Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Granola Parfaits. Is there really anything more to say here?
Homemade dairy-free Peanut butter cups. Classic. Delicious. They belong in a parfait.
Whoa…..I’m feeling faint here….would you check these out??
Best peanut butter cups I’ve ever had.
These have a nice soft chocolate exterior, yet they hold their shape….they are almost fudge-like. Even better, zero oil. There are a billion peanut butter cup recipes out there, but the way I created this one is to have a slightly softer exterior than traditional ones, which tend to be on the hard side. Most recipes are simply melted chocolate, but that creates too hard of a shell in my opinion.
This entire recipe, including the homemade peanut butter cups, is just 8 ingredients! Can you believe that? I know you all know that is my concept…but sometimes I really have to work some magic to make it happen with recipes.
Slurp, slurp, slurrrrp…
This dessert parfait is vegan, gluten-free, oil-free and yet it tastes as good as any parfait out there. It is definitely not low-calorie, so a little goes a long way. I literally kept mine in the fridge for a week, just having a bite here and there so I didn’t overdo it.
Make these Peanut Butter Cup Granola Parfaits or just make the granola and and then tell me it wasn’t parfait heaven! Leave me feedback below in the comments letting me know how it turned out. I love to keep permanent track of feedback on my recipes, and on the blog is the best way, so thank you!
If you want to take a pic, be sure to tag me on Instagram with #thevegan8, otherwise I may miss your notification! Happy peanut butter cup granola parfait eating!
Peanut Butter Cup Granola Parfaits
Ingredients
For the peanut butter cups (makes 3, plenty for the parfaits)
- 3 tablespoons creamy natural peanut butter with no additives, other than salt
- 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt if your peanut butter doesn't have any
- 1/2 heaping cup 100 g mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life)
- 2 tablespoons "lite" canned coconut milk room temp (shaken well first)
- 1/2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
For the granola
- 2 cups old fashioned gluten-free rolled oats I used Bob's Red Mill certified GF
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 15 g
- 1/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter with no additives, other than salt
- 1/2 cup maple syrup 120 mL
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 teaspoon salt if your peanut butter doesn't have any
For the cream (You have the option of making homemade coconut whipped cream or just using yogurt)
- 2 cups chilled full-fat coconut cream thickened cream part of 2 cans coconut milk, I use Thai Kitchen
- 3 tablespoons creamy natural peanut butter with no additives, other than salt
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- For a yogurt version use any dairy-free yogurt and add the ingredients to it and mix and use instead of the coconut cream. Faster and less fattening.
- Tip: To save time make the peanut butter cups the day before you want to serve these. You could even make the whipped cream the day before as well.
Instructions
- To make the homemade peanut butter cups, add the peanut butter, syrup and vanilla (and salt if your peanut butter doesn't have any) to a small bowl and stir until smooth. The syrup and vanilla will cause it to thicken up really quickly, like a cookie dough. Set aside.
- Next, melt the chocolate chips over a double boiler or in the microwave. Start with 30 seconds in the microwave, stir, then another 15 seconds until almost melted. Be very careful about overheating, as the chocolate will harden and be useless or burn. Remove and stir until smooth. Add the coconut milk and cocoa powder and stir until completely smooth. The chocolate will thicken, so move quickly. Pour about a tablespoon into the bottom of 3 liners and smooth out. Place in the fridge to set for about 15 minutes.
- Add about 2 teaspoons of the peanut butter filling and roll into little balls and place on top of the chocolates. Slightly flatten them out, leaving about a 1/4 inch gap from the edges for the remaining chocolate. You will likely have a bit extra peanut butter filling, but don't overfill the chocolates.
- Remove the chocolates from the fridge. You may need to slightly rewarm your remaining chocolate. Do so for just a few seconds in the microwave, otherwise too long and the chocolate will seize up. Pour the remaining chocolate (about a tablespoon each) over the tops of the peanut butter, gently smoothing the tops with your spoon.
- To make the granola, preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Add the oats and cocoa powder to a large bowl and stir. In a separate smaller bowl, add the peanut butter, syrup and vanilla and stir until smooth. Pour over the oats. Stir together until combined well. You will not be adding the chocolate chips yet.
- Spread the granola out evenly on the prepared pan about 1/2 inch thick. Bake on the low rack for 15 minutes. Remove, stir around really well and from the bottom so that it can all cook evenly. Add back to the oven and cook 10 more minutes.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips all over the granola. Stir it around to melt the chocolate. Let cool for 30 minutes and it will crisp up really well.
- To make the peanut butter whipped cream, scoop out the hardened coconut cream from the cans. You should get around 2 cups. Add the cream to a bowl and whip for about 5 minutes with an electric beater until fluffy. Add the peanut butter, syrup, vanilla and salt. Whip again until smooth. Place in the fridge to firm up if you like before serving.
- Layer glasses with granola, cream, broken up peanut butter cups and repeat until full.
