Your favorite childhood sandwich transformed into a cute, yet dangerously addictive candy!
Nothing screams childhood quite like the good ol’ peanut butter and jelly sandwich! Back in the day, I LIVED for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Well, peanut butter and homemade jam sandwiches, to be more specific. It was always my go-to sandwich for school lunches–no turkey, no ham, no cheese, and absolutely no tuna! I did love tuna fish sandwiches, however, I never dared bring one to school in fear of being that kid with the stinky lunch. Anyone else have this fear, or just me??
Now that I think about it, it’s pretty crazy that we got away with eating such a sugary sandwich as part of a “well-balanced” lunch. Especially if you ate it the right way which was on WHITE bread. None of dat brown wheat stuff. Not to sound blonde, but was wheat bread even around in the 90’s???
Any who, no matter how old you get, that fondness for PB&J will never go away. There’s no other flavor combination that elicits such comfort and childhood memories like peanut butter and jelly. And these White Chocolate Peanut Butter & Jelly Cups are sure to please your childhood AND adulthood sweet tooth!
It’s like eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in candy form! The main difference being that instead of white bread, these sweet and nutty treats are made with white chocolate!
And let me tell you, Reese’s ain’t got nuttin’ on these PB&J Cups.
First of all, these little cups are stuffed with PURE peanut butter–not that sugary peanut-flavored stuff. I also used crunchy peanut butter for a nice kick of texture. It’s up to you whether you use creamy or crunchy. However, crunchy peanut butter is DEFINITELY where it’s at. The crunch of the nuts combined with the smooth white chocolate is TO-DIE-FOR. Crunchy has always been my preference when it came to PB&J sandwiches because I loved the contrast of the crunchy nuts with the soft bread and sweet jam.
While they might look pretty fancy and perfect, they’re actually really simple to put together. In fact, here are a couple of tips that are sure to make the process even easier:
1.Chopsticks: When coating the inside of the mini cupcake liners, I found that using the fat end of a chopstick and swirling it around in a circular motion several times allowed me to get the chocolate to reach the top of the liner as well as to get the chocolate into the liner crevices. If you don’t have a chopstick, the end of a wooden spoon or a straw might also work.
2. Peanut Butter Pit: When putting the peanut butter into each white chocolate cup, I created a little well in the center for the jam. Since jam is much runnier than peanut butter, I didn’t want to risk any leakage out of the sides, so creating a little pit in the center definitely prevented that.
As you can see, I used two different kinds of homemade jams–strawberry and blackberry. Since these cups are made with white chocolate, you could really use any kind of jam you like–apricot, peach, raspberry, etc. It’s impossible for me to decide whether I like the strawberry or the blackberry best. They were both heaven in my mouth!
These PB&J Cups have the perfect ratio of peanut butter to jam to white chocolate. And with their small size, you’ll find it rather difficult to resist the temptation to pop 3 or 4 into your mouth within seconds!
White Chocolate Peanut Butter & Jelly Cups
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup white chocolate chips
- 3 ½ Tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 cup peanut butter crunchy or creamy
- ½ cup jam or jelly (I did 1/2 strawberry and 1/2 blackberry)
Instructions
- Line a mini muffin tin with liners; set aside.
- Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds. Remove, stir, add the coconut oil, then return to the microwave for another 30 seconds. Remove and stir until smooth. If still lumpy, heat in the microwave at 15-second increments until smooth.
- Spoon about a teaspoon of the chocolate into the liner, using the back of a spoon or a chopstick to coat the bottom and up the sides of the entire liner. Repeat with the rest of the liners. Chill in the freezer for 5 minutes until chocolate is set.
- Once set, spoon 1 heaping teaspoonful of peanut butter into the chocolate shell. Using the back of a small spoon, create a little well in the center for the jam/jelly. Repeat with the rest of the chocolate shells.
- Spoon about 1 teaspoon jam/jelly into the center of the peanut butter. Repeat with the rest. Chill in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- If chocolate has hardened, return to the microwave at 15-second increments until smooth again. Spoon about 1 teaspoon on top of the jam/jelly, spreading out into the edges, assuring that all peanut butter and jelly is covered. Smooth out the top. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes to allow chocolate to set up. Serve and enjoy!
- PB&J Cups can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 6 months.