Healthy Pumpkin Peanut Butter Cups (Low Carb, Paleo)

These pumpkin peanut butter cups are a fall-flavored twist on the classic Reese's peanut butter cups. They consist of a gooey peanut butter and pumpkin filling that's encased in dark chocolate and topped with flaked sea salt. This healthy peanut butter cup recipe is low carb, dairy free, vegan and easily made paleo.

Reese's were one of my favorite Halloween candies growing up. But these days, I skip out on the classic Reese's and prefer making my own version like these healthy pumpkin peanut butter cups.

Not only are these peanut butter cups healthier than a conventional Reese's, but they're made with minimal ingredients, no bake, low in added sugar and easy to throw together.

I love making a batch of these low carb pumpkin peanut butter cups and stashing them in the freezer for an easy treat. My kids are fond of Reese's too and they agree - this homemade version is the best!

Ingredients

You need 6 ingredients to make these pumpkin peanut butter cups. The salt in the filling and sprinkled on top is completely optional, and unnecessary if your peanut butter is salted. You can find the full recipe in the recipe card below, but here's an overview of the ingredients:

• peanut butter - you can use any peanut butter your heart desires, but I recommend an organic peanut butter with a little salt added, nothing else. If you want this recipe to be strict paleo, then swap the peanut butter for another nut/seed butter, like sunflower seed butter or almond butter.
• pumpkin puree - since these are pumpkin peanut butter cups, you bet pumpkin is involved.
• maple syrup - to sweeten the pumpkin filling. Swap the maple syrup for a liquid sugar free sweetener to make this recipe more keto friendly.
• vanilla extract - added for flavor
• pumpkin pie spice - to add more pumpkin flavor to the filling.
• salt - optional and not necessary if your peanut butter is salted.
• dark chocolate - for the outer shell. Be sure to use the proper chocolate for your dietary preference. I like Hu chocolate for paleo, 100% dark chocolate for keto and Enjoy Life chocolate for vegan.
• flaked salt - optional topping (not pictured below)

How to Make Pumpkin Peanut Butter Cups

First, gather all necessary ingredients.  You will need a small sauce pan for melting the chocolate and a small mixing bowl for making the filling.  In addition, you will need small cupcake liners or a mini silicone cupcake mold. Here are the steps:

1. Melt the chocolate over low heat in a small saucepan, stirring frequently.
2. Once fully melted, turn off the heat and pour about 1 teaspoon of chocolate into each of the 12 mini cupcake liners (or silicone molds).  Place in the freezer for 5-10 minutes for chocolate to set.
3. While chocolate is setting, combine all remaining ingredients in a small mixing bowl to make the filling.  Mix well. 
4. Remove the hardened chocolate from the freezer.  Scoop 1 teaspoon of the filling and place it on top of the hardened chocolate so that the filling nearly touches the edges of the paper liner/mold.
5. Pour remaining melted chocolate on top of filling, coating it entirely.  Then, place it back in freezer to set. Optional: add a pinch of flaked salt to each peanut butter cup.

Storage

Since these peanut butter cups are made with real food ingredients and free from preservatives they need to be kept in the fridge or freezer.

Place them in an air-tight container or baggie and keep them in the fridge for up to two weeks or the freezer for up to two months.

FAQ

More No Bake Pumpkin Recipes

Looking for more easy, no bake pumpkin recipes? Check out these favorites from the blog:

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