Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

By KimberleyH

The first Top Secret Recipes book features a version of this clone recipe for America's most beloved candy creation. That recipe now sits in just about every collection of "copycat" recipes passed around the Web. But since 1993, I've learned a few things about the delicate science of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cloning. You know, stuff like: '"Never clone peanut butter cups while crossing a busy intersection" and "don't clone peanut butter cups while under a tall tree in the rain." These are the sort of handy tips that you don't find anywhere else on the Internet. These are the things that come with experience, perseverance and a long, complicated thought process.

Ingredients

• 12 paper muffin cups
• 1 12-ounce pkg. milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup reduced-fat peanut butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Details

Servings 12
Cooking time 20mins
Adapted from topsecretrecipes.com

Preparation

Step 1

Many years have now passed, and I figured perhaps it was time to share some of the more useful of these discoveries with all you great folks here on the site. Now when you make your Reese's clones, you'll know to use reduced-fat peanut butter for a better texture. Now when you're craving that delicate combination of flavors, you'll know to get out the scissors to trim muffin cups for the chocolate. This is the improved recipe right here, authorized, and in its entirety! And don't forget the busy intersection thing.

2. Pour the chocolate chips into a glass bowl and melt them in the microwave: Microwave at 50% power for 2 minutes. Stir the chips gently, and let

for a minute or so. If the chocolate needs more melting, microwave those chippies again at half power for 30 seconds. Stir gently. Continue the process, stirring gently as you go. But be very careful not to overcook the chocolate or it'll seize up on you like day old Carolina roof tar.

3. Using a teaspoon, spoon a portion of the chocolate into the middle of a muffin cup. Draw the chocolate up the edges of the cup with the back of the spoon. Coat the entire inside of the muffin cup with chocolate and place it into a muffin tin. Repeat with the remaining muffin cups and then put the whole muffin tin in the fridge so that the chocolate hardens.

4. Combine the reduced-fat peanut butter, powdered sugar and salt in a medium bowl.

6. Spoon a small portion of peanut butter into each of the chocolate-coated cups. Leave room at the top for an additional layer of chocolate, which we'll add later. Pop the candy back in the refrigerator to harden the peanut butter. This should take an hour or so.

Makes 12 candies.

These were great! For me, they came out disfigured and odd looking since I made them in a hurry but the taste is what matters. They tasted great and just like Reeses. I used regular creamy Jif peanut butter for creamier filling and melted Hershey bars since I couldn't find milk chocolate chips. I would definitely make these again. They were messy but fun to make and they turned out very well in the end.

Use a better grade of chocolate such as Callebaut. The results are even better. If you want to reduce your sugar consumption, cut the powdered sugar in half and add 1/16 tsp. (or to taste) of high grade stevia sweetner.

This recipe is a vast improvement over the old, and touches on the true secret to Reese's peanut butter, which is: no fat (in old recipes, that's what the graham crackers did, absorbed the oil!) Using any peanut butter with hydrogenated fats in it will destroy the texture. If you want to make peanut butter identical to Reeses, get some smooth natural peanut butter - no salt, no hydrogenated fats, no sugar. Then let it sit and when the oil has all risen to the top, drain it off. Repeat until the peanut butter is more like a paste. Then add your own sugar (confectioners) and salt. Bam, you've got it. Dry and crumbly, sweet and salty.

I make mini peanut butter cups. use 2 sticks of butter, 1tsp. of vanilla 3 cups of confectioners sugar(or less for not too sweet) 2 cups graham crumbs.(crushed extemely well) 1 12oz. peanut butter(jiff is good) 12oz. of melting chocolate. these are the best peanut butter cups. and easy. when hardening the chocolate, put it in the freezer while doing another batch. each batch makes at least 140!! Enjoy. my email is - [e-mail]

Try crushing up some graham crackers into the pb mixture....tastes great!

Theses are great! Here are my tips, fwiw:

1. I found some 1" paper cups at Party City that work perfectly. They don't have to be cut down like the muffin cups.

2. Rather than fuss with spreading the melted chocolate up the side of the cup, I just covered the bottom of the cup with chocolate, rolled the peanut butter mixture into a ball and placed it inside the cup, centering it so that it wasn't touching the sides of the cup. Then, simply fill the cup with chocolate. Works like a charm, and is much easier and quicker.

