Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Hearts are similar to Reese’s peanut butter cups but better! This no-bake, flourless mini dessert comes together as only chocolate and peanut butter can. Rich, chewy, sweet, and creamy. If you really want to impress someone this Valentine’s day, without breaking a sweat, these are a must-try!
We love to eat our peanut butter chocolate treats straight out of the freezer – my husband keeps referring to them as “power bars” ha! But, I know that they’re an indulgent treat that ranks right up there with my favorite Chocolate Coconut Rum cocktail and super easy Kahlua Cake!
What are Chocolate Peanut Butter Hearts?
Making a dessert from scratch is always special, no matter how easy the recipe is. Adding an extra dose of soul into these heart-shaped Valentine’s treats give you the perfect balance of sweetness with a hint of salty coated in melt in your mouth chocolate.
They’re the kind of sweet treat you don’t (but really, really do) want lying around your house at midnight when those late-night cravings kick in. They’re totally irresistible!
They’ll melt in your mouth and probably a bit on your fingers, but that works out because the chocolate is finger-licking delicious.
Keep this recipe handy for Valentine’s day, but they really are perfect for any special occasion. Use a different shaped cookie cutter for whatever suits the event, and watch how quickly they’re devoured.
There’s a reason why chocolate and peanut butter have formed a long-lasting friendship, and these ultimate Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Hearts are the result. Your kids will agree, I’m sure. Simple decadence your entire family will love.
More Sweets for your Sweetheart
Appliance Tips:
Jelly Roll Pan – A smaller version of your typical rimmed baking sheet. Same with a half sheet pan. They come in handy, but if you only have a regular-sized baking sheet, you may need to double the recipe to fill the entire sheet. Otherwise, your peanut butter filling will be too thin.
Piping Bag – Can also use a Ziploc bag with a small corner cut out. Used for drizzle on top.
Ingredients:
- Salted butter melted and cooled – Because butter makes everything better.
- Creamy peanut butter – Processed peanut butter from the jar is usually a safe bet. You know it won’t separate and will hold together nicely. If natural peanut butter is your jam (see what I did there?), then just make sure you give it a good stir before using it.
- Granulated sugar – Gives the peanut butter filling added sweetness.
- Vanilla extract – Gives a warm flavor that rounds everything out nicely.
- Powdered sugar – Sweetness and binding in the filling of this no-bake treat.
- Chocolate chips – Milk or semi-sweet or a combination of both.
- Shortening – Helps to solidify the chocolate coating to contain all of the deliciousness without falling apart too quickly at room temperature. It also helps prevent discoloration.
- White chocolate chips – For a melted drizzle on top. Adds a nice contrast to the chocolate coating.
- Heart sprinkles – These are just super cute.
How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Hearts:
Step 1: Prepare a jelly roll pan with parchment paper, leaving enough hanging over the sides for easy removal later. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or by hand, beat together the butter, peanut butter, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar and beat until combined.
Step 2: Pour contents of the bowl onto the sheet pan and press down to spread evenly across the surface of the pan, to about 1/2” thickness. Put it in the freezer to set. Once you remove it from the freezer, lift the peanut butter mixture out of the sheet using the sides of the parchment paper. Carefully place it onto a hard surface or cutting board.
Step 3: Use a cookie cutter to cut out heart shapes from the peanut butter sheet. Place the cut-outs onto a new sheet of parchment paper and place them back into the freezer. Gather the remaining peanut butter mixture and press it back into the flat sheet to cut out additional shapes.
Step 4: Place chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl with the shortening. Heat in 30-second increments, stirring in between until the chocolate is mostly melted. Chocolate will continue to melt in its own residual heat. Stir until completely smooth and it drizzles easily.
Step 5: Remove just one or two chilled peanut butter hearts from the freezer at a time. Use a fork to dip the heart into the melted chocolate and flip it to coat both sides. Lift from the chocolate, allowing the excess to drip off. Place the dipped heart onto a sheet of parchment paper.
Work in small batches, and work fast, because the peanut butter heart cut outs become soft pretty quickly out of the freezer. I like to just take one or two hearts out of the freezer at a time, dip those, set them out to harden, and then grab a couple more. If you’re finding the chocolate has started to cool off and isn’t giving a smooth dip, reheat for 15 seconds at a time to keep the chocolate smooth and on the thinner side.
Step 6: Allow the peanut butter heart coating to harden before drizzling with white chocolate and candied hearts. The white chocolate hardens quickly, so sprinkle the hearts on immediately after each individual piece gets a drizzle.
Switch things up and use colored chocolate wafers instead. Think pink, red or white chocolate peanut butter hearts. Add sprinkles, jimmies, or toffee bits for added flare. You can even level up with some silver balls or gold flakes. We’re fancy like that!
Eat a whole bunch then freeze the rest for later. If you’re all Valentine’s-ed out by the time you take them out, break them up on top of some vanilla ice cream, and bam!
See, fancy.
Once these treats are solid you can cover and store them for up to a week, in the fridge or on the counter. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator before serving. Note that discoloration of the chocolate may occur due to condensation after storage in the freezer and/or refrigerator.
Sure, candy melts are easier for dipping, but they are not chocolate and they don’t taste the same. Candy melts are typically much sweeter than chocolate and are made with sugar and vegetable oil and don’t usually contain cocoa butter. For a true chocolate and peanut butter treat, definitely use chocolate chips or high quality chocolate bars.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Hearts
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Hearts
- 1/2 cup salted butter melted and cooled
- 2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 3 cups milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips or a combination of both (2 bags total)
- 2 tablespoons shortening
Drizzle Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon shortening
- heart sprinkles
Instructions
- Line a jelly roll (or half sheet pan) with parchment paper.
- Using a hand or standing mixer, beat together cooled melted butter, peanut butter, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add in the powdered sugar and beat until thoroughly combined.
- Press the peanut butter mixture into the sheet pan – spreading it evenly to about a 1/2" thickness.
- Place the sheet pan in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
- Lift the chilled peanut butter mixture from the sheet pan and set onto a hard surface or cutting board.
- Use a cookie cutter to cut out heart shapes from the peanut butter sheet.
- Place the cut shapes onto a sheet of parchment paper and place them back into the freezer.
- The remnant peanut butter mixture can be pressed back into a 1/2" flat sheet so that you can cut out additional shapes.
- After the cutouts have chilled for 25 minutes, prepare the chocolate for dipping.
- Place chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl with 2 tablespoons of shortening. Heat in 30-second increments, stirring between each blast, until the chocolate is mostly melted.
- Stir chocolate until completely smooth and it drizzles easily.
- Remove just one or two chilled peanut butter hearts from the freezer at a time. Use a fork to dip the heart into the melted chocolate and flip it to coat both sides. Lift from the chocolate, allowing the excess to drip off. Place the dipped heart onto a sheet of parchment paper.
- Continue dipping the remaining hearts, working in small batches. The hearts become soft quickly when they are out of the freezer. If the chocolate cools and doesn't smooth out easily when dipping, reheat in 15 second increments to keep the chocolate smooth.
- Allow the peanut butter heart coating to harden.
- Heat white chocolate chips and teaspoon of shortening, working in 15-30 second bursts, until melted and smooth.
- Transfer to a piping bag or small ziploc bag. Snip a very small hole in the bag and drizzle chocolate in large sweeps over the hearts to add accent drizzle. Immediately sprinkle with heart sprinkles if desired.
- Allow chocolate to set (about 1 minute).
