Homemade Reese’s-style peanut butter cups

Reese’s chocolates are incredibly popular and much loved, although I only discovered them fairly recently myself (we rarely buy ready-made sweets). It turned out that the children absolutely adore them, and my husband simply cannot stop eating them ;). So I decided to make a homemade version. These homemade Reese’s-style chocolates are definitely for peanut butter lovers — the contrast between sweet and salty flavours is wonderfully pronounced here. And although I usually reach for dark chocolate in most recipes (you probably already know that about me), here only milk chocolate truly works; I added just a little dark chocolate to balance the sweetness. They are incredibly quick to make and taste absolutely amazing — so let’s get started!

Makes approximately 15–20 chocolates.

Ingredients for the homemade Reese’s-style chocolates:

• ½ cup peanut butter, smooth or crunchy
• ¼ cup plus 1 tbsp icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
• a large pinch of salt
• 250 g milk chocolate
• 50 g dark chocolate

Place the first four ingredients into the bowl of a mixer and mix until smooth and pliable. You can also simply stir everything together thoroughly with a spoon. Break or chop the milk and dark chocolate into pieces, then melt gently over a bain-marie or in the microwave. Leave to cool slightly.

Prepare small petit four or praline paper cases. Spoon 1 teaspoon of melted chocolate into the bottom of each paper case and use a pastry brush to coat the sides lightly with chocolate. Chill in the fridge until completely set.

Shape the peanut butter mixture into small balls roughly the size of hazelnuts and place them into the prepared cases. Cover each praline with about 1 teaspoon of melted chocolate and smooth the surface. Chill in the fridge until the chocolate has fully set. Once firm, remove from the fridge and serve.

The chocolates do not need to be stored in the fridge, although they can be refrigerated if keeping for a longer period.

Note: if using chocolate moulds instead of paper cases, the amount of chocolate needed may vary. It is best to start by melting a smaller amount first, for example 200 g.

Enjoy!