vanilla bean coconut butter cups with chocolate peanut butter
April 18, 2012 Guess what?
Today’s recipe does not involve potatoes.
Although, you could pour the below coconut butter on top of a sweet potato.
But let’s get back to the point.
If coconut butter becomes solid when chilled, why not turn it into a no-bake treat?
It’s like a chocolate peanut butter cup, except sub out the chocolate for creamy coconut butter.
And the inside isn’t your average, run-of-the-mill peanut butter, it’s chocolate peanut butter.
And the coconut butter has been taken to the next level with the addition of vanilla beans.
One of my favorite ingredients ever.
I adore all things vanilla.
The most un-boring flavor to ever live.
Instead of a heaping spoonful of almond butter with tomorrow’s breakfast, one of these will be happily plopped on top.
Vanilla Bean Coconut Butter Cups with Chocolate Peanut Butter [yields ~20 mini cups]
*edited 2/28/13
for the cups:
- 1 cup coconut butter, melted
- 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil, melted
- 1 tablespoon warmed honey/maple syrup, or pure cane sugar, optional
for the chocolate peanut butter filling:
- 1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup, warmed
- pinch fine grain sea salt
- In a small bowl, combine the peanut butter, cocoa powder, maple syrup, and pinch of salt. Stir until smooth. Mixture will be thick. Set aside.
- Add your melted [see notes] coconut butter to your food processor and turn on. If you just made the coconut butter, keep it spinning in the food processor.
- Add the melted coconut oil and let process for 15sec.
- Add the vanilla bean seeds and warm honey or 1T pure cane sugar if using. Continue to process until smooth. Add 1T extra melted coconut oil to smooth out if necessary. If using honey it can take an additional 5+ minutes to smooth out again.
- Line a mini muffin pan with 20 mini liners and add about 1 1/2 teaspoons of coconut butter to the bottom of each.
- Take about 1t of the chocolate peanut butter and flatten it slightly in between your fingers. Place on top of each cup.
- Top with 1 – 1 1 /2 teaspoons coconut butter and lightly tap the top to level.
- Sprinkle with coarse sea salt if desired.
- Place the pan in the freezer or fridge to set. Best if stored in a sealed container in the fridge.
notes: I use an 11c Cuisinart food processor. *One reader informed me that the honey did not allow the mixture to smooth out after adding. Mine worked after 5min of processing, but to play it safe you may just want to add sugar. If you don’t have coconut oil to add to the butter, do not sub any other oil. To melt your coconut butter: Place glass jar of your coconut butter a cold water bath in a medium sized pot. Make sure the water is below the top of the bowl/jar. Turn the heat on low and gently heat the coconut butter. You don’t want to start on a higher heat or start with hot water or the bowl/jar can crack. Stir until melted. Or, heat in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second increments, stirring after each until smooth.
…
How to make coconut butter: [yields ~ 1 1/3c]
- 4c unsweetened shredded coconut
- In a food processor [11c works great with 4c of coconut], add the coconut and turn on until the coconut is creamy. Scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary [I’ve found a butter knife works the best because plastic spatulas will tear from the blade]. Takes about 6-10min.
- Once it’s smooth, I make sure to scrape the bottom + sides really well and continue to process for another 1-2min until completely drippy.
- If using, add in vanilla beans, warmed maple syrup [or honey], etc. while turned on. Process until smooth. For every cup of coconut butter, I recommend adding no more than 1T of warmed honey/maple syrup or the mixture won’t smooth out. You can also use pure cane sugar.
- Store in a sealed jar, in a cool cabinet. Melts at about 75 degrees.
Check my post on common problems when making coconut butter and other nut butters if you need a little help!
And for a little refresher:
Coconut Oil: Oil that is extracted from the coconut meat. Extra virgin unrefined coconut oil turns clear when melted and has a smoke point of 350*. It’s great in baked goods as a butter/oil replacement.
Coconut Butter: The coconut meat is pureed into creamy butter. Coconut butter contains all of the oil, plus the fiber [and other nutrients] from the meat. It has a bit more texture because of this as well. Coconut butter is a milky, white color when melted.
A sneak peek from yesterday’s photo shoot with one of my best friend’s Laura, her husband, and their newest addition. They are so very lovely.
Ashley
Reader Comments (45)
What a great way to use coconut butter (which reminds me to make a new batch myself).
Ashley--> Let me know what you think!
And Laura looks AMAZING for just having had a baby!!
Ashley--> Welcome!
Ashley--> If you have a food processor [not a mini sized] you can easily make it. If not, the most popular brand that sells it is Artisana. It's quite pricey, unfortunately.
but then I saw that picture of that newborn babe and lost all my senses.
Ashley--> Hahaha, love it!
Ashley--> Since we chatted about this through email, I wanted to leave the response on the blog as to why it didn't work out. Coconut butter can't be made using the reduced fat, shredded + unsweetened coconut. The only kind that has worked consistently for me is full fat, shredded + unsweetened coconut.
Ashley--> She does look amazing, doesn't she?? :)
i love you.
the end.
Ashley--> Welcome!! :)
Ashley--> I have a few in the fridge with your name on them!
Hmmm...I wonder what would happen if you freeze them and then put a layer of melted chocolate OVER it?
Would the coconut butter survive the additional warmth of the chocolate?
Thanks for the recipe!
Ashley--> Okay. Now THAT is genius! I think it would definitely work!
Ashley--> I wonder what would happen if you stuck one IN a buckwheat bake before cooking???
Ashley--> Thanks so much!
Ashley--> Aw, thanks Andrea! Yes, Laura looks fantastic! As does the little one. :)
Ashley--> That should work! I would just use 1t vanilla bean paste instead of the extract + scraped beans. You can always taste the coconut mixture and see if you want to add more vanilla bean paste to it. The strength varies widely between different vanilla products. Also, yes you can definitely make them ahead of time. I've had mine in the fridge for a week and they still taste as good as new! Just make sure to keep them in a sealed container in the fridge.
Ashley--> I'm so sorry they didn't end up tasting how you expected. Do you typically like coconut a lot? Have you ever eaten the unsweetened shredded coconut before? I only ask because a lot of people aren't used to it in comparison to sweetened coconut. It definitely turns to a melted, buttery-like consistency, with a little texture from the coconut. You said the texture was like Crisco [which is pretty soft], so did the cups not harden? They should definitely start to harden right away in the fridge or freezer. As far as the taste, it should just taste like coconut with a hint of vanilla and a mild sweetness. So sorry you weren't a fan of them!
Ashley--> Iris - I am so sorry you have had this problem. And twice! I'm sure that has been frustrating. :( It definitely took a few minutes to turn back into drippy coconut butter when I made them, so I'm not sure what could have been the problem. I'm going to re-make the recipe and see if pure cane sugar works better. I'm also thinking that the warmed maple syrup can possibly be just stirred into the drippy coconut butter. Again, I am so sorry you ran into problems with this recipe!!
Tastes almost as good as a piece of candy, actually I prefer it to candy because these are actually healthy!
I am looking forward to looking through your blog as we are also GF and DF.
How long will coconut butter keep in a sealed jar? I store it in a cabinent or pantry..not the fridge?
These are great. I might store in the freezer.