Salted Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie Protein Cups (Refined Sugar Free)

 I suppose I’m biased when it comes to this recipe though because I don’t think there is a better combination in the world than chocolate peanut butter. Am I right?

As a kid my favorite candy was Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. In fact, me and both my siblings all loved those things and have fond memories of getting the different shaped candies at different holidays – Reeses trees at Christmas, eggs at Easter, hearts at Valentine’s Day, pumpkins at Halloween. Those holiday editions always had extra peanut butter in the filling. C’mon, who else knows what I’m talking about!?!

STORY TIME!

A couple weekends ago I made a No Bake Peanut Butter Cup Pie for my friend’s birthday and he absolutely LOVED it, thanking me multiple times and giving me an enormous bear hug after his first bite. (I knew I had the key to his heart with that dessert, as he’s a kindred peanut butter chocolate combo lover.)

I was in the Netherlands at the time and a few Dutch people looked skeptically at the pie, as it’s not a combination they grew up with or really have in their country (I know, it’s hard not to pity them, right?! Haha! Just kidding… sort of!).

A friend of mine with a contemplative look on his face said, “I just can’t imagine how chocolate and peanut butter go together.” *Gasp!*

? —> That was my jaw proceeding to hit the floor.

Uhhmmm WHAAAATT!!!!??? “Well then you must try it!” I said.

As it turns out, my Dutch friends we’re overly impressed. They didn’t dislike the pie, but didn’t go nuts for it (pun intended). My friend Roel said, “The taste takes some getting used to.” Well OKAY fine, fair enough, but no more pie for you then – leave it for the rest of us who absolutely it! ?

And that’s my story! I hoped you liked it, because I have another (much shorter) one.

RELATED: Flourless Sunflower Seed Butter Swirl Brownies (Paleo + Refined Sugar Free)

A similar thing happened but in the reverse when I studied abroad in Brisbane, Australia for a semester in college and I was introduced to the infamous Vegemite spread. I literally thought I might throw up in my mouth when I tried a bite of it on my toast. It was the saltiest, most bitter and nauseating thing I had ever tasted. Meanwhile, my Aussie housemates are chomping away with huge smiles, enjoying one of their favorite breakfasts.

To be fair, perhaps I’d like Vegemite now as my taste buds have drastically changed since college, but my gag reflex just might still have that memory from 11 years ago. I’d actually be curious to test this out and see if I still have the same reaction! Alas, it’s not gluten free (it’s made from barley) so I (un?)fortunately wont have the chance. It IS vegan, however, if any of you are interested!

In all seriousness though, I find this all a really fascinating cultural experience because it just goes to show how influenced we are by what we grow up with; our taste buds and preferences literally get defined through what we are exposed to. Makes you think, right? What if we only exposed our children to healthy, clean, nourishing, real foods – they would likely never even develop a desire or taste for high sugary junk foods! I imagine that artificially processed and packaged foods especially would taste pretty icky to them.

Now that I’ve gone off on the biggest tangent of all time, let’s circle back and talk about this delectable and healthified recipe.

RELATED: Healthy High Protein Vegan + Gluten Free Banana Nut Bread (One Bowl!)

Salted Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie Protein Cups: INGREDIENTS & TOOLS

SWEETENERS

There is only 1/3 cup + 2 Tablespoons of date syrup in this entire recipe (which makes 12 servings). Date syrup has probably become my favorite sweetener recently. It’s just dates, so it’s natural, unrefined, vegan and lower glycemic than maple syrup and agave ( = less of a blood sugar spike and better for people with conditions like diabetes).

CHOCOLATE

You can use any chocolate of your choice in this recipe, but I opted for a stevia sweetened option to cut the sugar. My favorites are:

For USA/Canada: Lily’s – The BEST tasting Stevia sweetened + non GMO chocolate bars, chocolate chips + baking chocolate! My go-to sugar free chocolate for both snacking and baking. (Note: not all bars are vegan so check the label. Vegan flavors include dark chocolate, salted almond, blood orange and sea salt. The chocolate chips and baking chocolate bars are both vegan.)

For Europe: So Free – a new line of vegan chocolates from Plamil (makers of vegan mayo). Some are xylitol sweetened (they have flavors like plain dark chocolate, hemp seed, mint and espresso) and one flavor of dark chocolate is coconut sugar sweetened (the rest of their line has regular sugar so look for that if you don’t eat sugar!). I found that these melt nicely for this recipe.

PROTEIN POWDER

I used plain sprouted rice protein in this recipe. I was in the Netherlands at the time and my favorite European brand is Pulsin’s Unflavored Rice Protein. For USA options, there are many, but a good, high quality, plain flavored protein powder is Amazing Grass Protein Superfood (The Original). Whole Foods brand of 365 Everyday Value products also has a plain pea protein powder that would probably work well.

I have not tested this recipe with any protein powders other than Pulsin but I think any powder that you enjoy will work here, as it’s not getting baked, so no need to worry about the texture getting funky from the powder (but I do recommend plain flavor, or vanilla).

*NOTE – the amount of protein in this recipe was estimated using the Pulsin Rice Protein. Protein count will vary depending on what brand you use!*

SILICON MUFFIN PAN

I love my silicone muffin molds!

Why use silicon pans? They’re non stick, so your peanut butter cups will pop right out (or your muffins, if you use this for its intended purpose!). Therefore washing this is also easier – no scrubbing required.

You can use these to make other frozen desserts (like mini cheesecakes) or warm savory mini pies that won’t stick to the pan. For baking, I’ve also found them to cook more evenly than traditional pans.

They’re 100% silicon so are BPA and filler free. Also dishwasher, freezer and microwave safe.

If you don’t have a silicon muffin pan you can use a metal one, but I recommend creating tabs from parchment paper that will help make removing the cups from the muffin tins once frozen much easier. The tabs should be about 4″ long and 1/2″ wide. Lay them in each slot of the muffin tin before pressing in the crust.

I seriously could NOT STOP eating these when I made them… it was kind of a problem. At least as far as sweets go they’re much healthier than some alternatives, right?!

I hope you love this recipe just as much as I do!