Dark Chocolate Mint Butter Cups

Published on December 11, 2016 | By |

- Prep Time
- 30 Minutes
- Cook Time
- 15 Minutes
- Yield
- 18-20

Dark Chocolate + Mint. Need I say more?

These mint cups don’t require a whole lot of effort or skill to whip up.

If you’re unfamiliar with coconut butter (aka coconut manna), it is the meat of the coconut ground into a butter, like peanuts are ground into peanut butter. It is divine. I also use it in smoothies as a healthy source of fat.

Melting the coconut butter is the one thing that you want to take the most care with. It melts quickly and burns easily. Use a minimal amount of heat for a short amount of time – don’t walk away from it! It will take less than a minute to melt.

For the chocolate, you may use dark chocolate chips or your favorite dark chocolate bar (chopped into small pieces).

Ingredients

¼ cup very slightly melted coconut butter
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
Pinch sea salt
For chocolate layers:
10 ounces (350 grams) high quality dark chocolate
2 tablespoons coconut oil
Cupcake wrappers (large or small, your choice)

Instructions

1. Prepare a mini-muffin pan by lining the cups with paper wrappers.
2. In a double boiler, gently melt the chocolate and 2 tablespoons coconut oil.
3. Place 1 teaspoon of melted chocolate into the wrappers. If you use 10 ounces of chocolate and the measurements I give, you’ll have enough to make about 18 mini cups. Refrigerate until hardened - about 15 minutes.
4. While chocolate is hardening, prepare the filling: In a small saucepan over low heat, melt coconut butter – eyeball about ¼ cup worth. Stir constantly and remove from heat when just half way melted. Stir and mash the unmelted parts with a spoon to liquefy them. Measure out ¼ cup and transfer to a small bowl. Any excess can be returned to the jar.
5. Stir the vanilla extract, peppermint extract and sea salt into the coconut butter mixture until thoroughly combined.
6. Remove the mini tray from refrigerator after chocolate has hardened. Then, scoop slightly more than ½ teaspoon of coconut butter mixture on top of and in the center of the chocolate. The filling should not extend all the way to the edges of the cup. If the filling is too loose and spreads too much, refrigerate for 3-4 minutes to stiffen it up a bit.
7. Place another teaspoon of melted chocolate on top and smooth out. Refrigerate to harden. Store in the refrigerator for best results. May also be kept frozen!
8. Serve either at room temperature or straight out of the refrigerator. I find them to be to hard if I eat them straight out of the freezer.