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My keto peanut butter cups feature a creamy peanut butter filling in a sugar-free chocolate coating. They’re easy to make and instantly satisfy your cravings! 3 grams net carbs.
Love all things keto and chocolate? Try my keto chocolate bars, keto bark, and keto fudge next!
I have a minor addiction to Reese’s peanut butter cups, but when I’m rocking that low-carb lifestyle, I have to peel my hand from the candy jar.
Thankfully, making my favorite candy is kind of my job. According to my friends, my sugar-free peanut butter cups have been the highlight of my career!
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Made with 3 ingredients. All you need is peanut butter, sugar-free chocolate chips, and a little coconut oil.
- Quick to make. The most time-consuming task is waiting for the chocolate to set–but that’s what freezers are for!
- The perfect texture. The peanut butter filling is firm but creamy, and the chocolate has the perfect bite. You won’t be able to stop with one!
- Diet-friendly. They’re naturally gluten-free, sugar-free, and easy to make vegan (or even nut-free).
- Cheaper. OG Reese’s aren’t very expensive, but their sugar-free counterparts cost upwards of $3 per cup! Mine cost a fraction of that.
Ingredients needed
- Chocolate. I use my sugar-free chocolate chips, but any store-bought variety will work. You can also use a chopped-up sugar-free chocolate bar.
- Coconut oil. Just a little to make the chocolate exterior smoother and easier to bite into.
- Peanut butter. Look for drippy peanut butter with no added sugar. Natural peanut butter can work, but make sure it’s very creamy (some natural brands tend to be quite thick).
How to make keto peanut butter cups
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Melt chocolate. Melt chocolate and coconut oil together in a microwave-safe bowl or in a double boiler over the stove. Stir to combine.
Step 2- Build the layers. Spoon the chocolate into a 12-count muffin tin with muffin liners. Use the back of the spoon to spread the chocolate around the sides. Pour the peanut butter into the muffin liners. Top the peanut butter layer with the remaining chocolate.
Step 3- Refrigerate. Refrigerate the molds for at least an hour for the chocolate to firm up.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Make them vegan. Use sugar-free and dairy-free chocolate chips.
- Swap the peanut butter. Use almond butter, cashew butter, or for a nut-free version, use tahini or sunflower seed butter.
- Make smaller peanut butter cups. This recipe makes larger peanut butter cups, but if you want them to be the size of Reese’s, I suggest using a mini muffin tin.
Variations
Thicken the peanut butter mixture. Add 1-2 tablespoons of almond flour or coconut flour.
Sweeten the filling. The filling in these cups is NOT sweet, so if you want added sweetness, whisk in some sugar-free powdered sugar to taste.
Top the cups with sea salt to bring out the natural sweet flavor.
Storage instructions
To store: Chocolate peanut butter cups can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one month or in the refrigerator for up to three months.
To freeze: Place the peanut butter cups in a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer for up to six months.
Frequently asked questions
Each peanut butter cup contains just 3 grams of net carbs.
Unfortunately not! While they do have a sugar-free peanut butter cup offering, they have almost identical carb and sugar counts to the traditional cups.
More no-bake keto treats
Keto Peanut Butter Cups
Ingredients
- 2 cups keto chocolate chips or sugar free chocolate bar
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 3/4 cup peanut butter smooth and drippy
Instructions
- Line a 12-count muffin tin with muffin liners or grease a 12-count silicone muffin tin.
- In a microwave-safe bowl or stovetop, melt the chocolate and coconut oil.
- Spoon out the melted chocolate into the muffin liners and use the back of the spoon to spread the chocolate around the sides. Spoon out tablespoons of peanut butter into the muffin liners, and fill with the remaining chocolate.
- Refrigerate the peanut butter cups for at least an hour, for the chocolate to firm up.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally updated February 2023, updated and republished August 2024
This is so nice. When I make them, can I put them/store them outside of the fridge?
My friend is on ketogenic diet. But I dont think I could find keto chocolate chips. You have some suggestion?
are these gluten free?
yes they are
Easy & delicious! Thank you!
What can be used instead of coconut oil?
Butter 🙂
Hi Arman! I love your recipes! I have had gastric sleeve surgery and I find your healthy low cal, lower fat, low carb recipes are especially delicious and helpful on what, can sometimes be a rather dull diet. I made your delicious sugar-free peanut butter cups with Lily’s dark chocolate chips and used your low calorie peanut butter recipe ( which is FANTASTIC!!!). Having trouble figuring out the nutritional info when using the low cal pb. Would you happen to know? Thank you! Lisa
Hi Lisa! You can use myfitnesspal to calculate it 🙂
Now that I actually had a chance to try making peanut butter cups, I can share my experience! Overall these tasted really good, but I ran into two issues. The first one is that the coconut oil seemed to make the chocolate pretty much melt upon contact with my skin, which didn’t totally surprise me because coconut oil melts from simple body heat, so holding these with my fingers to take a bite was not an option. Definitely have to leave them in the wrappers.
Also, I found that the coconut oil made the chocolate not stick to the mini muffin liners very well. This might not sound like a big issue, but I found that this resulted in the sides of the cups being really thin, so when I took a bite, peanut butter oozed out the sides of the chocolate shells.
These were tasty and I will make them again, but I found them to be really messy even with prior refrigeration because of the oil. If anyone else experiences this issue, I think spreading the chocolate in multiple layers up the sides of the cups and freezing each layer will keep the peanut butter filling from popping out like it did with mine. But I do love how soft and smooth the coconut oil made the chocolate!
This sounds a little like peanut butter stuffed chocolate ice cubes! I don’t know if you have access to Albert’s Chocolate Ice Cubes, but they are heavenly little squares of chocolate hazelnut and it’s the coconut oil in them that makes them melt-in-your-mouth soft. I would personally love to see your take on a low-carb version of these addictive little chocolate squares! 🙂
I recently tried making my own peanut butter cups (not low carb) and while I definitely think they needed milk chocolate as opposed to the dark chocolate I had on hand, I never considered adding coconut oil to the chocolate coating to make it smoother and softer. Thank you for putting that bug in my ear! I’m going to try my hand at peanut butter cups again based on your recipe because anything Reese’s is a weakness of mine too and I’d love to be able to make a more diet-friendly version at home.
I may not be going low-carb, but I am dieting and those sugar-free Russell Stover peanut butter cups are a little expensive. I would love to have a stash on hand that I can make for a fraction of the cost.
Thank Ellie- I’ll have to hunt those down- what a flavor combo 🙂