Do you guys remember my Maple Praline Butter? Well, it is so good that I decided to make mini chocolate cups with it!

These are not your regular peanut butter cups. First, they are filled with an insanely good caramelized pecans butter! And secondly, they are minis, just like chocolate candies, meaning you can eat several in one sitting. Enough said, let’s make these!

We start by making the praline, which is a nut butter made out of caramelized nuts, usually hazelnuts and almonds. I went with pecans and almonds here. The addition of almonds makes the butter thicker and helps tone down the roasted pecan flavor so it is not overpowering.

You roast the nuts, then let cool a few minutes. Next, heat the maple syrup in a saucepan, bring to a boil, add the nuts and cook until the maple syrup has crystallized. If you are worried about burning it, please don’t! If you stir regularly and remove from heat once the maple syrup has fully crystallized and no liquid remains there is no way it will burn!

This pecan praline butter is so addictive I dare you not to eat a few spoonfuls. I love to add it to my oatmeal or stir into banana ice cream, it’s pure goodness! The caramelized pecans combined with fresh vanilla and roasted almonds…it’s just insane.

Once our praline butter is ready, we mix it with melted chocolate and cocoa butter to firm it up. Cocoa butter is best but if you don’t have any on hand, you can use coconut oil. Be aware that the filling might not be as firm at room temperature though.

Making the cups is very easy, dollop some melted chocolate into mini baking cups and refrigerate a few minutes. Then fill the cups with pecan praline butter and top with more melted chocolate to close the cup. Refrigerate until firm and enjoy!

For refined-sugar free cups, feel free to use coconut sugar sweetened dark chocolate, or raw chocolate (recipe to come).

Obviously, you don’t have to make mini cups, you can make full-size ones! And if you prefer making chocolate squares like these instead of mini cups you can too! Just pour the pecan praline mixture(mixed with the dark chocolate and cocoa butter) into a square dish. Refrigerate until firm, cut into squares and then dip them directly into melted chocolate.

What I find great about making your own cups is that you can control the ratio of filling to chocolate shell. Personally, I prefer a higher amount of filling.

I made some cups with a full shell and others with just layers as you can see, the choice is yours!

If you are a chocolate lover I have no doubts you’re going to love these pecan praline cups. The filling is sweet, nutty, and packed with pecan and vanilla flavors!

Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!

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