Chocolate Peanut Butter & Jelly Cups | Halloween Inspiration

Homemade peanut butter and jelly cups are year-round sweets, but it happens to be nearing Halloween as I write this. That means I’m also sharing a playlist of my favorite seasonal songs to get you in the spirit. If there is anything better than melting chocolate for a new recipe, it’s playing some good music while you do it.

Whether you celebrate spooky season or tend toward the cuter side of the holiday, now is the time to think about festive dishes to enjoy on Halloween in between popping these chocolates. I personally love this pumpkin tomato soup served in a whole pumpkin. If you already have a main dish in mind, consider offering this autumn harvest salad with a maple crunch topping that doubles as a healthy Halloween snack. I highly recommend making extra for this purpose.

A Note on Tempering Chocolate for This Recipe

For these peanut butter and jelly cups, you could temper the chocolate, which helps them to last well at room temperature and gives the chocolate good snap. However, when melting a small batch of chocolate at home, reaching the right temperatures can be a little trickier than when working with a large quantity of chocolate. Keeping this in mind, you may prefer to skip this step and simply store the cups in the refrigerator. Let them come to room temperature for a few minutes before eating or enjoy chilled. All the methods are listed below.

Ingredients

8 ounces dark chocolate
3 tablespoons natural peanut butter (or your preferred nut butter)
3 tablespoons preferred flavor of jam or jelly
Optional toppings such as flaky sea salt, crushed freeze-dried berries, matcha powder and chopped nuts
18 liners for mini muffin pan

Yields 18 cups (may vary based on liner size)

How to Melt the Chocolate

Double-Boiler Method without Tempering

To set up a double boiler, use a small saucepan and a heatproof bowl that fits over the saucepan without actually coming into contact with the water. Fill the saucepan with about an inch of water and bring to a simmer. In the meantime, chop the chocolate and add to the bowl. Once the water is simmering, place the bowl on top of the pot. Stir (a spatula works better than a wooden spoon) until the mixture is smooth and shiny. Remove from heat.

Tip: If your chocolate begins to thicken too much, you can return to the double boiler method to make it more liquid.

Tempering Chocolate With a Thermometer

Add ⅔ of your chocolate to a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, stirring occasionally, until it reaches about 115 degrees. Remove from the heat but allow the water to continue to simmer as you’ll be using it again. Add the remaining ⅓ of your chopped chocolate to the bowl and use a flexible spatula to combine the two, stirring until all the chocolate has melted and the temperature drops to about 82 degrees. Return the bowl to the top of the simmering pot and heat until it reaches 90 degrees. Remove from heat and stir again.

Tempering Chocolate Without a Thermometer

Add ⅔ of your chocolate to a heatproof bowl set over simmering water. When almost all of the chocolate has melted, turn off the heat, and transfer the bowl to a counter. Add the remaining ⅓ of the chocolate, and stir often until all of the chocolate has melted and is about room temperature. It should feel cool to the touch.

How to Layer the Chocolate Peanut Butter and Jelly Cups

Place enough liners in the muffin pan for the number of cups you will be making. Each cup will have the following layers:
1 teaspoon melted dark chocolate
½ teaspoon natural peanut butter (or your preferred nut butter)
½ teaspoon jam or jelly
1+ teaspoons melted chocolate

Spoon 1 teaspoon of melted chocolate into the bottom of each liner and use the teaspoon to spread a thin layer of chocolate about ¾ up the sides of the liner. Put the pan in the freezer for 3 minutes just to begin to harden.

Remove the pan and layer ½ teaspoon natural peanut butter followed by ½ teaspoon jam or jelly in each cup.

Spoon an additional teaspoon of melted chocolate over each cup. If you work smoothly but relatively quickly, you will be able to distribute any remaining chocolate over the tops as well. The chocolate should spread over the top but tapping the pan can help smooth it out as well.

Put the pan back into the freezer for about 2 minutes to allow the top to begin to harden. Sprinkle on your preferred toppings. Freeze for about 15 minutes or until hard.

Store in the refrigerator if you have not tempered the chocolate. Let come to room temperature for a few minutes before enjoying.