I am in love with raw chocolate and it's something I consume on a regular basis. It's one of my favourite ingredients to add to my morning elixir. I also like to add raw cacao powder in my smoothies, blend it in my hazelnut fudge recipe, sprinkle cacao nibs on my super-powered porridge, and toss whole cacao beans to my superfood trail mix. Chocolate is a very special thing indeed – and these dark chocolate almond butter cups are superb and way easier to make than you might think.
This decadent recipe for homemade, dairy-free, vegan dark chocolate almond butter cups puts the traditional peanut butter cup to shame. I always look forward to making and eating this recipe, and because it's very low in sugar, I can make adjustments as needed to suit my sugar-free lifestyle.
What Makes Chocolate Nutritious?
Chocolate can function as a health food. It's rich in an array of supportive nutrients, including:
- Antioxidants
- Iron for energy
- Magnesium for muscle relaxation, cardiovascular support, and bone health
- Fibre for good digestion
- Anandamide, also called 'the bliss chemical', which – as the name suggests – helps us feel euphoric
- Flavonoids that help improve our mood, memory, and cognition
- When applied topically in beauty care products, cacao butter or cocoa butter can be very moisturizing
Not all chocolate is created equal, though. Learn all about the types of chocolate and what to do with the different parts of the bean here.
Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cup Variations
There are many ways to play with this recipe and customize it to your tastes. Instead of almond butter, try:
- Hazelnut butter
- Cashew butter
- Brazil nut butter
- Macadamia butter
- Walnut butter
- Tahini
- Sunflower seed butter
- Pumpkin seed butter
- Coconut butter
If you'd like to flavour your chocolate in the coating, go for:
- Cinnamon
- Peppermint
- Sea salt
- Dandy blend
- Maca
- Lucuma
- Matcha
Top your chocolate almond butter cups with:
- Cacao nibs
- Large flake sea salt
- Shredded coconut
- Chopped goji berries or cranberries
- Bee pollen
So many options – you can switch things up every time or keep making your favourite flavour combos! These are simple to make and very kid-friendly (they may want to help prep them!).
Rich, decadent and delicious, if you enjoy chocolate, you will love these!
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Yield: 12 cups
- 2 100gram bars dark chocolate, roughly chopped – 70% or greater (or 1 cup unsweetened or bittersweet dairy-free bakers chocolate)
- ½ cup almond butter (smooth or crunchy depending on your preference)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract, or 1 tsp fresh vanilla bean
- Pinch sea salt (plus more if you want to sprinkle on top)
- 3 Tbsp arrowroot or tapioca flour, or more if needed
- 2 Tbsp cacao nibs (optional)
- Create a double boiler by filling one larger pot with water and placing a smaller one inside. Make sure no water gets into the inside pot as this will turn the melting chocolate.
- Add about ⅓ of the chocolate into the small pot and stir as it melts.
- Once melted, pour into 12 muffin liners. You may wish to place the liners into a muffin tin for added support.
- Chill the tin in the fridge or freezer, until the chocolate has hardened a little (about 10 minutes).
- Mix together the almond butter, salt, vanilla, arrowroot flour and optional cacao nibs until the consistency is such that you can form little round doughy balls. You may need more arrowroot flour but best to add 1 Tbsp at a time to be sure.
- Make 12 small ‘patties’ and place on the chocolate base in the muffin liners.
- Melt the remaining chocolate and pour into the cups, covering the almond butter.
- You may wish to sprinkle sea salt or cacao nibs on top.
- Keep in fridge or freezer and best to hide way at the back.
More Chocolate Inspiration
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