Crockpot Christmas Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Peel back the little paper liner and it comes away clean. Bite through the chocolate and there they are: whole salted peanuts, packed in all the way through, held together by chocolate with a soft hint of peanut butter.

So you know what you're making: these Crockpot Christmas Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups are chocolate peanut clusters set in mini paper candy cups, not the kind of peanut butter cup with a separate filling. The peanut butter is stirred right into the melted chocolate, and the crunch comes from two whole pounds of salted peanuts. The slow cooker melts the chocolate gently on LOW, and one batch fills about 80 mini cups, enough for a lot of holiday tins.

Why You'll Enjoy This Recipe

• Crunch in every bite. Whole salted peanuts all the way through, not just a few on top.
• Gentle, hands-off melting. The slow cooker on LOW melts the chocolate without a double boiler, with a quick stir every 15 minutes.
• Cups that peel cleanly. Chocolate candy coating helps the cups set firm, so they release from their liners in one piece.
• Sweet and salty. Salted peanuts and semi-sweet chocolate keep them from tasting too sweet.
• Made for gifting. A large batch that sets at room temperature and packs neatly in boxes.

Ingredients and Notes

Exact amounts are in the ingredient list above. A few notes on choosing them:

Salted peanuts. 2 pounds. Dry-roasted or cocktail peanuts both work, as long as they're salted, since the salt balances the chocolate. Use them at room temperature: cold peanuts make the chocolate thicken quickly.

Semi-sweet chocolate chips. 1 bag, 12 ounces. These bring the real chocolate flavor.

Chocolate candy coating. 24 ounces, sold as chocolate almond bark, chocolate candy coating or chocolate candy melts. It's listed separately from the chips for a reason: the chips alone aren't enough to coat two pounds of peanuts. Candy coating also sets firm and glossy at room temperature, without tempering, which helps the cups hold their shape and peel cleanly from their liners. Chop bars or blocks into roughly ½-inch pieces so they melt at the same pace as the chips. Wafers or melts can go in whole.

Creamy peanut butter. ½ cup. Use a regular no-stir creamy peanut butter. Natural peanut butter that separates adds loose oil and can keep the cups from setting firmly. Half a cup adds peanut butter flavor and makes the chocolate smoother without softening the cups.

Red and green Christmas sprinkles. 2 to 3 tablespoons, optional. Nonpareils or jimmies both work. Add them a few cups at a time, right after filling, so they stick.

Allergen note. This recipe is made with peanuts and peanut butter. Chocolate chips and candy coating can also contain milk or soy, or be made in facilities that handle tree nuts. Check every label before gifting, and mark gift boxes clearly as containing peanuts.

Equipment

• A 6-quart slow cooker. A 5- to 7-quart oval cooker also works. The batch needs the room for stirring in two pounds of peanuts.
• A silicone spatula for stirring and folding.
• A cutting board and a sharp knife for chopping the candy coating.
• A 1½-tablespoon cookie scoop (often sold as a #40 scoop), or two spoons.
• About 80 mini paper cups, the mini muffin size, about 1¼ inches across the bottom.
• 3 or 4 rimmed sheet pans to hold the cups while they set.
• Paper towels for wiping the lid dry.
• An airtight container and parchment or wax paper for storing, plus gift boxes or tins if you're giving them away.

Everything that touches the chocolate, including the insert, the lid, the spatula and the scoop, needs to be clean and completely dry.

How to Melt the Chocolate in the Slow Cooker

This is where crockpot candy usually goes wrong, so here it is in more detail.

1. Start with the chocolate only. Put the chips and chopped coating in the dry insert. Peanut butter and peanuts go in after the chocolate is smooth, so you can see when it's fully melted.
2. Keep it on LOW. HIGH heat can scorch chocolate around the edges of the insert before the center has melted.
3. Check at 45 minutes. Don't judge by looks alone. Chips often keep their shape even when they're soft inside. Stir, and they should melt smooth.
4. Keep condensation out. Steam collects on the underside of the lid. Each time you check, lift the lid straight up, turn it over before moving it across the cooker and wipe it dry. Water dripping into melted chocolate is what makes it seize into a thick, grainy paste.
5. Stir every 15 minutes until it's smooth, usually 1 to 1½ hours in total, depending on your cooker. Once it's smooth, turn the cooker to WARM so the chocolate stays fluid while you portion.

How Full to Fill the Cups

Use a 1½-tablespoon scoop for each cup, so the mixture sits in a small mound just above the rim of the paper. Drop it in the center and don't press it down: if the chocolate spreads over the edges of the paper, the cups are harder to peel and stack. The photo beside step 7 shows how full each cup should be.

Recipe Notes

• Times at a glance: 30 minutes of hands-on prep (chopping the coating, setting out cups and portioning), 1 to 1½ hours of melting on LOW, then 2 to 3 hours of setting time. The 5 hours on the recipe card uses the longest melting and setting times.
• Yield: the full batch weighs about 4½ pounds (about 2 kg). A 1½-tablespoon scoop of the mixture is roughly 25 grams, which works out to about 80 mini cups. This is an estimate; fuller scoops make fewer.
• Slow cookers vary. Some run hotter than others on LOW, so go by the stir test, not the clock.
• The quantities of candy coating and peanut butter were chosen for this recipe to coat two pounds of peanuts and set firm. They aren't from an original recipe.

Gifting and Serving

Serve the cups at room temperature, still in their liners, so everyone can peel their own.

For gift boxes, pack them in a single snug layer so they can't slide around and scuff each other. If you want a second layer, set a sheet of parchment or wax paper between the layers. Keep boxes away from heat, including sunny windows and warm cars, which can soften the chocolate. Label each box as containing peanuts.

For more holiday candy from the slow cooker, try Christmas Crock Pot Candy, clusters made with white almond bark and dropped on a sheet pan. For more chocolate and peanut butter treats, see The Best Homemade Buckeyes Recipe, Peanut Butter Fudge or No-Bake Peanut Butter Pretzel Clusters.

Storage

Room temperature. Store the set cups in their liners in an airtight container at cool room temperature, below about 70°F, with parchment or wax paper between layers, for up to 2 weeks.

Refrigerator. You can refrigerate them in an airtight container if your kitchen is warm. Let the closed container come to room temperature before opening it, so condensation doesn't form on the chocolate.

Freezer. Freeze them in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Thaw them in the refrigerator overnight in the closed container, then bring them to room temperature before opening.