Carolyn J. Braden • 3 Minute Read
How to Make 3 Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bombs
If you are in the mood for something a little sweet, easy to make and only created with 3 ingredients, this is the recipe for you! Inspired by my childhood years in a kitchen making buckeyes every Christmas, this chocolate peanut butter crunch bomb is similar, but even easier! These are like a peanut butter cup but are a bit crunchy and fun to eat. Read on to learn how to make them.
The gold leafing is edible
My Sweet Inspiration
When I was growing up, I loved to bake and cook in my “free time”. I didn’t have a lot of money to buy people gifts but I could always whip something up in the kitchen and people seemed to like my food creations. I made buckeyes every year to give as Christmas gifts, which became my most popular treat among family and friends.
Store these gooey masterpieces in the fridge!
This recipe was inspired by this memory. I still love peanut butter and chocolate and have friends that do too. A friend of mine said this recipe sounded similar to the buckeye, which gave me this sweet memory. Another friend was excited for me to experiment with my idea, so I knew was onto something good. Not all my creations work out, but this one definitely did!
These have no added sugar, making them a little “healthier”
What are Buckeyes?
Buckeyes are basically peanut butter balls that are packed with butter and powdered sugar, then dipped into melted chocolate. It’s quite a process to make them, as you have a lot of time in between rolling, freezing and dipping them into chocolate. My bombs aren’t quite as labor intensive, making them a great option if you want to make something similar, but faster.
Buckeyes get their name because they look like the buckeye “fruit” that look like a nut and grow on a buckeye tree. Buckeye trees are native to the state of Ohio. Read more about them here.
Buckeye candy tastes like a peanut butter cup like a Reese or like my favorite Justin’s Peanut Butter cup. Here’s a recipe for buckeye candy on Food.com. Caution: they are very addictive due to all the sugar in them.
The dome shape is also referred to as a “bomb”
In trying to cut back my sugar intake over the past year, I made my crunch bombs without any added sugar so you can feel a little less guilty when you indulge in one. Less sugar does not mean less taste in this case. I love using quality ingredients as I did with these, and I did not miss the sugar at all!
These can be made in 30 minutes or less
My love of the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory definitely came to mind when I saw the gold wrapper of the chocolate bars. See the movie inspiration with me making them in my 15 second video below:
The Magic Crunch
I used crunchy peanut butter because I believe the crunch adds a little magic! You bite into them and gooey, crunchy peanut butter oozes out of a smooth layer of semisweet chocolate. It’s magic for your taste buds for sure. You can use creamy peanut butter, of course, but I prefer crunchy for this recipe.
Check out my peanut butter and jelly cups recipe in the 1-minute video below or via my YouTube channel @carolynjbraden. The full PRINTABLE recipe link is at the bottom of this post!
The Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bomb Recipe
Now for the recipe! Here’s what you need. If you buy anything from Temu (some of their silicone molds have great prices!), use code afe55197 or my link here for 30% off (for new app users). Links below link out to Walmart, Amazon or Temu.
Click the button below for a printable ad free version of the recipe:
Yield: 10 cups
Time: 30 minutes to make, 1 hour to firm up completely
Tools:
Two 6 or one 12 Cavity Silicone Mold (The rounded molds I used are from Target and Amazon…sometimes the shape is called a “fat bomb” mold. You can optionally use parchment muffin liners placed in a muffin tin if you don’t have the mold which will give you more of a traditional peanut butter cup shape or you can use another shaped mold if you have one)
Small baking tray (I used a small metal one I got at TJ Maxx to place the mold on as one of my molds was very flexible and needed stability)
Tweezers if using the gold leafing
Ingredients:
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (I used Guittard, which comes in a box of 3 two-ounce bars and I used them all for this recipe)
1 Teaspoon Coconut Oil (I used this organic unrefined version from Whole Foods)
1 1/2 Teaspoons Crunchy Natural Peanut Butter per bomb, making the total around 15 teaspoons (I LOVE Cadia as it’s not too oily and is not sweetened, but you can use a peanut butter that is similar and you can optionally use creamy peanut butter if you don’t want any crunch)
Optional: Edible gold leafing (Amazon)
See me create this recipe in my 1-minute video tutorial above or via my YouTube channel @carolynjbraden.
I experimented with two types of molds
How-To:
Place your mold onto the baking tray and set aside. If using parchment muffin liners and a muffin tin, place 10 muffin liners into your muffin tray and set aside.
Coconut oil helps make the chocolate a bit easier to work with
Place your chocolate in a glass measuring cup with the 1 teaspoon coconut oil and place in the microwave. Melt the chocolate in 30 second increments on 50% power. Stir using a spatula or spoon in between the time increments and keep going until it’s melted and creamy. Do this slowly so you don’t burn the chocolate. You could alternatively use a double boiler method to melt the chocolate.
Guittard is among my favorite candy making chocolate brands
Pour about 1/2 tablespoon of chocolate into 10 mold cavities. Lift the tray up and move the tray around to “swirl” the chocolate around in the cavity to coat it. If it’s not perfectly all over each cavity, that’s okay. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes or until the chocolate is hardened.
I liked my thicker molds from Target best
Next, top each chocolate layer with 1 ½ teaspoons of peanut butter and smooth down as needed. If you don’t want to see the peanut butter layer through the bomb, keep the peanut butter in the center of the chocolate instead of spreading it out all the way.
Spooning in the crunchy peanut butter
I heated my chocolate a bit longer when I got to this point to make sure it was still very “melty”. Pour about a tablespoon or so of the chocolate on top of each peanut butter layer, using up the rest of the chocolate.
I did not worry about them being perfectly smooth….I just made sure each cavity was covered in chocolate until all the chocolate was used up. I tapped the tray on the counter to settle the chocolate, which made them all flatten and smooth.
Adding the last layer of chocolate
Freeze for 10-15 minutes more and then you should be able to pop them out of the molds. Placing them in the refrigerator for another hour will firm the peanut butter up even more if you prefer this.
I messed up a bit on one tray by spilling some chocolate but they still turned out okay!
If using muffin liners, I suggested parchment due to the fact that they should cleanly be able to be removed from each bomb after freezing.
The silicone tray helps pop the chocolate bomb out right away
I used clean, dry fingers to tear up some of the gold leafing and used tweezers to put some on the top of each bomb. Moisture from the chocolate will keep it in place. You don’t have to do this…it just makes them look a bit fancier.
Breaking up the gold leafing
I stored mine in a sealed container in the refrigerator to keep them fresh and firm (we live in south Florida and everything melts here…even in the winter sometimes!). We tested them and they were exactly how I imagined…delicious!
Using tweezers to help place the gold leafing
Next experiment will have to be copycat Cadbury Eggs, as my husband loves them. If you tried these, leave us a comment below or share you own favorite dessert idea!
If you loved this article, we know you’ll love this one too: How to Make Peanut Butter and Jelly Cups
Carolyn J. Braden is the owner of Carolyn’s Blooming Creations is a regular contributor and editor for CBC. She has been featured in numerous media publications such as InStyle Magazine, on HGTV, on Bustle.com, and more. She is the author of the books Georgia McMasters in Amethyst Lake Cemetery, How To Be Yourself: 3 Ways To Help You Being You, and the illustrator for the children’s book Bridging Connections. She is a former classroom teacher that now dedicates her life to educating others on how to live their most healthy, creative and happy life. Learn more about her visiting our About Us page.