The Art of Creating a Gourmet Nut Butter Cup: A Recipe to Rival Any Candy Aisle Favorite

As a child, I would often request giant boxes of peanut butter cups from my family's American visits. My love for these treats was unmatched, and I would do just about anything to get my hands on them. Fast forward to adulthood, and I've created my own grown-up take on this childhood favorite – a gourmet nut butter cup that rivals anything you'd find in the candy aisle.

To achieve the perfect balance of flavors and textures, foreign nuts need to be roasted. Roasting really brings out a particular flavor in nuts, which caramelizes from the inside out and tastes toasty. It also changes the texture, transforming something soft and waxy into crunchy goodness. For this recipe, I'm using hazelnuts, which are done roasting to an evenly golden brown color and have a buttery, faintly floral aroma.

To prepare the filling, I transfer the roasted hazelnuts to a food processor, adding a generous amount of salt and a pinch of vanilla bean paste for added depth. The powdered sugar will sweeten the filling and make it thick and creamy without being gritty. My surprise ingredient in this recipe is crushed ice cream cones – an accessible and achievable replacement for traditional ingredients like fuatine foreign. These crispy, crunchy bits give every bite an exciting texture.

Now that the filling is ready, it's time to put everything together. The chocolate shell should be firm and fully set, so I carefully spoon the filling into a nine-inch floated tart ring, making sure it reaches all the way to the sides. To achieve the perfect balance of sweetness and texture, I use a blend of two chocolates – one slightly darker and the other milkier. This combination gives the chocolate shell just the right amount of richness without overpowering the filling.

One crucial step in creating this recipe is heating the chocolate gently. Dark chocolate, in particular, has a high percentage of cocoa solids that can seize if not handled properly. I always use the microwave or a double boiler to heat it up, ensuring the bottom of the bowl isn't touching the water in the pan. Wiping away any trace of water from the bowl is essential, as even a drop can cause the chocolate to become hard and clumpy.

To add an extra layer of flavor and texture to my gourmet nut butter cup, I always sprinkle flaky salt on top. This adds just the right amount of crunch and balances the richness of the chocolate and filling. Finally, I pop the chocolate shell into the freezer to set the top, eager to see the finished result.

The moment of truth arrives as I take a step back to admire my creation. The ratio of filling to chocolate is perfectly balanced, with those ridges being super shiny due to the non-stick pan and light greasing. It's one of those moments when you feel an overwhelming sense of pride and accomplishment – knowing that you've created something truly special.

