Peanut Butter Cherry Cups

Peanut Butter Cherry Cups

Peanut Butter Cherry Cups

My own take on the famous peanut butter cup!

Dark chocolate chips
3/4 C. Crunchy peanut butter
2 TBS melted butter
1/4 C powdered sugar
1/4 C maraschino cherries, drained (without stems)
mini baking cups (found mine in WalMart right next to the regular/cupcake baking cups)


Spread out mini baking cups on a platter or pan- preferably one with a lip so they don't slide off as you carry this to the fridge later!

In a food processor, blend everything EXCEPT THE CHOCOLATE CHIPS, until well mixed and the cherries are ground up.

If you have a pastry bag, put the mixture into the pastry bag. If you do not have a pastry bag, (I am assuming you do not!)  place a sandwich size ziplock bag into a mug. Fold the top of the bag down over the top of the cup, so that the cup is holding the bag open for you.

Repeat with a second bag and cup.

Scoop the filling into one bag.

Now, in a microwave safe glass bowl, OR in a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips, stirring frequently.

Transfer the melted chocolate to the second ziplock bag.

OK... Ready? Use scissors to clip a very small corner off of your ziplock of melted chocolate. Squirt a dab of chocolate into the inside bottom of each of your mini baking cups.
(I specify INSIDE bottom, since the time when I first was teaching the boys to bake and told them to grease a pan while I went potty. I reminded them to be sure they got the bottom of the pan real good. When I returned, they had greased the pan real good... inside and out! They were especially proud of the nice thick layer of shortening on the bottom (outside) of the pan... But I digress.)

You will only want to use about 1/3 of your total melted chocolate in doing this.

Set the baggie of chocolate aside in a manner that it will not leak all over everything....

Now, clip the corner of the bag of peanut butter/ cherry filling.

Squirt a good dab of filling into each of the baking cups.

Grab your bag of melted chocolate and cover the peanut butter filling with more of the chocolate... hopefully sealing the filling into the lower layer of chocolate.

If desired, sprinkle with a few grains of course sea salt.

Refrigerate until firm.

Store in a sealed container in refrigerator.

No Bake Cookie Treats

No Bake Cookie Treats

These ugly cookie/candy treats are love at first bite for most people. TRY them!

1 package of Oreo (type) cookies (36-48 cookies)

1 8oz. package Cream Cheese

1 to 1 1/2 package(s) Dark Chocolate Chips

1 tsp paraffin (1/2" cube)

Dampen a cookie sheet or platter- the damp helps hold the wax paper in place. Spread a sheet of waxed paper onto the cookie sheet. Set aside.

In a food processor, grind the cookies to crumbs. They will be sort of gooey due to the filling.

Add  the package of cream cheese to the crumbs in the food processor. It blends more easily if you break the cheese into chunks. I did NOT soften the cream cheese first.

Blend  the cream cheese and cookie crumbs into a nasty looking paste.

Using a small cookie dough scoop, or a teaspoon, drop the paste onto waxed paper. I try to form the paste into ball shapes- or at least a semblence of round. If the paste is too sticky, place in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Once your paste is all formed into balls, or your first cookie sheet is full... place the balls into the freezer for 20 minutes. (Continue to make the paste into balls on a second sheet if necessary.)

My "double boiler"

While the freezer firms up the balls, set up a double boiler. A double boiler can be rigged by placing a glass (or metal) bowl over a saucepan with an inch or so of water boiling in it.. You want the bowl to fit partly into the mouth of the saucepan and seal it, keeping the steam sealed in the saucepan.

Melt the paraffin first, in the bowl of the double boiler- then add the chocolate chips. Stir as they melt. Turn the heat OFF to avoid steam burns. The hot water will keep the chocolate melted.

Using toothpicks, dip each of the balls into the melted chocolate, rolling to coat... then plop them back onto the waxed paper.

When all of the balls are coated, return to the freezer for 15 minutes.

Store, covered, in the refrigerator.

Try substituting Oreo Mint Cookies; or a few Andes Creme de Menthe candies in the chocolate. I have used milk chocolate chips, but pretty much everyone likes the dark chocolate best. I found a store brand of sandwich cookies that had bits of ground peppermint in the filling- that is what I used this time. this batch also has the milk chocolate, because the store was out of dark chocolate.