Gluten Free Butter Cups Candy {Nut-free “Reese’s”}

Author: Gluten Free Gigi

Recipe type: Dessert, Candy

So simple and affordable to make, these delicious candies will be devoured by everyone, so make an extra batch!

A few things to have on hand before you begin:
– mini muffin pan
– mini muffin pan paper liners
– decorative sprinkles and colored sugars (make sure you purchase certified GF)
– 1 quart size zipper bag
– tall glass for holding zipper bag
– scissors for snipping corner of zipper bag
– mini spatula for spreading chocolate
– 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon for measuring filling

Ingredients

Filling:

• 1/2 cup sunflower seed butter* (like Sun Butter)
• 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar*
• 1 Tablespoon water

Coating:

• 1 cup chocolate chips*
• 1 Tablespoon solid fat*

Instructions

1. First, prepare the filling
2. Place nut or seed butter in a mixing bowl and sift powdered sugar into bowl.
3. Add water; stir until the mixture comes together. (It will be very thick and crumbly at first, but will come together to an almost play dough consistency).
4. Put Sun Butter mixture aside.

Prepare the coating

1. Melt chocolate and solid fat together, either in a double boiler (bain-marie) or in the microwave*; stir.
2. To add chocolate to the prepared mini muffin cups, fill a large zip-top bag with the coating mixture by placing the zipper bag over a drinking glass and fold bag over rim of glass. This will hold the bag in place while you spoon the melted chocolate inside.
3. When the chocolate is in the bag, squeeze out air, seal bag, and snip off a small piece of one corner.
4. Squeeze about 1 teaspoon of chocolate into each muffin cup.
5. You will have filling left in the bag. Set this aside for topping filled butter-cups.
6. Use the back of a small spoon or a mini spatula to spread chocolate over bottom and up sides of muffin cups.
7. Chill for 5 minutes in refrigerator.
8. Using a ½ teaspoon measure, scoop portions of filling and shape into a disc.
9. Place 1 filling disc into each chocolate filled muffin cup; press gently.
10. Use remaining chocolate in bag to top each bit of filling.
11. Use the spatula to spread the chocolate to completely cover tops of Butter Cups. (Do this quickly, The chocolate will set-up faster because the pan is now cooler than when you began after being refrigerated.)
12. Top with sprinkles, colored sugar, or even crushed peppermints, and chill 15 minutes, or until chocolate is set.
13. Store in airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

*See Notes

Notes:

This recipe makes about 20 candies. You could make an entire mini muffin pan of 24 candies if you like, but I tend to be liberal with the chocolate, so usually make 20. (Alternatively, make more chocolate coating by increasing chocolate chips to 1 ½ cups and increase solid fat to 1 ½ Tablespoons.)

You will have some filling left over. Use if for another batch, or roll it into balls and dip in dark, milk, or white chocolate for Nut Butter Balls. Place those on wax paper to harden after dipping and store as you would the Nut Butter Cups. Alternatively, the filling freezes well if placed in a freezer zipper bag. I have stored it for up to 1 month before and thawed a few minutes at room temperature before using.

If you do not have a nut allergy, feel free to use nut butter of your choice.

If you have a corn allergy, you can purchase powdered sugar with tapioca starch instead of cornstarch. You can also make your own. Learn how to make your own confectioners’ sugar!

Enjoy Life brand gluten free mini chocolate chips or chunks are free of the Big 8 food allergens.  If you are dairy free, use coconut oil or a plant-based butter substitute.

The double boiler (bain-marie) method is best to prevent overheating the chocolate while melting. You can use a microwave to melt the chocolate if you like. Do so in brief (30-second) increments, stirring between each heating interval, until chocolate is smooth.