Pumpkin Almond Butter & Dark Chocolate Cups
Before I get to this recipe I want to know who else out there is obsessed with the podcast Serial as much as we are? We downloaded all of the most recent episodes so we could catch up on our road trip to Montana and all I can say is WOW we are addicted! The only downside to Thanksgiving this year is that they wont air the most recent episode due to the holiday (since they air new episodes every Thursday). Gasp! I guess we’ll have to drink an extra cranberry-sage champagne cocktail to cope! However, if you’re traveling this holiday season and haven’t tuned in yet do yourself a favor and download all of the episodes and catch up! I won’t get into the details about the podcast but if you’re curious it’s brought to us by the producers of “This American Life” and the premise is a re-examination of the 1999 murder of a Baltimore high school girl. It’s an edge of your seat podcast and I hope you give it a listen so we can all chat about it! Phew, I’m glad I got that off my chest.
Alright, onto this delicious recipe. I know we all have a favorite childhood candy bar and I’d love to hear what yours are so we can figure out how to re-create them! For me Reese’s peanut butter cups were hands down my number one. I loved taking little bites of the outside ridges and saving the peanut butter center for my last bite. I was clueless of the ingredients list and honestly couldn’t have cared less. To me, they were little pieces of heaven and I savored every single bite. I’ve drastically changed my diet since we began farming 6 years ago but to this day Reese’s are a guilty pleasure I enjoy a couple of times a year. I still eat them the same way- saving the creamy peanut-buttery center for last!
Before Taylor and I left for our road trip to Montana I was doing a little inventory of our winter squash situation in the barn and realized we have a LOT of sugar pumpkins that we need to eat this winter. My mind automatically starting thinking of ways to incorporate a little pumpkin into some “healthier” road snacks. Road trips are usually when I end up buying a few peanut butter cups at our gas station stops and this time around I thought why not make a homemade version using a little fresh pumpkin from the farm? The result was nothing short of amazing and I’m so happy I made these tasty treats for the road. The combination of almond butter, pumpkin, maple syrup, chocolate and sea salt is a match made in this farmers heaven.
Taylor was skeptical at first and according to him these weren’t the same as “the real deal” but he agreed they were pretty spectacular in their own way. We think these taste best on the road with a cup of coffee while listening to Serial.
I hope you all enjoy these tasty treats as much as we do. Let me know what your favorite childhood candy bar was in the comments and I’ll brainstorm a way to whip up a farm fresh version (if it’s possible!)
Pumpkin Almond Butter & Dark Chocolate Cups
Prep Time: 10 mins. Cook Time: 10 mins. Serves: 16 mini cups
- 9 oz organic dark chocolate chips (standard size chocolate chip bag)
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
- 1/3 cup natural almond butter
- 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (from the can is fine)
- 2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- Coarse Sea Salt
Preparation
- In a small saucepan over medium-low heat melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil together. Be carful not to overcook and burn the chocolate!
- Line a mini muffin tin with 16 cupcake liners and fill each with a small spoonful of chocolate, just enough to coat the bottom and a little of the sides.
- Place the chocolate in the freezer until it has hardened. About 8-10minutes.
- In a bowl combine the almond butter, pumpkin, maple syrup and spices (not the salt) and whisk until well incorporated. Taste test and adjust seasonings if necessary.
- Spoon a small amount of the almond/pumpkin mixture into each cup. Spoon more melted chocolate on top. Sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt and place back in the freezer for the chocolate to completely set. Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
Notes
*Use this recipe as a guide. *Adjust measurements and ingredients as necessary. *Taste test as you go.
Ohhh, these sound delicious! Thanks for the podcast recommendation, too. I have a often times frustrating and long drive to and from work and have found that listening to podcasts helps pass the time- I am putting this one on my phone right now!
Peanut butter cups are not my jam, or at least, I think so. I never had them, b/c you can’t find them in France… But I am not really sure about how much I like peanut butter + chocolate (but I was recently converted to pb&j so that might change!). Well wait, I did eat peanut and chocolate granola bars sometimes and I loved them! So it worth trying!
But almond butter + choclate? Yeah, you had me there! It’s a good thing that my jar of almond butter is hidden in my pantry, because this way I don’t eat it too quickly 😉 but with your recipe, it might change…
So now, about my favourite candy bar as a child… That’s a hard question, because I remeber some I liked and at the same time I can’t say which one was my absolute favourite. I liked simple Kinder bars, Bounty, Sundy and Twix (which was probably my favourite, though I really like the Sundy bars for a good while). Oh and as a teen, I liked Snickers (oh, peanuts again!) and Kinder Bueno (not sure you have the Kinder brand in the US?). But I think I have never been a huge fan of chocolate bars… I am not so sure I have a sweet tooth, though I like chocolate and a good piece of cake sometimes. One thing I really loved (and still do!) are the Kinder Schokobons and the Rocher Suchard, but I think you don’t have them in the US and they are pretty hard to recreate I fear!
