PB & J chocolate cups

Your favourite childhood combination!

Here we’ve got a decadent, chocolatey treat inspired by the classic PB & J (peanut butter and jelly) sandwich that’s no-bake and easy to make in the Vibe Blender System. These chocolate cups are filled with homemade peanut butter and a simple, raw & refined sugar-free raspberry chia jam. If you love sweet and salty treats, these homemade chocolates are for you. They are vegan, low in sugar and plumped up with plant-based protein and healthy fats. Consider them the perfect homemade edible gift for Easter, Valentine's Day, Christmas or anytime.

The peanut butter we use to fill these chocolate cups is a variation on our famous smooth or crunchy peanut butter. The best part about making homemade nut butter is that you can control what goes in, customise the flavour and texture. We added cinnamon and salt, sweetened it with maple syrup (you can use honey) and added coconut oil to help stabilise the potential ooze factor.

We love peanut butter for this recipe, but there's no reason you can't use almond, chai spiced cashew or super seed (no-nut) butter instead. For double chocolate heaven, hazelnut and chocolate (healthy Nutella) nut butter would be amazing too! Either smooth or crunchy works in these chocolate treats - blend until you get the consistency you enjoy the most.

Chia jam doesn’t taste like traditional, sweet jam because it’s made with raw berries and only contains a little bit of sweetener. The process is super simple. Instead of using heat to reduce and thicken the berries, chia seeds do all the work. After pureeing, it takes a little while for the chia seeds to absorb the liquid and thicken. You may want to prepare it a few hours ahead of time. If you have any left over, this chia jam is great on toast with nut butter and fantastic with homemade yogurt.

WATCH HOW HERE

INGREDIENTS

Raspberry Chia Jam
200 grams fresh raspberries (or frozen and defrosted)
3-4 tablespoons of maple syrup or honey
¼ cup (40g) chia seeds

Peanut butter
2 cups roasted peanuts (store bought or roast at home)
2 tablespoons (40 grams) coconut oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
¼ - ½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon of salt

Chocolate cups
220 grams good quality dark or semi-sweet chocolate
1 teaspoon coconut oil
Sea salt or freeze-dried raspberries to sprinkle on (optional)

METHOD

Raspberry Chia Jam
1.   Wash the raspberries then place in the Vibe Blender jug with the liquid sweetener.
2.   Blend on ‘smoothie’ mode for approx. 20 seconds. 
3.   Pour into a bowl and stir in the chia seeds. Set aside somewhere cool or refrigerate for 2 hours to thicken.
4.   Clean and dry the blender jug.

Peanut butter
5.  Roasting peanuts draws out the oil and makes the nut tastier. You can buy pre-roasted peanuts which makes the process super easy, or you can use raw nuts and roast them yourself. Simply, preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Spread the raw peanuts on a baking tray and bake for approx. 10 minutes. The nuts should take on a light golden colour and smell nutty.
6.   Let cool until they’re just warm to touch (about 15 minutes). It doesn’t matter if the nuts go cold – they will warm up in the blender.
7.   Add the peanuts to the Vibe Blender jug. Remove the cap and insert the tamper into the lid.
8.   Select ‘nut’ mode, use the tamper to push the nuts down into the blades. Blend for about 30 seconds.
9.   Stop, open the lid. Scrape down the sides and inside the lid. Use a blunt butter knife to scrape down under the blades.
10.  Add the coconut oil, liquid sweetener, cinnamon and salt.
11.  Replace the lid. Continue to blend for another minute, moving the tamper up and down in a circular motion for one minute.
12.  Stop again to scrape down the sides of the jug and under the blades then continue blending until the peanut butter has reached your desired creaminess. We found about 2 ½ minutes to be enough.

Chocolate cups and assembly
13.  Line 2 mini muffin tins with small paper liners or use silicon moulds.
14.  Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a double boiler, stirring frequently to combine.
15.  Remove the melted chocolate and let cool for 10 minutes. The chocolate will not coat the sides properly if it is too hot.
17.  Spoon about 1 teaspoon of chocolate into each liner, then use a pastry brush to coat the sides.

18.  Let harden in the fridge for about 10 mins.
19.  When set, spoon in one teaspoon of peanut butter.
20.  Spoon in a similar amount of chia jam, leaving space at the top to fill with the remaining melted chocolate.
21.  Sprinkle with sea salt or crushed freeze-dried raspberries then place in the fridge or freezer to harden.
22.  Keep PB & J chocolate cups in a sealed container in the fridge (for up to about a week) or freezer (for a few months). If freezing, allow them to defrost for 10 minutes so they aren’t so hard.

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