3. Cover your hands with powdered sugar to keep the peanut butter mixture from sticking to your fingers.

This has got to be one of the most fun, and easiest recipes to make.

One little hint that it took me a little bit to figure out is that, in this case too much chocolate is NOT a good thing.

The first time I made it, I had way too much chocolate in the cups. You literally only want to color the cups with chocolate, not goop it on. Otherwise you have too much chocolate and not enough peanut butter mix.

I loved this one, and have even read here about someone trying the same recipe, but making balls out of them. I am definately going to try that one.

This recipe is very hard but worth it!!!
To make it easier you should try using tin
muffin cups instead of paper ones. Also, there is enough chocolate left over to make more but there isn't enough peanut butter so you should double the peanut butter recipe but not the chocolate recipe. Good luck and have fun!

BEST RECIPE EVER!!I've tried some copycat recipes but none of them are this good. Sometimes i replace the powdered sugar for brown sugar, gives it extra texture HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

My brother Gabe loves Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, so I've been trying to perfect these in time for Christmas.

My first batch I followed the directions exactly. They were okay, but way too creamy, and the taste wasn't quite right either. Perhaps it was the brand of reduced fat peanut butter I was using (Peter Pan).

My 2nd batch I used Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter and Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips. This batch was much better than the first, texture and taste were close to a Reese's, but just not quite there yet, so my quest continued.

My 3rd batch I wanted to improve the peanut butter a bit, while also improving the chocolate, to make it as close as possible to tasting like a Reese's. I also made "balls" instead of "cups".

For the peanut butter filling I used 1 cup of Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter, and 3/4 Cup, plus 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar.

Once I had the filling made I rolled the peanut butter balls in a bowl of powered sugar for a very light coating, and then placed them on wax paper.

For the chocolate I used 1.5 of those big 8oz Hershey Milk Chocolate Bars and melted it in a saucepan over low heat. I used this Hershey Chocolate Bar because Reeses are made by Hershey. Again, I'm trying to get as close as possible to the taste and texture of an original Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

The 3rd batch was AWESOME! Almost exactly like a Reese's! Not quite there yet, it's not a 100% match, but I honestly don't know what I could do to improve it anymore. I think I have come just about as close as is possible without raiding the Reese's Factory!

Enjoy!

These are great! I actually made mini ones using mini muffin cups/tins and I made a white chocolate version, too. Very good. The best part? You can make the recipe as small as you want it and just make a couple so you don't pig out on all of them. Will try foil cups next time as I had the sticking thing going on.

Overall, I gound this recipe very good. I did make a few observations while making several batches.

I found that natural peanut butter (the kind that has the oil floating on top) works even better and gives that "special" texture to the end product. Ordinary reduced fat peanit butter is ground too fine and is too gluey. Stir the oil into the peanut butter before measuring it.

Also don't substitute semi-sweet chips for the milk chocolate ones. The result is very bitter.

I am a die hard peanut Butter cup lover and I make them every Christmas for my Family and I lost my recipe. My Grandmother has made peanut butter cups since I was a Child and now I am searching for her recipe. This recipe is missing my grandma's most important ingredient: ground up Rice Krispies and butter. So the inside is like a crunchy bread. Thank you, for this is the first recipe I have been able to find!

These pb cups are wonderful. But the peanut butter is missing something. If you add a little bit of corn starch it makes the pb a little crumblier. I haven't quite figured out how much exactly, but I think about 1/4 tsp works well.

I rate this a "4" only because, it seems like there's something missing in the Peanut Butter, not quite like the "real" thing....HOWEVER this is still REALLY good!!! If you got kids, they will love these! AND if you want, you could make them "bigger" then your regular Reese's Cup (Giant Size!). Another great recipe, will definitely do this one again and again!

P.s. Again, I only rate this a "4" because I think the peanut butter is missing something, perhaps some crumbled graham crackers (for texture??) Not sure...