Last night just before I fell asleep, I had a brainstorm for this fantabulous recipe. I seriously had to grab a notebook and write it down! I was super excited to get busy experimenting today. I had no idea how (or if!) it would even turn out – but it DID! And it’s SO delish! And I’m so excited to share it with you!!!

Introducing…

Inside-Out (Coconut) Peanut Butter Cups

Want to taste this “Inside-Out (Coconut) Peanut Butter Cup” for yourself? I would share with you, but since there’s such a distance between us, you’ll just have to keep reading – I’ll teach you how to make your own!

This concept is something I’ve been wanting to try for a while. I ate peanut butter cups growing up, and for a lot of my adult life – until I got serious about my health. The awesome Mrs. Averie Sunshine (over at Love Veggies & Yoga) has been killing me with her fantabulous, decadent desserts – including her personal variations of homemade peanut butter cups.

And, well, I finally got around to whipping up a batch – Raw Juice Girl style.

I stepped outside the box, colored outside the lines, and turned traditional peanut butter cups inside-out!

(Aren’t your proud of me, Averie?!) Eeeeekkk!!

Move over chemical-laden candy,

HELLO to homemade and healthy…

Inside-Out (Coconut) Peanut Butter Cups Recipe

(This recipe makes 12. Nope, they’re not all for me. I made extra to give as Valentine’s gifts. )

What you’ll need:

• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used Singing Dog Vanilla from NuNaturals)
• 20 drops Vanilla Stevia (from NuNaturals)
• 2 teaspoons Tropical Traditions raw honey, melted (or agave for those of you who use it – I don’t anymore)
• Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter <— I’m currently giving a jar away! (Contest ends 2/19/10)
• chocolate bar or block of your choice (I used raw cacao paste from NavitasNaturals.)
• fine dusting of stevia (I used NuNatural NoCarb Stevia Blend). You could also use powdered sugar here if you use that.
• cupcake papers
• muffin pan

NOTE: You could “raw-i-fy and/or veganize” this recipe by using raw nut butter and experimenting with coconut products (or leaving it out) and by eliminating the honey.

Check out that chunk of NavitasNaturals RAW chocolate!!

And there’s only 14 steps in honor of today, February 14!

This is a really fun and easy recipe!!

Directions:

STEP 1: I chopped a wedge of the 1 lb of raw chocolate off (about a fifth?) – and there’s an in-depth review of this chunk of chocolate love coming up in a future post!

STEP 2: Place the raw chocolate in a glass bowl (that’s sitting on top of another bowl filled with hot water) so it will melt.

STEP 3: If your coconut peanut butter is solid, just place it in a bowl filled with hot water so it will become a runny consistency.

Now that that’s done, move on to…

STEP 4: Keep an eye on your raw chocolate and stir it as it melts. This chocolate filling will taste like dark chocolate – if you don’t like dark chocolate, you could melt a sweetened chocolate bar or add your own (sweeter) twist.

STEP 5: Pour coconut peanut butter into cupcake papers – just enough to make your bottom layer.

I was going to make half inside-out and the other half with coconut peanut butter INSIDE and the raw chocolate on the outside – but the raw chocolate didn’t turn out in a runny consistency like I thought it would, so I ended up doing all 12 inside-out (just explaining why only half the pan is filled at this point).

STEP 6: Go back to your raw chocolate. Stir until it’s melted.

STEP 7: Add 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

STEP 8: Add 20 drops of vanilla extract.

STEP 9: At this point, I tasted and thought it needed to be sweeter, so I added the last bit of some honey I had on hand (about 2 teaspoons).

Perfect!!!

STEP 10: Combine until you have the following consistency.

STEP 11: Portion the chocolate into each cupcake paper (it’s the middle of your inside-out ‘coconut’ peanut butter cup). You can do this with a spoon, or your hands. Have fun!

Close-up

STEP 12: Sprinkle a fine dusting over each chocolate center. (I used NuStevia NoCarbs Blend from NuNaturals.)

Close-up

STEP 13: Drizzle more coconut peanut butter over the top, to seal the sweet deal on your “Inside-Out (Coconut) Peanut Butter Cups” and pop the pan into the freezer for just a few minutes – so they can harden.

Close-up

STEP 14: Peel the paper off…

Admire its beauty…

And take that bite I promised you!

And if you make ‘em and blog about ‘em, contact me with your blog post link and I’ll send my readers your way! And if you send me photos of your recreation, I’ll post ‘em here, too!

Enjoy!!

And…

Happy Valentine’s Day

I LOVE YOU ALL WITH ALL MY fruit and veggie- (and chocolate!) filled…

HEART!!!

And….

Just in case you were busy this week and missed what happened around here…

I want to thank you for your sweet words on my guest post at Positive Provocations (Healing Your Heart, Holistically) and I’m thrilled that my post on emotional eating, food labels, and judgments resonated so deeply with y’all!

Find out my sweet thoughts on NuNaturals’ NoCarbs Blend Stevia, and don’t forget to enter my latest contest – there’s over 200 entries and it’s headed toward 250 fast! (Contest ends 2/19/10

What about you? Did you blog today? Read blogs? Hang out with family, friends, or a special someone? Did you splurge bigtime on store-bought treats or did you make a healthier version at home? Did you get enough chocolate? Flowers? What does Valentine’s Day mean to you? And… what do you think about my recipe? Are you excited to try it? Let’s give the comment section some love and do some chatting!

photo source (heart)

All other photos were taken by Raw Juice Girl.

Disclaimer: The link for NavitasNaturals is an affiliate link – the others are not.