WARNING: This is a Mouth Watering Super-Easy Low Carb Peanut Butter Candy Recipe! 😉
Inspired by the Triple Layer Coconut Oil Candy Recipe that I shared with you in the recent Low Carb Peanut Butter Desserts post, I decided to give it a whirl – with my own version of this low carb candy.
Let me just say… I have a new found love for my Coconut Oil! 😀
Viva Labs Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
Coconut Oil and Peanut Butter are both a regular part of my Low Carb Diet as they are both tasty “real food” healthy fats. I just never in a million years would have thought to combine them!
Who knew they would be so amazingly delicious together?!
This first recipe was a “quick test” (and it truly is super fast & easy – otherwise I wouldn’t even be doing it, lol).
I will tell you upfront that I didn’t get the chocolate layer sweet enough, although it was definitely edible – it was just more like the ‘bite’ of dark chocolate. So you’ll definitely want to sweeten to taste if you decide to include the chocolate layer. I would also suggest using a lot less chocolate per piece so it doesn’t overpower the beautiful peanut butter layer – which was my favorite!
I’ll share how I made these, but keep reading for my next version – which I’m making for Valentine’s Day. 😉
Here’s the original recipe. As instructed I put 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa in one bowl, and 1/4 cup of peanut butter in another bowl. I melted 1/2 cup of Coconut Oil (I actually melted 1/4 cup twice) and mixed with each. It works best if you melt 1/4 cup of Coconut Oil first, mix it with the Cocoa, spoon it out in your mold or pan, and put that in the refrigerator. Then melt the other half (1/4 cup) of Coconut Oil and mix it with the Peanut Butter while the chocolate is setting.
I didn’t have a candy mold on hand, so I made larger candies in a traditional sized muffin pan – so they came out larger, making a total of 9 pieces. See the nutrition facts for this version to the right.
Bowl #1:
– 1/4 cup melted Coconut Oil
– 1/4 cup Hershey’s Unsweetened Cocoa
– 1 TBSP Torani Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup
– 2 Splenda Packets
Bowl #2:
– 1/4 cup melted Coconut Oil
– 1/4 cup Natural Peter Pan Creamy Peanut Butter
– 1 TBSP Torani Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup
Again, my chocolate wasn’t quite sweet enough, but I really don’t like things TOO sweet – and it had a nice “dark chocolate” type taste to it the way I made it. In the future I would use twice as much peanut butter mixture and 1/2 or 1/3 the chocolate mixture per candy.
Simply mix the ingredients in Bowl #1, dip out into your mold or muffin pan, and put that in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Next mix the ingredients in Bowl #2, then spoon on top of the chocolate mixture, and chill until set. That’s it! 😉
It says they are 2 net carbs each at that size, but when I logged it in MyFitnessPal it came out to 3 net carbs for two pieces.
My Valentine’s Day Version (ie Next Revision): Low Carb Peanut Butter Dessert Hearts!
The peanut butter candy part of this recipe was SO good that I decided to order a heart-shaped candy mold and make Peanut Butter Hearts for Valentine’s Day this weekend. 😀
You’ll notice I only used 1 TBSP of sugar free vanilla syrup to sweeten the peanut butter mixture before, but this time I am going to replace that with a TBSP of Vanilla Extract.
It honestly doesn’t need much sweetener to be absolutely delicious!!
I plan to double the recipe for a larger batch, and make up a whole “basket of hearts”:
– 1/2 cup melted Coconut Oil
– 1/2 cup Natural Peter Pan Creamy Peanut Butter
– 1 TBSP Torani Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup OR Vanilla Extract
Update: See Low Carb Peanut Butter Fudge Recipe
With no artificial sweetener (using the vanilla extract, and beautiful flavors of peanut butter and coconut oil combined) even your carb-eating friends will LOVE these gorgeous peanut butter heart candies! And they’ll never even know they are HEALTHY. 😉 ENJOY!
Wow! Happy early Valentine’s Day to me! I have all of the ingredients to make these tonight – thanks for the recipe!