Not sure this was really inspiring ^^’ I am still curious to see what other readers will say and what you will cook!
I am SO obsessed with Serial — and totally disappointed there won’t be a new episode this week (dang holiday ;)). I’ll have to cope with one of those cocktails plus eleventy billion of these yummy chocolate cups!
Yum! I don’t eat them often, but I do love peanut butter cups, my other favorite is Butterfingers. I love that sweet salty combo of the Peanut butter and the chocolate. Thanks for the recipe!
I love Serial! Can’t wait until next Thursday for episode ten! My favorite childhood candy was Almond Joy. Love the chocolate and coconut combination!
Oh wow. You have outdone yourself! I could get to some serious trouble trapped in a car with these bad boys. Also, you’re not the first one I’ve heard mention Serial. I’ve never really done the podcast thing before, but I will have to give it a try! Sounds perfect for holiday travel.
Other than just pure chocolate, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were my all-time favorite! I splurge and make candy and sweet treats each year at Christmas and homemade peanut butter balls have been a regular treat over the years. Although I love them, I don’t love how I feel after eating a zillion of them (that’s the proper serving size for Christmas treats, right? A zillion? Anyone? 😉 ) When I saw this recipe title, I thought “meh” and expected these to be too tedious to fool with. Wrong! Super simple and I definitely want to try them this year. I am the official cook now for the family Thanksgiving and Christmas meals and I am slowly, quietly, introducing one super-healthy, super-food item on our traditional Southern menu. These cups look like the perfect thing to introduce at Christmas. No one will even know they are healthy! Thanks Andrea!
You just saved me. I have a (dreaded, but no pain/no gain) 17 hour nonstop flight ahead of me, and I was trying to find something to help me forget I’m in sitting on a plane for the ENTIRE Thanksgiving holiday. The Serial podcast sounds like it might help me pass a few of the hours! Thank you! Only wish I had time to make your recipe to bring along with me. I will definitely try them out when I return.
My favorite candy as a child was a version of your Pumpkin, Almond Butter, Chocolate Cups. I don’t even know the name, but we called them “Peanut Butter No-Bakes”. Balls of peanut butter dipped in chocolate and hardened in the fridge. Sounds like other readers know these as well. Your recipe is guaranteed healthier 🙂
This cracked me up because I just did a blog last week about how obsessed I am with Serial and how bummed I was that it wasn’t going to be on this week-good to see I am not alone in that!
Wow these look delicious! Hopefully once Thanksgivng passes I’ll be able to get some canned pumpkin and try them out. The store was out of it but thankfully I always have some on hand so I could make spicy pumpkin cookies and olive oil pumpkin bread for the holiday!
These look so good, I’m a huge Reese’s fan, but my all time faves are Butterfingers — and I hate that the recipe going around theinterwebs is made with candy corn — what the???
Bought the ingredients today to make these this week! Can’t wait to try. When I was a kid, my top three were Reese’s, Snickers, and Whatchamacalits…All some mixture of chocolate and pb or peanuts. Now as an adult, I can’t stand to eat the mass market chocolate bars, but am always in search of a good quality PB Dark Chocolate cup. PB and Chocolate are really all one ever needs to sustain life, or at least that is what I like to believe. Happy travels! I can’t wait to make these.
Yum the combo of pumpkin and almond butter sounds amazing. I love all things pumpkin so that’s an added bonus item for me 🙂 sounds like you guys really know how to road trip!
Almond Joy are a favorite of mine but have not had one in years due to the weird waxy chocolate they use. Thanks for the podcast recommendation I have a 24 hour drive ahead of me and look forward to listening to Serial the entire way.
I am addicted to the Serial Podcast and I have a feeling that I am about to become just as addicted to these chocolate cups! What a great use for your leftover pumpkins, and a healthy delicious road snack 🙂
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Count me in for the coping-cocktail– I downloaded a bunch of podcasts for the flight today and was SO UPSET when I remembered there would be no new Serial this week! Urgh. On the plus side: see you soon!
oh em gee, did you just make healthy reeses?!
Any suggestions for making these if I don’t have mini muffin tins? My town is short on kitchen stores and I have a work holiday party this week that these would be perfect for. Thanks!