(To Die For) White Chocolate Pecan Butter Cups

~~Thanks for all your kind words on yesterday's post...we raised an extra glass (or two!) of wine that night to a wonderful dog.~~

In case you had any lingering doubt about what to do with those last few dabs of  freshly made  Roasted Pecan Butter...

Using your own easy to make nut butters along with different chocolates, you can customize all kinds of gourmet versions of  Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  I'm going for broke here, Ghirardelli white chocolate with a center of  Roasted Pecan Butter. 

White Chocolate Pecan Butter Cups
makes about 8
1/3 cup pecan butter, (or any nut butter)
3-4 Tbsp confectioner's sugar
dash of vanilla

• Mix the nut butter, sugar and vanilla in a small bowl and set aside.  If you use regular peanut butter the consistency will be stiffer than if you use a freshly made nut butter.  Either way will work.

8 oz white chocolate, divided in 2

• Set 8 muffins liners in a muffin tin.
• Put 4 oz white chocolate, broken up in pieces, into a 2 cup glass microwavable measuring cup.  Microwave for about 30 seconds and stir until completely melted and smooth.  You can zap it for another few seconds if it isn't completely melted and fluid.
• Spoon a bit of chocolate into the bottom of each muffin liner, spreading it out slightly with the spoon so it goes up the sides a bit. 
• Chill in the refrigerator or freezer until firm.  
• Spoon a dab of the nut butter mixture in the center of each cup, and spread out if necessary, leaving a ring of chocolate all around.  If your mixture is thick, form it into a small disk.  Put back in the refrigerator while you melt the rest of the chocolate.
• Melt the rest of the chocolate and spoon over each cup, spreading out to the edges and smoothing out if necessary.  Tap the muffin tin sharply on the counter to help smooth out the chocolate and get rid of any trapped air.
• Refrigerate until firm, and then remove the muffin wrappers.  Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat.  

Notes: White chocolate can be finicky to work with; use a good quality, preferably not chips, and microwave cautiously.  Too much time in the microwave will cause it to seize up.  Regular chocolate is easier to melt, and would be just as delicious.
You can make your filling thicker or thinner depending on what you mix your nut butter with.  More confectioner's sugar, some cocoa powder, or even finely ground graham cracker crumbs will give the filling a thicker texture and different flavor.  I left mine on the thin side.

 

There are lots of other do-it-yourself peanut butter cups out there, here are a few:
Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cups from Averie Cooks
Almond Butter Cups from Recipe Girl
Homemade Peanut Butter Cups from Brown Eyed Baker
Homemade Peanut Butter and S'More's Cups from The Hungry Mouse