As I share this recipe on Bon Appetit.com, I'm excited for readers to try it out and experience the magic of a gourmet nut butter cup for themselves. With its unique combination of flavors and textures, this treat is sure to become a new favorite in anyone's life. So go ahead, give it a try, and let me know what you think!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enyes this is exactly what it looks like a giant nut butter cup that Rivals anything you'd find in the candy aisle I love peanut butter cups so much that when I was a kid and I had family visiting from America I would request them to get giant boxes of peanut butter cups in their luggage just for me this is my grown-up take on my childhood favorite foreign nuts need to be roasted roasting really brings out a very particular flavor it kind of caramelizes from the inside out and it tastes toasty it also changes the texture something that is soft and waxy suddenly becomes crunchy when you toast it pan I'm using here is a nine inch floated tart ring we use this pen in professional pastry kitchens when we make delicate Tarts and pies the removable bottom makes it easy to just pop out and of course it looks exactly like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup I'm using a blend of two chocolates here one is slightly darker and the other is milk this gives you the perfect balance of sweetness and texture with just dark chocolate it was overpowering it was too strong it drowned out the filling and it also cracked because dark chocolate has a high percentage of cocoa solids foreign always has to be heated gently you can use the microwave or you can use a double boiler make sure that the bottom of the bowl isn't touching the water in the pan I'm wiping the bottom of the bowl to remove any trace of water because water and chocolate don't get along even a drop of water could seize your chocolate meaning it can get hard and clumpy take your time be gentle I'm popping this in the freezer to set while I make the filling the hazelnuts are done roasting they look evenly golden brown and they smell buttery and faintly Floral I'm transferring the hazelnuts to the food processor adding a bit of salt quite a lot of salt actually I like vanilla bean paste because it has those little flecks of vanilla bean it just feels like bougie and special powdered sugar is going to sweeten the filling and because of its nature it's going to make it thick and creamy without being gritty and here is our surprise guest most unexpected ingredient in this recipe crushed ice cream cones are my accessible and achievable replacement for fuatine foreign gives you this Crispy Crunchy texture in every single bite foreign The Filling is ready and now it's time to put everything together The Chocolate shell should now be firm and fully set up be gentle and make sure the filling goes all the way to the sides you don't want any gaps between the shell and the filling or when you go to add the chocolate on top it'll just pull through foreign part of the shell spooning on the chocolate left over from before I always add flaky salt to my desserts I think it adds the right amount of crunch and just balances the chocolate and the filling and now back to the freezer to set the top and thanks to all the prep we did it's going to come right out looking at this chart it's one of those moments when you're like oh wow all right I actually can do my job really well just look at that ratio of filling to chocolate those ridges are super shiny that comes from using that non-stick pan and lightly greasing it Courtney is here for our social media Courtney is the best and she takes the most enticing videos so we're Hamming it up for the camera here this was one of my favorite recipes to develop so I hope you try it you can find the recipe over on Bon appetit.comyes this is exactly what it looks like a giant nut butter cup that Rivals anything you'd find in the candy aisle I love peanut butter cups so much that when I was a kid and I had family visiting from America I would request them to get giant boxes of peanut butter cups in their luggage just for me this is my grown-up take on my childhood favorite foreign nuts need to be roasted roasting really brings out a very particular flavor it kind of caramelizes from the inside out and it tastes toasty it also changes the texture something that is soft and waxy suddenly becomes crunchy when you toast it pan I'm using here is a nine inch floated tart ring we use this pen in professional pastry kitchens when we make delicate Tarts and pies the removable bottom makes it easy to just pop out and of course it looks exactly like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup I'm using a blend of two chocolates here one is slightly darker and the other is milk this gives you the perfect balance of sweetness and texture with just dark chocolate it was overpowering it was too strong it drowned out the filling and it also cracked because dark chocolate has a high percentage of cocoa solids foreign always has to be heated gently you can use the microwave or you can use a double boiler make sure that the bottom of the bowl isn't touching the water in the pan I'm wiping the bottom of the bowl to remove any trace of water because water and chocolate don't get along even a drop of water could seize your chocolate meaning it can get hard and clumpy take your time be gentle I'm popping this in the freezer to set while I make the filling the hazelnuts are done roasting they look evenly golden brown and they smell buttery and faintly Floral I'm transferring the hazelnuts to the food processor adding a bit of salt quite a lot of salt actually I like vanilla bean paste because it has those little flecks of vanilla bean it just feels like bougie and special powdered sugar is going to sweeten the filling and because of its nature it's going to make it thick and creamy without being gritty and here is our surprise guest most unexpected ingredient in this recipe crushed ice cream cones are my accessible and achievable replacement for fuatine foreign gives you this Crispy Crunchy texture in every single bite foreign The Filling is ready and now it's time to put everything together The Chocolate shell should now be firm and fully set up be gentle and make sure the filling goes all the way to the sides you don't want any gaps between the shell and the filling or when you go to add the chocolate on top it'll just pull through foreign part of the shell spooning on the chocolate left over from before I always add flaky salt to my desserts I think it adds the right amount of crunch and just balances the chocolate and the filling and now back to the freezer to set the top and thanks to all the prep we did it's going to come right out looking at this chart it's one of those moments when you're like oh wow all right I actually can do my job really well just look at that ratio of filling to chocolate those ridges are super shiny that comes from using that non-stick pan and lightly greasing it Courtney is here for our social media Courtney is the best and she takes the most enticing videos so we're Hamming it up for the camera here this was one of my favorite recipes to develop so I hope you try it you can find the recipe over on Bon appetit.com\n"