Bite into delicious 3-ingredient keto peanut butter cups for the perfect creamy peanut butter chocolate experience. These are way better than a Reese’s cup by using real food and dairy-free ingredients without preservatives or added sugar. Great for kids and adults alike looking for a satisfying, low-carb, and no-bake treat.
Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cups Recipe
Hat’s off to Tasty for giving me the original recipe inspiration. I love the shortcut and tested this a few times at family gatherings. While everyone loved it, I really wanted a keto peanut butter cup recipe to enjoy myself.
I’m pretty sure a king-size package of Reese’s cups was one of the last “treats” I had after starting to clean up my diet back in 2008. It took a lot of perseverance to reform my old habits, but living without sugar and building a healthy relationship with food is completely worth the struggle.
After a long road, I’m ok around sweets and no longer battle with an inner cookie monster who wants to consume the entire batch all at once. Food is for nourishment, not entertainment. I eat to live but don’t live to eat. Furthermore, breaking the sugar addiction is so liberating. Now, I’ll never look back!
Healthier homemade treats like these keto peanut butter chocolate cups are free from artificial flavors, preservatives, and added sugar.
They are great all year long and a super edible gift idea when the holidays roll around. Read my collection of gifts for keto dieters if you need more ideas along those lines.
If you would rather buy a keto-friendly treat than make it yourself, I suggest Lakanto Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. If you know you’ll love them, select the subscribe option and save on repeat purchases!
How to Make Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cups
Gather three ingredients and prep keto peanut butter cups recipe in 20 minutes or less. The hardest part is waiting for them to set in the fridge.
Ingredients
Sweetener – My choice is powdered erythritol over granular because the granular product tends to leave an undesirable gritty texture. If you purchase from that link, be sure to use the coupon code PRIMALEDGEHEALTH in the checkout for 20% off.
If you only have granular sweetener but want to avoid a nasty texture, follow my friend’s tutorial at Better Than Bread Keto to make your own powdered erythritol.
Peanut butter – Creamy peanut butter is the way to go if you want to replicate a traditional Reese’s cup. However, there’s no harm in using chunky peanut butter instead if you like it more.
Chocolate – I use cacao paste, which is 100% pure chocolate and similar to baker’s chocolate. You can use either one or substitute with a keto chocolate bar from brands like Lakanto or Lily’s. Furthermore, instead of a bar, you can also use an equivalent amount of keto chocolate chips. You may or may not want to decrease the amount of sweetener down to 2 tbsp if you use a sweetened chocolate bar. That will depend on your personal preference and how sweet you like things.
This recipe is naturally dairy-free if you use cacao paste or baker’s chocolate. However, if you substitute with something else, check the ingredient list first and confirm the bar or chocolate chips are dairy-free also.
Step-By-Step Directions
Follow the easy directions for keto friendly peanut butter cups and you can’t go wrong!
Melt chocolate
Your chocolate should already be melted before beginning here. I make a DIY double boiler and melt it on the stovetop, but you can also melt it in the microwave if you prefer.
Line and fill molds
Place a cupcake liner in each of the 6 muffin wells.
Scoop 1½ tablespoons of melted chocolate and place in the bottom of each liner. Use the back of your spoon and spread the chocolate all the way out to the edge of the liner. You want it to fill the whole space.
Pop the tray in the freezer for 10 minutes until the chocolate sets up a little. Chilling the chocolate beforehand keeps the peanut butter layer in the center and prevents it from sinking into the chocolate bottom. As long as the chocolate is semi-firm, it will give enough support to hold the peanut butter up and layer nicely.
Prepare filling
While the chocolate chills, mix the powdered erythritol and peanut butter in a small bowl until smooth.
Using a tablespoon, scoop a generous amount of peanut butter and roll it in your hands to form a 1-inch ball. Then, press it flat between the palms of your hands. Place this disc over the first chocolate layer and repeat for each cup.
Add the final chocolate layer
Divide the remaining melted chocolate between all 6 cups by drizzling it over the peanut butter. Cover thoroughly and use the back of the spoon, as needed, to move the chocolate around until lit reaches out to all the sides.