Recipe Notes
Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free
I use certified gluten-free oats from Bob's Red Mill. However, several people with celiac disease or gluten-intolerance still cannot have oats, so be sure to be careful or discuss with your doctor if you are unsure about oats.
This looks fabulous!!
I would love it if you could do a recipe for homemade vegan yogurt – I haven’t been able to find a store bought one I like. The almond milk ones taste a little sour, the soy milk ones are just gross – something reminiscent of Play-Doh and the coconut milk ones are too “coconutty” for me. I promise I’m not a picky eater – but I just haven’t found a satisfying non-dairy yogurt yet.
By “coconutty” I mean that it tastes too much like suntan lotion for me, if that makes sense 🙂
Suntan lotion, haha, that is funny!
Thank you so much Carey! Believe me, I understand! I actually don’t even like yogurt myself, never have. I just listed it as a lighter low-fat option since many people aren’t fans of coconut and it would really cut down on the calories some. I have seen vegan yogurt online before…I will have to find it again. Let me know if you try this!
Ahh ahh AHH this is NOT what I need to see popping up in my inbox when I’m trying to study.
*faints*
Haha! Sorry girl! Thank you!
Brandi, that looks so yummy! And those spoons are to die for 😉
Thank you so much Andie! I got those from Chefscatalog.com! They are long and skinny to fit to the very bottom of the tall parfait glasses…perfect to shove in my mouth, lol!
Wow, what a truly decadent dessert! I agree with you about not liking the hard shell on the outside of homemade pb cups, the inside just seems to squish out when you bite into it (at least in the recipes I’ve made)! I’m trying to lose my “winter coat” lol and recipes like this are so tempting! Just the granola part of the recipe alone looks like a perfect snack to take on a hike with me! Great job!
Omg, exactly!! That is it…when I bite into one and the inside just busts out because of the hard shell, still delicious, but not a desirable texture to me. So, after a couple of trials, this texture IS IT. It is soft, like a fudge, but firm enough to hold and eat perfectly. They were sooooo good! It will be my go-to peanut butter cup recipe for anytime I want to use peanut butter cups now, won’t ever buy any again.
Yes, the granola is super simple and fast and you could totally just make that part of the recipe if you wanted to!
Now you just STOP all of this amazing yumminess right now, Ms. Brandi!! (of course you know I am totally kidding – keep knocking ’em out of the park, girl!)
I can’t stoppppp! 🙂
So peanut butter cups pretty much go with anything…and if you want to bait me in, then just shove them on in there. I won’t even question what else is there because when I see peanut butter cups my brain just kind of stops working and is in full eat and destroy mode…so I have to be honest and say that I couldn’t get much past the peanut butter cups picture and I’m still thinking about how to eat my computer…
You are so funny Sophia! That is honestly my favorite picture too in the whole post! Thanks girl!
Wow! These look so fattening, and delicious!! 🙂 I’d have to run an extra 10 miles to burn one of these off, but I think it would be worth it.
Yes, they are, I never said they were low-fat, lol! The words “peanut butter cup” don’t exactly scream low-fat. 🙂 But since I eat very low-fat breakfast, lunch and dinner..I like to enjoy desserts from time to time that I make myself and honestly, I took several days to finish all this (because my hubby or daughter don’t eat peanut butter), so that way, it’s much more controlled.
OMG Brandi, these are absolutely glorious! The peanut butter cups look amazing and I love that these parfaits are made with coconut cream (I adore coconut. I just read the comment above about too coconutty = suntan lotion and that made me smile. I don’t mind the connection at all!). Decadent, home made, vegan and oil-free. You rock. And these photos are beautiful. I can’t stop staring at them!
Haha! Glad I didn’t offend with my “suntan” lotion comparison. I guess it might be an acquired taste because I’ve never liked Pina Coladas for the same reason. However, I’m thinking with a little vanilla, it may take away some of the coconut flavor 🙂
Yes, I have a good teaspoon of vanilla in there, but feel free to add more! 🙂
Awww thank you Nancy! You are always so sweet and make me smile! So glad you love this and the photos…makes me thrilled! 🙂
Delicious looking PB cups, I could eat a big bunch of these 😀
Yum!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
This looks AMAZING, Brandi! The photos kind of say it all — I even had a hard time concentrating on the reading here, that’s how good these look haha 🙂
I was curious what you’d use in the pb cream part. I just made a peanut butter parfait recipe for my blog as well {not up yet}, but of course I used your favorite ingredient {read: heavy sarcasm 😉 }. #bananatakeover!
Awww thanks so much Audrey! These were some of my favorite photos so far, or maybe it’s just because peanut butter cups are IN the photos, lol!
Hahaha….no way…more bananas??! 😉
Did I just die and go to Heaven? I need this in my life RIGHT NOW! I’ll be tagging you on IG as soon as I make this!
Yay! Thank you Jen, I hope you really do make them!
