Alicia Silverstone’s sinfully amazing chocolate (nut)butter cups

I always get a crazy craving for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups just before Halloween (and just before Easter, when they release the awesome egg-shaped cups). So last week, I finally tried Alicia Silverstone’s vegan chocolate peanut butter cup recipe — making appropriate allergy-friendly substitutions, of course.

I first heard of Alicia’s recipe when she was promoting her book, The Kind Diet. I saw her on TV making this recipe, and then found it in a copy of Parade magazine. I figured I could tweak it a bit and make it work for me.

Instead of the 3/4 cup of crunchy peanut butter, I used a mix of almond butter and cashew butter (Target’s Archer Farms brand is currently my favorite for both) to make 3/4 cups. I also used gluten-free graham crackers. Those were my only substitutions! (Full disclosure: I did use a butter substitute that has soy in it, so that was my only non-allergy-friendly ingredient.) Just in case you’re curious, I used almond milk (my preferred milk substitute), crushed cashews on top (I think they’re closest to peanuts, but I plan to use a mix of nuts next time) and Enjoy Life chocolate chips — the best chocolate chips in the world.

This recipe was so easy and turned out amazing! The almond-and-cashew-butter combo, with the addition of the graham cracker crumbs and butter substitute, really tastes like a peanut butter cup. Alicia says:

“This is the first recipe you have to try! If you think that vegan recipes can’t be amazing, this will prove you wrong.”

It was richer (and tasted better) than Reese’s cups — like Alicia, I am a huge Reese’s fan. Even my mom (who doesn’t like Reese’s) liked these. They are definitely a special-occasion-type of treat, as they’re not low-cal. However, next time I make these, I might reduce the butter substitute (using just enough to get by). And I plan to use at least two mini-muffin tins instead of one regular muffin tin, to make the treats go farther and to help with portion control. 🙂