Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cups (AIP, Paleo, Dairy & Nut-Free)
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These chocolate pumpkin butter cups are the perfect fun dessert to mix it up for the fall and Halloween season! They’re dairy, nut & gluten-free, paleo, vegan, and easy to make AIP.
Though it may still be warm here in Dallas, TX it’s finally my favorite time of year… pumpkin season! In honor of pumpkin season, I decided to try and get creative and make my own pumpkin candy! For inspiration, I looked to one of my absolute favorite conventional candies were peanut butter cups. Chocolate-y, creamy, sugary, and delicious.
So, I put a healthy, nourishing spin on it and made these chocolate pumpkin butter cups! They are not only gluten-free, nut-free, and soy-free but are dairy-free, paleo, vegan, and easily adaptable for AIP. Not to mention, ridiculously delicious and so easy to make!
The Ingredients
- Dairy-free chocolate chips: I like the brand Enjoy Life. You can sub carob for AIP, like this.
- Coconut Oil
- Pumpkin Puree: For the delicious pumpkin butter filling!
- Maple syrup
- Vanilla Bean Powder: You can sub vanilla extract.
- Cinnamon, Nutmeg & Salt: Sub mace for nutmeg if AIP.
How To Make Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cups
- Make Pumpkin Butter: Prep the pumpkin butter by combining the pumpkin, vanilla, maple syrup, and spices in a bowl and stir well to combine. Set aside.
- Make Chocolate Coating: Using a double boiler method, melt the chocolate chips, coconut oil, and salt until fully liquid.
- Build Cups: Using a silicone candy cup mold, fill it about halfway with the chocolate mixture. Add about 1/2 tbsp (or more depending on the size of your candy mold) of the pumpkin butter to the top of the cocoa mixture. You want it to be a sizable amount that you’d want to bite into but still leave some room. Add the more chocolate mixture on top to fill the mold.
- Chill & Serve: Place the mold in the fridge for at least an hour. Carefully remove from the mold and eat immediately, or store in the fridge.
The tools you’ll need
You’ll want to use a silicone candy mold like this! You can use paper liners as well, but it’s not necessary.
How do you store these?
The best way to store these is in glass in the fridge. They’ll melt quickly otherwise! You can also freeze them to stretch their life further.
You’ll also love…
- Healthy Pudding “Dirt” Cups
- Edible Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
- Homemade Paleo Twix Bars
- Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Paleo Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cups (AIP, Paleo, Dairy & Nut free)
Description
These chocolate pumpkin butter cups are the perfect fun dessert to mix it up for the fall and Halloween season! They’re dairy, nut & gluten-free, paleo, vegan and easy to make AIP.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder (sub vanilla extract)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg (sub mace for AIP)
- 1 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (use something like this for AIP)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Prep the pumpkin butter by combining the pumpkin, vanilla, maple syrup, and spices in a bowl and stir well to combine. Set aside.
- Using a double boiler method, melt the chocolate chips, coconut oil, and salt until fully liquid.
- Using a silicone candy cup mold, fill it about halfway with the chocolate mixture.
- Add about 1/2 tbsp (or more depending on the size of your candy mold) of the pumpkin butter to the top of the cocoa mixture. You want it to be a sizable amount that you’d want to bite into but still leave some room. Add the more chocolate mixture on top to fill the mold.
- Place the mold in the fridge for at least an hour. Carefully remove from the mold and eat immediately, or store in the fridge.
This recipe first appeared on Unbound Wellness in 2016 and was updated in 2020.
Recipe by Michelle, Unbound Wellness. Photos by Eat Love Eats
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This sounds great! Where do you get the Vanilla Powder?
Hi Cori!! Thank you so much 🙂 You can get vanilla powder on Amazon, and I believe I’ve gotten it at Whole Foods before. If you’re not strict AIP, you can use vanilla extract in place 🙂
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Do you think lard could possibly work instead of coconut oil? I need to avoid coconut as well…
It would change the flavor a lot, but let me know if you try!
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I have a question, can you use chocolate powder instead of chocolate chips?
I would recommend using chocolate chips!
These were easy, yummy, and help my indulge my pumpkin spice fanaticism. Great recipe!
★★★★★
These look amazing. Is there a possibility of subbing the coconut oil for another oil/ghee? I can’t do coconut right now, unfortunately 🙁
It should work the same with ghee, but I haven’t tried it!
If I was to use the AIP “chocolate” recipe, would I still need to go through all of that recipe’s steps, and then melt it back down again with the coconut oil and salt for this recipe? Or could I skip, the process of hardening it and remelting, and just go from melted and all mixed together in the “chocolate” recipe, to assembling these? Did that make sense?
Not the author, but I definitely would not harden and re-melt the ingredients for the carob shell. The second method would work just fine.