All I can say is WOAH!!! Brandi, this PB cup parfait sounds absolutely DIVINE! I can’t wait to try this recipe!! The sound of the soft and fudgey chocolate interior + the PB center of these PB cups is drool worthy. I know you are not a fan of bananas but I feel like these PB cups would work perfectly with some homemade banana nice cream. Talk about a real treat! And the shot of the stacked PB cups is absolutely gorgeous btw!
Whoooooa! So gorgeous and just all around perfect. I love having a treat in the fridge to steal bites of haha! Perfect for when I’m craving just a little sweetness after a meal.
Thank you so much Leah! I agree…and I’m so serious, I did NOT sit and eat one of those jars all at once…even my mother-n-law who is a huge dairy lover and ice cream lover said it was very rich…a few bites were so filling because of the granola as well.
I’m impressed by your will power to only have a bite here and there. I would easily eat this entire thing. My goodness it looks amazing.
I dare you! 😉
YUM!! This is a great picture to show someone if they say, “What can you eat?!?” after you say you’re vegan.
Then you wipe their drool off your keyboard.
Looks so good!
OMG, that is so perfect! I’m SO doing that, lol! Thank you so much!
Oh my word, this looks incredible and has my name ALL over it! Yum! Your pictures are beautiful too, as always! I just want to grab a spoon and dig in!
You are so sweet Melanie, thank you so much!!
This is ingenious using the coconut milk in the peanut butter cups for a softer texture! Mine are always hard (thought delicious!) but I hate it when they break apart. I can’t wait to make this for a special treat!
Thank you so much Stacy! Yes, the creamy coconut milk and the cocoa powder combined really give these a softer, almost fudge-like texture. They are just the perfect texture for me!
I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOOOOOO WORDS. NONE. NIL. NADDA. I am in complete and utter shock with how friggin AMAZING and ADDICTING these look! Holy Moly! You make Vegan look AMAZING!
Awwwww hahaha thank you Gigi!!
What size liner for the peanut butter cups?
Hi Deann! They are just regular size muffin liners, same size as traditional peanut butter cups. 🙂
OMG Brandi, these look divine! I want to cover my face in these parfaits haha. I’ve never attempted making my own peanut butter cups before because I always thought they were really complicated to make. Then… I remembered that hey, Brandi makes all her recipes with only 8 ingredients so it really can’t be that hard! Definitely putting this on my list of things to make 🙂
Awww thank you Vanessa! You are so sweet! Seriously, SO easy to make and may I be so humble and say that these are better than store bought??! The soft chocolate shell is firm and fudgy and not hard like the commercial ones…sooo good! Hope you try them!
My daughter’s favorite treat is peanut butter cups –so of course had to give a try. We used sunbutter –I’d say it worked out well since she tried to steal mine after devouring hers. My hubby and I had the parfait –I subbed in chocolate chia pudding for the cream (the hubby isn’t big fan of coconut) and it was marvelous! Well done as always Brandi
Thank you so much Julie for the wonderful feedback! I’m so happy your whole family enjoyed both recipes and even better that your daughter did!
O.M.G!!!!! Brandi, this is absolutely DIVINE!!!! By themselves, each ingredient is awesome (and for the cream this is saying a lot for me because I cannot stand coconut….I avoid it like the plague haha), but together?? They are FABULOUS!!!! Even my daughter (who does not like coconut either) LOVED it!! I will definitely be making this again and will reserve this for my once a month treat! What can I say about the PB cups? They are so much better than any store bought ones I have ever tried (and next time I will use a regular size liner over the molds I used this time) including the classic Reese’s cups. Everything is absolutely to die for!! I think next time I will try it with a homemade chocolate pudding (chia or avocado) for a lower fat version, but yeah we are loving this. 😀
Thank you, thank you, thank you for coming up with this recipe!!! You are so AWESOME!!!
I would love to write a review of all the recipes I have tried on my blog if that’s is okay (always linking back to yours of course!)!
Wow Tiffany! Your feedback made my day! I’m super thrilled to hear how much you loved the parfait! This makes me super happy that both you and your daughter loved it and thank you so much for making sooooo many of my recipes and sharing all of them on Instagram! You are a sweetheart!
Oh and yes, link any recipe you want to on your blog, I’d be honored, thank you!
I could so eat this right now – it looks amazing!! Yum! The peanut butter cups look especially delicious and fudgy – perfect!
Thank you so much Harriet, they really are the yummiest ones I’ve ever had!!
Wow Brandi! You really did work your magic with this one. At first glance, I was thinking nooooo, it couldn’t be only 8 ingredients! But it really is! Amazing….I can’t wait to make this! What a great thing to make when you are craving a Blizzard from Dairy Queen. Thanks!
Awww thank you so much Michaell!! I’m so glad you like them and yes, it took a bit of finessing…but I got the whole shabang at 8 ingredients, haha!