I often sit at my computer and daydream about these delectable 3-ingredient healthy peanut butter cups.
Super tasty, this easy no bake dessert with peanut butter and dark chocolate is a great snack when you crave something sweet and chocolatey.
The healthy peanut butter chocolate cups are made with simple basic ingredients that you definitely already have at home. But, let’s check.
3 Ingredients For The Best Healthy Peanut Butter Cups
For the basic recipe you will just need dark chocolate, peanut butter and a little bit of maple syrup.
You could and I recommend adding just a pinch of sea salt and a pecan or another nut you like for the crunch.
How To Make 3-Ingredient Healthy Peanut Butter Cups
Melt the chocolate in the microwave. If you don’t have a microwave you can do a water bath with hot water. To do so, you will first need to chop the chocolate into small pieces and add it to a small non-metal heat-resistant bowl or cup.
Microwave. Place the chocolate in the microwave and heat up in 20-30 second intervals. Do this as many times as needed to melt most of the chocolate. Small pieces are okay, they will melt when you start stirring the chocolate. It took two 30s-intervals in the microwave for me to melt the chocolate.
Water Bath: If using the water bath, boil some water and place in a larger bowl or a pot. You need to make sure that the water isn’t deeper than the bowl with the chocolate. No water should come into contact with the chocolate. Then, cover the larger bowl or pot with a lid or a plate of a suitable size and let the chocolate steam for about 5-7 minutes. Again, most should have melted before starting to stir.
Mix the melted chocolate with peanut butter.
In another bowl, mix the peanut butter with the maple syrup. Optionally you could also add a pinch of salt and add one or two tablespoons of almond flour if you want the inside of your cups to be firmer.
Use silicone muffin liners to make the healthy peanut butter chocolate cups. Layer this way: first layer is 2 tbsp of chocolate, 2nd layer is 1-2 tbsp of the peanut butter mixture and top with more chocolate.
If you want to add some crunch, place a pecan or another nut you like on top of the peanut butter and then cover everything with the chocolate. Try not to mix when you’re layering the cups.
Repeat for as many cups as you have ingredients for (this recipe made 8 cups for me) place onto a baking sheet and freeze for at least one hour.
Once the healthy peanut butter cups are frozen, peel the silicone liners off. Then either place into an airtight container and freeze before they melt or let sit for 2-3 minutes at room temperature and enjoy.
How To Store These Peanut Butter Cups
Store in an airtight container in the freezer. The healthy peanut butter cups will be good for weeks, even months. Just be sure to let them sit at room temperature for 3-4 minutes before you enjoy!
If you make them during summer, enjoy fast, because these melt at higher temperatures and in your mouth.
Options:
You can use this basic recipe to make different variations of peanut butter cups using healthy ingredients you might have at home. Here are two additional variations I have tried:

with almond flour and pecan
- with almond flour and a pecan. Simply mix in 2 tbsp of almond flour into the peanut butter mixture (if using natural peanut butter) and when layering, add a pecan or another nut of choice on top of the peanut butter. My choice was a pecan and it fit perfectly! Then cover that layer with chocolate and continue for the other cups.

with oats
- with oats: You can mix in a tablespoon or two of quick oats into the peanut butter mixture. You can also use seeds, popcorn or puffed rice. This will add more texture to the chocolate cups.
More Healthy No-Bake Desserts
I hope you enjoy these easy 3-Ingredient healthy peanut butter cups! For more easy no-bake desserts, check these out:
- Philadelphia No-Bake Cheesecakes with Oat Crust
- 3-Ingredient Easy Strawberry Ice Cream
- Easy Yogurt Bark

3-Ingredient Healthy Peanut Butter Cups
3-ingredient healthy peanut butter cups! Super tasty, this easy no bake dessert is gluten free and vegan - a great snack when you crave something sweet and chocolatey.
Ingredients
- 140g / around 1 cup dark chocolate
- 10 heaping tbsp peanut butter
- 2 tsp maple syrup
Optional:
- 8 pecans
- 2 tbsp almond butter
- salt
Instructions
- Chop the chocolate into small pieces and melt it. Then mix the melted chocolate with 2 tbsp of peanut butter.
- In another small bowl mix the remaining peanut butter with maple syrup. Add a pinch of salt if desired. To make thicker, if using natural peanut butter you could add in a tablespoon of two of almond flour (if desired).
- Use silicone muffin liners to make the peanut butter cups layering with dark chocolate, a tbsp of peanut butter on top, then cover again with the melted chocolate. Repeat until you run out of mixture. (in my case this was enough for about 8 cups).
- Optionally before freezing you can add a pinch of salt on top of each cup. Another option for more crunch would be adding a pecan nut on top of the peanut butter and then layering with the second layer of chocolate.
- Place the cups onto a baking sheet and freeze for at least an hour.
- Once frozen, peel the silicone liners off and either place into an airtight container and freeze before they melt or let sit for 2-3 minutes and enjoy.
Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 312Total Fat 22gSaturated Fat 7gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 12gCholesterol 2mgSodium 175mgCarbohydrates 24gFiber 4gSugar 16gProtein 7g