Chill
Transfer the tray to the refrigerator and chill for at least 1 hour.
Serve immediately or store in the fridge for 3-5 days in an airtight container. These freeze well, so you can place them in a freezer bag and store frozen for up to three months. Good luck not eating them before that time, though! These are way too good to sit in the freezer for 3 months. Store with or without the cupcake liners; it doesn’t make a difference.
Keto Peanut Butter Cups Nutrition
This keto chocolate peanut butter cups recipe yields 6 full-sized cups each with the following nutrition profile:
- 239 g calories
- 8 g protein
- 22 g fat
- 11 g total carbs
- 5 g fiber
- 6 g net carbs
Please note that the nutritional value will change if you substitute ingredients. Use a nutrition app like My Fitness Pal to recalculate and reflect your changes.
Homemade Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cups FAQ
According to Hershey’s gluten-free list, aside from the seasonal shaped items like Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs and unwrapped minis, all other Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are 100% gluten-free.
For reference, here’s a link to their gluten-free list. You can also search by product name or use the “gluten-free” filter to view a collection.
The USDA notes 515 calories in 100 grams of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups or about 210 calories per package (2 cups). I think a better question to ask in relation to a keto diet is how many carbs are in a Reese’s peanut butter cup? This brings us to the next question.
There are 12 grams of carb per Peanut Butter Cup with 10 of those grams coming from sugar. That’s too many for a keto diet. However, with this homemade version, you can enjoy the chocolate peanut butter taste while eating real, unprocessed foods at the same time. It’s a win-win.
If you like, you can check the listing with the FDA directly and view the nutrient profile for yourself.
The first ingredient in “sugar-free” Reese’s cups is Maltitol, followed by peanuts, chocolate, cocoa butter, lactitol, cellulose gel, polydextrose, vegetable oil, peanut oil, palm kernel oil, and milk fat. The list continues on for two and a half more rows with various processed and artificial ingredients. Compare that list to my 3 ingredient recipe below and, in my opinion, there’s a clear winner. The homemade version is better for you and probably cheaper too.
More Keto Chocolate Recipes
- Keto Peppermint Patties
- Keto Mason Jar Ice Cream
- Keto Avocado Chocolate Pudding
- Keto Chocolate Cake with Coconut Flour
- Flourless Keto Brownies
- Keto Avocado Chocolate Mousse
I have a great round up of 24 Guilt-Free Keto Chocolate Recipes with many more types of homemade keto candies too.
Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cups Recipe
Equipment
- 1 6-cup muffin pan
- 6 cupcake liners
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp powdered erythritol sifted
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup chocolate melted, see note
Instructions
- Place a cupcake liner in each of the 6 muffin wells.
- Scoop 1½ tablespoons of melted chocolate and place in the bottom of each liner. Use the back of your spoon and spread the chocolate all the way out to the edge of the liner, you want it to fill the whole space.
- Pop the tray in the freezer for 10 minutes until the chocolate sets up a little.
- While the chocolate chills, mix the powdered erythritol and peanut butter in a small bowl until smooth.
- Using a tablespoon, scoop a generous amount of peanut butter and roll it in your hands to form a 1-inch ball. Then, press it flat between the palms of your hands. Place this disc over the first chocolate layer and repeat for each cup.
- Divide the remaining melted chocolate between all 6 cups by drizzling it over the peanut butter. Cover thoroughly and use the back of the spoon, as needed, to move the chocolate around until lit reaches out to all the sides.
- Transfer the tray to the refrigerator and chill for at least 1 hour.
- Serve immediately or store in the fridge for 3-5 days in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition & Macros
To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, please calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients and amounts used, using your preferred nutrition calculator. Under no circumstances shall the this website and the author be responsible for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on the given nutritional information.
Looking for more peanut buttery goodness? Try this Keto Peanut Butter Cheesecake recipe from Tasteaholics.
If there’s still peanut butter to spare, try these Keto Peanut Butter Cookies from Sugar-Free Londoner.
This post was originally published on March 13, 2019.