Great! I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did! 😀
Sounds wonderful! Can’t wait to try it myself! Maybe I would add a drip (1/4tsp) of vanilla extract to the chocolate layer as well…….
I would greatly reduce the amount of vanilla extract in the peanut butter layer of your next batch though, it is pretty potent stuff. Maybe try a half teaspoon and taste before adding more.
Thank you for the tip! I am going to test it tomorrow when my heart-shaped pan arrives. 😀 And you’ll definitely want more sweetener in the chocolate layer. Vanilla Extract is a great option!
I have been mixing the coconut oil with equal parts of Smucker’s natural (no sugar) peanut butter for about a year any time I craved dessert. I can pass by any sweet knowing I have this delicious treat at home. Sweets don’t call my name anymore. I am nearly addicted to this pb&CO combo. I will try making the chocolate base, an ode to Reeses pb cup.
Smart! I wish I had found this amazingly delicious combination A LONG TIME AGO lol. 😛 Wow. Love, love, love it! 😀
How many calories in a piece?
Hi Irma – the nutrition facts (including calories) are in the post. 🙂 That said, I don’t count calories…
Hey Lynn,
To give the chocolate ones a little depth in flavor, add about a 1/2 teaspoon of instant coffee. For some reason chocolate and coffee really go together.
By the way, you’re going to love your heart shaped molds. I have them and use them to make scented bath bombs. I may have to pop my current batch of bath bombs out and mix up a batch of these. Of course I’ll wash them first. 😉
lol – good idea! And I LOVE the tip about adding coffee to the chocolate. I am going to do this for my chocolate peppermint candies!! Thank you. 😀 Sounds fabulous!!
Hi Lynn,
Did you make this again. If so, could you show the recipe that you used with the mold and the nutrition facts. Thank you so much.
Hi Sharon,
I liked the peanut butter part SO much that I now make them all the time without the chocolate layer. 😀 See: http://www.travelinglowcarb.com/5218/low-carb-peanut-butter-fudge-recipe/ I am testing a new type of chocolate layer soon, so stay tuned for that as well. 😉 *cheers*
Are you talking about cocoa powder?
Yes, Nancy – I used Hershey’s Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
How do you keep yourself from eating too many of these yummy treats? It seems the calories in them would be high enough you’d really need to watch it? Even with 20 grams net carbs per day, if you’re eating too many calories the weight will not come off…
I’ve lost 72 pounds, (5’5, 234 lbs starting, now 162 lbs) 25 of the last ones have been lost from low carb. I have 17 pounds left to go to my original goal (may lose a few more after that) and they are definitely harder to get off at this point. Trying to figure out the quickest method to get to my goal but still enjoy some of these great treats!
Hi Katie 🙂
Congrats on your weight loss! I do only eat things like this in moderation. Honestly it’s really hard to overeat if you are on a ketogenic low carb diet (20 net carbs max, 70% fat minimum).
I haven’t found calories to be an issue at all either, mine are over 2,000 some days – but not usually. There’s a science to the way low carb works: http://www.travelinglowcarb.com/4606/lchf-diet-explained/
I made your pecan bars for the first time yesterday. I’m having to acquire a taste for them; just a small bite at a time. I’m having trouble getting use to the consistency. It could be partially a mind or matter thing. I keep thinking of the coconut oil to be lard. I purchased my Coconut Oil at Aldi’s so I’m wondering if it’s an inferior quality. My Pecan Bars also have a taste of coconut from the coconut oil, which I don’t much care for. I only had Chunky PB so that could be another issue. I’m going to try again, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to eat this batch or not. Are the new heart PB candies that you just posted the recipe for a better taste than the bars, or about the same, but without pecans?
It’s the same but without pecans. Are you using UNrefined coconut oil? That’s ideal.
I dont have vanilla syrup— is there a work around?
You can use vanilla extract, just a little. Or leave it out altogether, or sweet to taste with your choice of zero carb sweetener. 🙂