Chocolate covered peanut butter hearts for Valentine's Day - like Reese's!

In today's post: learn how to brand chocolate covered peanut butter hearts for Valentine's Twenty-four hours! Simply 4 ingredients and they gustation similar a Reese's, but improve!

My family has been making what we call "peanut butter balls" for years and years. They feature a  smooth flossy peanut butter center dipped in milk chocolate and they're amazing. I kind of idea we had a secret recipe the rest of the world was just waiting to try…and and then I realized the residue of the world has tried them, and they're called buckeyes. So hey, they're non exactly a secret recipe, but they're still amazing. Since Valentine's day is a mere four weeks abroad (how did that happen? I swear Christmas was yesterday), let's make chocolate covered peanut butter hearts (aka center shaped buckeyes).

These guys are delicious! My recipe is really simple: just butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and chocolate. I've seen people add graham cracker crumbs to requite the peanut butter mixture a grittier texture (like Reese'south) and seen other people add vanilla, salt, and other flavorings, but I actually think the polish, simple mixture tastes the best. It's peanut butter and chocolate – information technology doesn't actually demand anything else!

You are going to demand a small heart shaped cookie cutter to make these. Well, y'all can utilize a normal sized cutter if you want, but that will brand fairly giant hearts. The cutters I used were 1.5 inches across and 2.25 inches across. The one.v inch cutter makes a bite size treat and the two.25 inch cutter makes a care for similar in size to a Reese's.

Before I prove you how easy these are to make, I want to talk chocolate for just a infinitesimal. Chocolate is actually really temperamental, making it hard to become a pretty end on things you dip. That's because when you melt chocolate, y'all often lose the "atmosphere", which refers to something in the crystalline construction of the chocolate. If your chocolate loses it'due south atmosphere during the melting and cooling process you'll terminate upwardly with a finished product that'due south a little grainy, melts as soon as y'all touch it, and doesn't gear up up quite as hard – information technology won't take that dainty "snap" when you interruption information technology. So that'south non good.

So you have some options when it comes to the chocolate you use and how you cook information technology:

1. You tin use processed melts or chocolate almond bawl to dip your hearts. These are non real chocolate and so they don't sense of taste as good, just they are made for melting and dipping and by and large gear up very hard with a dandy shine. And so if you aren't super picky (or are making these for kids) this is definitely an easy choice.
2. You tin apply chocolate wafers made for dipping (I've seen the Ghirardelli make near the chocolate fries in the grocery store). I haven't actually tried these, merely it looks like they are engineered to melt and set up nicely..and I'm guessing they taste meliorate than processed melts.
3. Y'all can use a expert quality chocolate (either dipping chocolate or a squeamish make of chocolate chips) and cook it very slowly over a double banality, ensuring it never gets very hot. It should take about xx-xxx minutes to melt your chocolate and every bit shortly equally information technology'southward melted you desire to remove it from the heat. Equally long as it doesn't get besides hot, y'all shouldn't lose the temper and the chocolate should prepare only fine. Learn more than almost that method here.
4. This is what I do: Get-go with good quality chocolate fries (like Ghirardelli or Guittard). Place 2/three of the chips in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for about 30 seconds and stir. Microwave for 15 seconds and stir. If chocolate isn't melted however, continue in 15 second intervals, stirring between each fourth dimension. In one case the chocolate is melted, add in the remaining 1/3 of the chips and stir until they are melted as well. This is a quick and dirty method for tempering the chocolate that usually works pretty well.

It methods #iii and #4 seem like likewise much hassle, I'd recommend giving the chocolate melting wafers a try.

Ok, on to making the hearts!

Chocolate covered peanut butter hearts

Ingredients:

• i/two loving cup creamy peanut butter
• i/iv cup melted butter
• i.25 to 1.5 cups powdered sugar
• 12 oz milk chocolate

VIDEO

This video shows the procedure, and written directions follow:

Instructions

Combine the peanut butter, butter, and one heaping cup of powdered carbohydrate in a bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined. If Lead mixture seems quite glutinous, stir in more than powdered sugar until you lot have a cookie dough like consistency.

Place the Lead mix between ii layers of wax paper and curl out to about a 3/viii inch thickness. Arctic until house (xv minutes in the freezer should do it).

Cut hearts from the Pb mix with cookie cutters. Place on a new slice of wax paper. Freeze again until firm. (Either eat the scraps of Pb mix or re-roll them and cut more hearts.)

Cook your chocolate as directed on the package or using one of the methods described higher up. Dip a Atomic number 82 heart into the chocolate, covering it completely with chocolate. Lift the heart out of the chocolate using a fork and tap it gently to remove excess chocolate. Utilise a toothpick to slide the heart off the fork onto wax paper. Repeat with all the hearts (if you are working with real chocolate work as quickly equally you can before the chocolate cools or go along the chocolate in a double banality with warm water in the bottom).

Permit chocolate to prepare at room temperature until firm (a couple of hours).

Enjoy!

Desire more Valentine'southward fun? Visit these posts:

Shot through the middle (shaped) brownies

25 easy Valentine's treats to make with your kids

Centre shaped cinnamon rolls

Make a heart shaped cake for Valentine'south Day – four ways!

Cinnamon hearts difficult candy

Printable Valentine's candygram poster

Hullo there! I'grand a busy mom of five who loves to make things. Crafts, recipes, sewing, vacation projects: I've tried them all, and you lot can too! I love Easy projects anyone tin can brand.

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