By Natalia Gill, from An Appetite For Joy
Peanut butter, unrefined sugar, coconut oil and vanilla are combined, hardened in the freezer then sliced into bite-sized morsels of bliss. These silky, sweet & salty little chips taste divine on their own, but this is a dangerous path to tread! I try to reserve them for a special treat atop ice cream or in cookies and other baked goods.
You may also want to check out the many other mouth-watering peanut butter recipes on this blog!
It was my 3-year old daughter who first opened the door to peanut butter chips. We were shopping at Trader Joe’s when she made the decision to place a bag into her kid-sized cart. My knee-jerk reaction was to quickly and nicely veto it, then redirect her to the dried mango. But I paused and skimmed the ingredients. Could have been worse. I decided to stroke her confidence and bring them home.
Last time she did this I ended up with 5 cans of sardines! I got a little creative them them.
How these chips act in baking (it’s a little different)
When you take out the additives, and use unprocessed ingredients, peanut butter chips melt at a lower temperature. So you have to store these in the freezer then take them out immediately before you use them.
- In cookies and scones they work perfectly, leaving little pockets of gooey goodness.
- In muffins they leave somewhat concentrated pockets of peanut butter but they get absorbed by the muffin so there is no change in texture. Could be a good thing, but I’m just letting you know what to expect. (I’ve only tried them in coconut flour muffins, so they might act differently with less spongy flours.)
- In waffles & pancakes – I haven’t tried this yet but I’m assuming they will work similar to the cookies since they are cooked quickly.
- Over ice cream they are absolutely delicious!
Using unrefined powdered sugar
You’ll need to use powdered sugar in these. Thankfully making your own unrefined powdered sugar is easy!
I have also tried a different method, leaving the sugar un-powdered and melting all the ingredients over the stove. For whatever reason, I had a surprisingly difficult time getting the coconut sugar to melt so powdering your sugar first is definitely the way to go.
UPDATE: I think melting the ingredients gently on the stove-top then cooling would work. I thought the coconut sugar wasn’t melting but now I realize that the graininess I was tasting was the texture in the natural peanut butter – it was more prominent when it was melted. I think the graininess would be unnoticeable when cooled!
I hope you enjoy them!
- 1 cup peanut butter
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup powdered coconut palm sugar or powdered sucanat (it's easy to make your own)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Sea salt, to taste (if your peanut butter is not salted)
- Stir together the ingredients until smooth.
- Pour into a parchment paper lined baking pan (mine was 9x13)
- Freeze for 1 hour
- Slice up into chips (for best results, place the pan on cooling packs when doing this)
- Store in the freezer until immediately before use
Almond and sunflower seed butters would also work well.
Latest posts by Natalia Gill (see all)
- “Busy Day” Asian Veggie Noodle Soup (Gluten & Grain-Free Options) - December 1, 2016
- Greek Sweet Potato Hash – $15 Meal from Trader Joe’s - March 31, 2016
- Apple Pastila (A Honey-Sweetened Confection) - December 9, 2015
I wonder if using cocoa butter instead of CO in the recipe will make them work out better in baked goods….
Magda, that is a great idea! So far I’ve been happy with the way these work in baked goods except for the coconut flour muffins. I think the cocoa butter might do the trick!
Uh oh. I’m pretty sure I should forget I ever saw this recipe. On the other hand, I wouldn’t want to deprive my son, would I? I’ll make them for HIS sake. Ahem.
Ha! Stay strong Alison. Unfortunately, the freezer doesn’t create much of a barrier since it only makes them yummier. Maybe stick them way in the back. 🙂
These look delicious and healthier than the store-bought version – thanks for sharing!
My children will definitely be glad you did. I appreciate the link to homemade unrefined powder sugar because so many sweet tooth recipes call for powdered sugar and every step we take to make a healthier version makes me feel better about serving them to my family!
Thank you Dina-Marie! I agree. Every little step helps.
What brand of peanut butter do you use?
Hi Julie. Any natural brand peanut butter would work. With this batch I used 365 (Whole Foods) brand. If you have a high speed blender you could also make peanut butter (so delicious!) I’m not sure about Jif/Skippy type brands because they are less runny. But extra coconut oil would probably soften the p.b. mixture enough to make it pourable.
I wonder if you could use stevia instead of the powdered sugar? I try to stay away from any type of sugar since it gives me headaches.
Sheri, I don’t see any reason why stevia wouldn’t work. Actually I think it would work well! You could start with just a bit and then keep adding to taste. Thanks for the idea!
Do you think these would taste good with a different nut or seed butter? I wish I could have peanut butter cause I loved PB chips! 😉
Brooks,
I think so for sure! Just use your favorite nut butter. 🙂
I’ve made them twice now with Stevia and a little agave/maple syrup-YUM!!!! Now can you give us a recipe for Butterscotch Chips????? Please?????!!!
Christina, so glad you like them and thanks for the tip on how you modified the recipe! Butterscotch chips – mmmm!
do you think these would still hold together WITHOUT any sweetener?
I might have to make these since I just found out tonight at Trader Joe’s they will no longer be available. (gasp!!!)
Thanks for this but can it remain firm permanently after removing from freezer
Can you just add granulated sugar? What’ll happen to it if i do?
Thanks for the recipe. How long will these keep for?
Can these be added to granola and kept out of the freezer?
Can these be added to granola and will they melt/ go,sodt kept out of the freezer?
What is a good coconut oil substitute?
What are the measurements to the ingredients?
i wonder what happened?! went dark after 2014. hope you and yours are all ok, Natalia.