result is the most luxurious, smooth chocolate!

More Satisfying than Chocolate Alone

I am like the rest of the world and LOVE the classic combination of chocolate and peanut butter. And having the richness of the butter and peanut butter slows down my chowing far more than just straight chocolate. On top of that, topping them with another nut makes it all the more satiating! I’ve topped them with pretzels and other crackers, too, in case nuts aren’t your thing!

This is an *at home* chocolate. I wanted to keep it quick and easy and not add any stabilizers, so I keep these in the freezer. They will melt if they get warm. Grab a Lily’s bar if you’re wanting to take some chocolate to go!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 C butter
• 3/4 C peanut butter
• 1/3 C raw cacao (or cocoa powder)
• 2 TBS sweetener of choice (I use a monk fruit/erythritol blend). Since they are kept in the freezer, a liquid sweetener works too!
• pinch of salt
• any toppings you’d like!

Method:

In a small pan, melt the butter and peanut butter together and mix well. Once melted and thoroughly blended, add in the rest of the ingredients aside from the toppings. (I guess you could add toppings there! I never have.) Spoon drops onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Mine are about 1/2 – 1 teaspoon in size. This makes enough for one 1/2 sheet size baking pan, the standard size in most home kitchens. The pictures are of a smaller pan, and I used two of them.

I have silicone molds that I have fussed over with these, but when you consider the precision in which you have to load it, as well as the clean up of those, this is the way to go! I have not tried this idea yet, but I imagine you could spread them into a pan, and once thoroughly frozen, break up into bark chunks. Leave a comment if you try it!

Once they are all “dropped” you can top them with anything you’d like, or just put them straight in the freezer as is. I, of course, dig into them once they are hardened (probably around 30 minutes to an hour) but will let them thoroughly harden over night, then transfer the chocolate to a bag the next day. I allow myself two drops after lunch and two after dinner! It’s in line with the Lily’s parameters I had set!

Topping Ideas:

• pecans
• walnuts
• slivered almonds
• coconut
• craisins
• pretzels
• crackers

Let’s Talk About Nutrition!

Obviously, making your own treats at home is going to be healthier than anything you buy. I will always talk myself into the health benefits of what I’m wanting to eat! (Ice cream? It’s loaded with healthy fats! It’s good for you!) But we have some truly legit superfoods in this chocolate peanut butter treat!

Raw Cacao

According to WebMD: “Cacao powder is packed with flavonoids, which have been shown to help lower blood pressure, improve blood flow to your brain and heart, and help prevent blood clots. The antioxidants in cacao and cocoa may affect how your body responds to insulin, which could lower your chances of diabetes.” Cacao differs from cocoa in that it is in its raw form. It is more bitter than cocoa, but is processed at a low heat and is able to keep all of its nutrients.

Grass-fed Butter

Read this article if you want to be sold on the fact that grass-fed butter is, indeed, good for you. We were taught to be afraid of saturated fat, but if you get it from a healthy source, like grass-fed cows or coconut oil, it is by no means something to be afraid of. It is yellow because of its high levels of beta carotene (vitamin A—so good for you skin!) and is one of few sources for butyric acid which lowers inflammation. Grass-fed butter has medium chain triglycerides which give you energy, boost your immune system and can suppress your appetite.

Peanut Butter

I found this article on the benefits of peanut butter from Denver Health Medical Plan and it does even more than I knew of! Who knew it is a source of biotin… something most every woman wants to get in her diet for thick hair and strong nails! Researchers have found that it increases the production of peptide YY (PYY), a feel-full hormone, which helps keep our appetite under control, and is good for your heart.

Be sure to look for a peanut butter that is only peanuts and salt. Make sure it is organic and made from Valencia peanuts grown in the US— they are grown on bushes instead of underground and are less likely to grow aspergillus and produce aflatoxin (harmful molds that grow in the soil).

I know that a lot of people go with almond butter over peanut butter for health purposes. If that is your conviction, feel free to use that here instead! Almonds don’t settle in my stomach very well, so I have to limit my intake of them. I’m happy to claim the benefits of peanut butter and enjoy the FAR superb flavor!

Monk Fruit / Erythritol Blend

Rather than digging into all that is good about these, I’m going to highlight what it doesn’t do, which is my primary reason for choosing it! It is a natural sugar alcohol that doesn’t affect blood sugar, feed yeast or cause cavities. This is the brand that I use— you can click on the link and see if this sweetener would be a good option for you.

Make Your Own Quick and Easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Treat!