Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

I was planning on making buckeyes for Christmas this year, but somehow I was never able to find the time.  Instead, I made dark chocolate peanut butter cups.  They are seriously easy and delicious.  The hard part is not eating them all...

Notes:
These are super easy to make.  I know the instructions seem long, but you can make these and clean up in an hour or less.  The easiest way to melt this much chocolate is in a double boiler.  If you don’t have a double boiler, you can just melt in the chocolate in a large bowl set over a pan of simmering water, or in a pan directly over the heat.  You’ll want to watch it more closely if you use these other methods.  If you burn the chocolate, you’ll need to throw it out and start again.  Also, be careful that you don’t get any water or steam in the chocolate because it will make the chocolate seize, and you will have to throw it out and start again.  You can use any kind of chocolate for this recipe, just make sure that the chocolate melts well and tastes good.  You can cream the peanut butter and other ingredients with a mixer or by hand with a wooden spoon.  The next time I make these, I think I will sprinkle a few chopped peanuts on top to make them look more fancy. 

Ingredients:
3 cups (500 grams) dark chocolate, chopped
½ cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Yields about 30 mini peanut butter cups

Melt, Mix, Pipe:
Line mini muffin pans with about 30 paper muffin liners, and set aside.  Place the chocolate in a double boiler (or in a medium-sized pan), and heat until the chocolate is completely melted.  In a medium-sized bowl, cream together the peanut butter, butter, sugar, and vanilla extract with either a wooden spoon or a mixer.  Line a large drinking glass with a piping bag or a large Ziplock bag (this is to support the bag while you fill it with the peanut butter mixture).  Scrape the peanut butter mixture into the prepared bag.  Close the bag and snip off one of the bag’s corners.  Take out a large plate, and squeeze out about 30 teaspoon-sized blobs of the peanut butter mixture.  Place the plate in the refrigerator to chill for a few minutes while you prepare the cups and the first layer of chocolate.

Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Chocolate:
Place the lined muffin tins close to the pan with the melted chocolate to minimize drips.  Use a teaspoon (or a teaspoon-sized cookie scoop) to ladle out a teaspoon’s-worth of chocolate into each of the muffin liners.  Take the peanut butter mixture blobs out of the refrigerator and use a thin knife to transfer one blob to each of the chocolate-filled muffin liners.  Do not press the peanut butter blob down into the chocolate.  Next, top the peanut butter blob with another teaspoon’s-worth of chocolate, making sure that the peanut butter is completely covered.  Pop any air bubbles that form with a toothpick.  Allow the peanut butter cups to rest at room temperature, lightly covered with a piece of plastic wrap (that does not touch the surface of the chocolate), until the chocolate is set.  Alternatively, place the peanut butter cups in the refrigerator to quickly set the chocolate.  Store the peanut butter cups in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

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