What’s life without a little sweet treat, right? While I love sharing beautiful cakes and indulgent cookies here, there’s something about a fun, more nutrient-dense dessert that I get really excited about.
I actually shared these no bake chocolate peanut butter banana cups on Instagram almost 4 years ago and recently rediscovered them! With Valentine’s Day around the corner, it’s the perfect time to make them again.
These turned out SO incredibly delicious and remind me of the Tru Fu frozen chocolate fruit bites (yum). You’d never guess they were gluten-free, grain-free, vegan, and easily dairy-free! Keep them in your freezer for when that post-lunch or dinner sweet tooth hits, or make them as a Valentine’s Day treat!
Ingredients in these chocolate peanut butter banana cups
Good news: you probably have all of these simple ingredients in your pantry right now! Here’s what you’ll need:
- Chocolate: we’re melting a 70% dark chocolate bar to create the shell of these cups. Feel free to use dairy-free chocolate to keep the bites dairy-free.
- Peanut butter: you’ll create a peanut butter “caramel” layer for the inside of the cups using natural creamy peanut butter.
- Maple syrup: sweeten the peanut butter layer with pure maple syrup.
- Coconut oil: a little coconut oil mixed into the peanut butter caramel layer helps it solidify as the cups chill.
- Peanuts: I love adding chopped peanuts to the peanut butter layer for a little crunch. Honey roasted peanuts are amazing in these!
- Banana: each cup gets a slice of banana before being topped with chocolate. Best combo!
- Sea salt: if you love sweet and salty together, sprinkle each cup with a little flaky sea salt.
Customize these cups
There are a few easy ways you can make these peanut butter banana cups your own:
- Choose your nut butter. Feel free to use any nut butter you’d like! Almond butter or cashew butter would be delicious, or you can keep them nut-free with sunflower seed butter (just omit the peanuts).
- Try a new chocolate. Semi-sweet, milk, or even white chocolate would also be incredible.
- Use a new sweetener. If you don’t want to use maple syrup, honey, brown rice syrup, or date syrup will also work. Just note that honey tends to have a more potent flavor.
Can I add a different fruit?
Sure! Make a berry version by adding a blueberry or a little slice of strawberry, raspberry, or blackberry in place of the banana slice.
How to make chocolate peanut butter banana cups
- Make the chocolate layer. Start by lining your mini muffin pan with liners. Melt your chocolate bar, then spoon a little chocolate into each liner and use a spoon to spread the chocolate up the sides. Put the pan in the freezer to solidify the chocolate.
- Make the peanut butter caramel. Mix together the peanut butter, melted coconut oil, and maple syrup until smooth and pourable.
- Assemble the cups. Divide the peanut butter caramel into the well of each cup, then sprinkle and press some chopped peanuts on top. Add a banana slice to each cup, then cover each with the remaining chocolate and smooth the tops.
- Freeze, garnish & devour. Freeze the cups until solidified, then sprinkle with sea salt and enjoy!
Make jumbo peanut butter banana cups
Feel free to double the recipe, then use a regular muffin tin and regular liners to make larger chocolate peanut butter banana cups.
Storing tips
I recommend storing these chocolate peanut butter banana cups in the freezer in a freezer-friendly bag or container. These cups can stay in your freezer for up to 3 months, so go ahead and make a double batch if you’d like!
Tools you’ll need
Get all of my go-to kitchen tools here!
More no bake treats you’ll love
- Sweet and Salty Chocolate Tahini Rice Krispie Treats
- No Bake High Protein Peanut Butter Cereal Bars
- Healthy Peanut Butter Twix Bars (vegan & gluten free)
- Crispy Chickpea Chocolate Clusters
- Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites
Get all of my no bake desserts here!
I hope you love these chocolate peanut butter banana cups! If you make them, be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them.
Salted Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Cups
Ingredients
- 1 (3.5 ounce) 70% dark chocolate bar (or 2 (2 ounce) chocolate bars)*
- 3 tablespoons natural creamy peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- ½ tablespoon melted virgin coconut oil
- 1 medium banana, sliced into ¼ inch rounds
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped peanuts (honey roasted is great!)
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Line a mini muffin pan with 9 mini liners.
- Place the chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until chocolate is melted. Add 1 heaping teaspoons to the bottom of each cup and use a spoon to push/spread the chocolate all the way up the sides of each liner. (You’ll still have half of the chocolate left for later!) Place the pan in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes to harden the chocolate.
- Make the peanut butter filling: add the peanut butter, maple syrup, and melted coconut oil to a medium bowl. Stir until well combined. If the mixture is too thick, you can microwave it for 20 to 30 seconds until creamy, warm and pourable.
- Take the muffin pan out of the freezer and spoon about a teaspoon of the peanut butter caramel into each cup. Top with chopped peanuts, pressing them into the caramel a bit with your finger. Add a sliced banana on top, and then cover each cup with about 1 heaping teaspoon of remaining melted chocolate, smoothing the tops of the cups with a spoon. Freeze for 30 minutes to 1 hour or until frozen solid.
- Remove the pan from the freezer, sprinkle with flaky sea salt, and dig in! I like keeping these in the freezer for snacking.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
