Easy Almond Butter Cups

Easy dark chocolate cups stuffed with creamy almond butter and sprinkled with sea salt. The perfect vegan, paleo, and refined-sugar-free treat! 

Do you brush your hair, friends?

This past week I had a wicked knot in my hair. 

For context, I don’t even use the word “wicked” in conversation; that’s how bad it was. 

My fingers felt the resistance while I was shampooing and when I *still* couldn’t untangle it after conditioning, I knew I was in trouble. 

I got out of the shower, dripping and downcast, sure I was going to have to cut out a massive chunk of my hair with scissors. 

Instead, M sat me down with a brush and copious amounts of conditioner and we worked it out, one knotted strand at a time. 

Bless him. 

I sat criss-cross-applesauce like a child, arching my neck to counter against the pull of the brush, rejoicing every time the brush finished a clean stroke. 

If you’ve seen me on Instagram you know that my hair is somewhere between straight and curly; falling in soft ringlets on a good day and sort of weirdly wavy on a not-so-good day. 

Typically, I jump out of the shower, scrunch my hair a few times all over with styling gel, and, well, forget about it. 

In my defense, brushing it tends to make my hair staticky, frizzier, and bigger. 

As my quarantine hair gets longer and wilder, I’m debating adding a hair brush to my arsenal of self care tools!

Here’s something else that’s crucial for self-care: Easy Almond Butter Cups. 

These sweet cups require just TWO ingredients for a vegan, paleo, and refined-sugar-free treat! 

It’s been a little bit crazy here at F&V with the desserts.

Between recipe testing for the upcoming cookbook and Valentine’s Day, let’s just say that there has been NO shortage of sugar. 

Usually I have a few servings and the leftovers make their way to the freezer, but last week I couldn’t get enough sweet stuff. 

I’m going to blame it on a hearty mix of COVID, PMS, and Valentine’s Day.

Whatever the culprit, I decidedly sat down and ate my feelings, multiple times. 

Yeah, I ate all of them, the good ones, the bad ones, and the kind of half formed ones. 

And they were delicious. 

But I should be grateful, honestly, because that’s how these Easy Almond Butter Cups were born. 

Luckily, you don’t need to be plagued by COVID, PMS, and Valentine’s Day to make this recipe. 

You just need: 

• Hu Kitchen Dark Chocolate Baking Gems
• runny almond butter
• sea salt (optional!)

That’s it!

First, let’s talk about my favorite Hu Kitchen Dark Chocolate Baking Gems that starts these sweet cups.

You guys know I’m SO picky about my chocolate, even when I’m hormonal and hangry. 

I love Hu Kitchen Chocolate because it’s refined sugar-free and made with only real ingredients.

And, guess what, you have TWO opportunities to melt chocolate making these Dark Chocolate Coconut Butter Cups!

I used two respective bags of the Baking Gems melted down to create the encasing for your almond butter cups.

One for the bottom and one for the top with creamy almond butter in between. 

It’s so easy!

I like to divide the chocolate in half so you don’t risk the chocolate hardening between steps. 

To start, melt half of the chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat or in the microwave in 30 second increments.

Line a standard muffin tin with 12 paper cupcake liners and add 1 Tablespoon of the melted chocolate to each.

You can also use a mini muffin tin and use mini muffin liners to create smaller mini almond butter cups, too!

Use a spoon to gently push some of the chocolate up so it slightly coats the paper liners and creates the sides to the cups. 

Then transfer the muffin tin to the refrigerator or freezer to chill for 15 minutes.

Once the chocolate is slightly firm to the touch, add a big spoonful of almond butter to each.

I recommend using a runny, freshly opened jar almond butter for the best tasting center! 

Place the cups back in the refrigerator or freezer to chill for 10-ish minutes until the almond butter is slightly firm.

Melt the rest of the dark chocolate and spoon it on top of the frozen almond butter to create the top.

Use a spoon to ensure that the almond butter is fully covered and not peaking out anywhere!

Try adding sea salt, chopped nuts, or shredded coconut on the top layer as a finishing touch.

I used a sprinkle of sea salt on mine to add a touch of aesthetics and complimentary flavoring!

Finally, transfer the cups back to the refrigerator or freezer to chill for 10-15 minutes before serving. 

Make these Easy Almond Butter Cups whenever you’re craving a sweet chocolatey, nutty treat. 

They come together in less than one hour for a delicious dessert. 

Because they’re only two ingredients, these cups are vegan, gluten and grain-free, paleo, oil-free, and refined-sugar-free friendly. 

To mix things up, swap out the almond  butter for your favorite nut butter of choice, like cashew, walnut, or pecan. 

Pro tip: I like to let my cups to rest outside of the fridge for 15-30 minutes to slightly soften before serving. 

You can store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to two weeks or freeze for long term storage, if they happen to last that long. 

Try making some for you and yours this Valentine’s Day for a sweet homemade gift!

Enjoy!

If you make these Easy Almond Butter Cups, I’d love to hear what you think.

Be sure to leave me a comment, rating, and review so I can use your feedback to create more yums. 

Give me a shout on Instagram and use #floraandvino to show me your creations.

Check out my Pinterest page to pin more recipe like this one to make later.

Want more chocolate cup recipes? Check out my Chocolate Covered Raspberry Chia Cups, Dark Chocolate Coconut Butter Cups and Superfood Chocolate Maca Cups.

Do you love this post and want more? Go to my homepage and subscribe to get recipe updates sent right to your inbox!

XO Lauren

Print

This post is brought to you by Hu Kitchen, but all words and eats are my own. Thanks for supporting the sponsors that keep me hungry!

Photography by Hot Pan Kitchen