As someone who grew up on junky peanut butter cups, I love a good healthy alternative. Over the years I’ve made almond butter cups, cashew butter cups, you name it. This time, I’m making coconut butter cups. Coconut butter is a healthy fat and a great energy source (filled with those trendy MCTs!). It also contains lauric acid which helps boost the immunity, perfect for this busy holiday season when everyone you know is getting sick!
I wanted to let the salt be the star of the show here. I’ve included real pink salt into the coconut butter cupfilling so you get that slightly salty buttery center. I also featured a sprinkle of coarse salt on top of each cup for that salty chocolately deliciousness. For both, I’m using my absolute favorite salt from Redmond. (It’s the only pink salt from the U.S. and is mined from a single source in Utah; how cool is that?)
When you use Real Salt and real maple syrup, you also get lots of extra minerals. These minerals are vital to your body’s well-being and ability to detoxify. This is so important during the holidays when we are all so stressed out and eating lots of crap! So basically, these salted maple coconut butter cups are your secret weapon to stay healthy this season. Or at least, that’s what I’m telling myself when I’m on my third cup of the day…
P.S. A big thank you to Redmond Real Salt for sponsoring this post! Recipe and opinions are 100% my own and I only work with companies whose products I genuinely use and love. This post may contain affiliate links.
For the animals,
Julianne
Ingredients
- 1 C semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips, or chunks
- 1/2 C coconut butter
- 2 tsp maple syrup
- 1/8 tsp fine Real Salt
- a few pinches coarse Real Salt
Instructions
- Melt chocolate. (Use a double broiler if you have one, a make-shift double broiler, or microwave in 20-second intervals.)
- Mix coconut butter with fine Real Salt, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Depending on the weather where you live, you might need to heat up the coconut butter in order to stir in the other ingredients. I heated it up in a small saucepan on VERY LOW heat and then mixed everything else in.
- Line a mini cupcake pan with 12 paper liners. If you don't have a pan, no worries! You can make it work by just lining them up on a platter or small baking sheet; you'll just have to be a little more careful when filling them up.
- Scoop 1 tsp of the melted chocolate into each liner. Use the tip of a spoon to push the chocolate up the sides of the cup to help it stay intact once it's filled.
- Add 1 tsp of the coconut butter mixture into each cup. Depending on the consistency and temperature, you may need to use a spoon again to smooth it out a bit. Don't go crazy here; it doesn't have to be perfectly flat or reach the sides of the cup.
- Add a final 1 tsp of melted chocolate on top of each cup. If your chocolate has cooled, you may need to use the spoon once again to smooth it out over the top of the cup.
- Sprinkle coarse salt over the top of each cup. I used about two pinches on the entire tray.
- Put the entire tray or platter into the freezer and allow the cups to set.
- Remove, devour, and if you somehow have any leftover, store them in the freezer.
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