Popped Amaranth Peanut Butter Cups

Last winter I found out from Ashley that you can pop amaranth grain. Best discovery ever. At first, I was limited to merely eating it as cereal – ha, so juvenile. But then, my pea brain finally started clicking and I realized how I could use amaranth in other, more decadent ways. Like adding it to dessert!

First things first, are you familiar with amaranth? I’m no expert but I do know it’s a grain that’s very high in protein and gluten free. You can cook it several different ways, but my favorite thus far has been popping. Like popcorn. Yes, it’s the funnest thing you’ll ever do. Yes, I said funnest.

When done properly it comes out looking like puffed rice cereal, which can then be doused in milk, eaten by the handfuls or added to rich, decadent peanut butter cups. Pretty sweet, right?

I thought so.

Popped Amaranth Peanut Butter Cups
yields 12 large cups

Ingredients
1 cup all natural peanut butter {I used crunchy}
2 T butter, melted*
1/2 c powdered sugar*
1/2 c crushed salted roasted peanuts
heaping 1/2 c popped amaranth*
3/4 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method |  Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine peanut butter and butter until smooth. Add in powdered sugar and peanuts, then mix until combined. Pour in popped amaranth and mix again until combined. Next, grease muffin cups with non-stick spray and fill bottom of cups with chocolate chips – it doesn’t have to be exact. Melt in the oven for 5 minutes. Then, with the back of a metal spoon carefully smooth out the top of the chips while they’re still warm. Next, drop generous spoonfuls of the peanut butter mixture into each muffin cup. Smooth tops with the back of a spoon or your fingers and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes before eating. I froze mine so they’d pop out easier with a knife. Store in an airtight container in the fridge to keep fresh.

*Notes:

• To pop amaranth, place a medium-to-large pot over medium-high heat and let it get fully hot. Then, add small batches {scant 1/4 c} of amaranth, cover the pot, and quickly shimmy the pot back and forth. They’ll start popping almost immediately and as soon as you don’t see anymore popping {about 10-15 seconds total} quickly transfer them to a bowl. These can burn quick so be sure to work fast. Your first batch may not turn out but use it as a practice run to gage how you can pop most efficiently.
• Melted butter is probably optional if you want to lighten these up. Or you could likely sub melted coconut oil.
• Powdered sugar could be lessened or even omitted entirely if you want a less sweet cup. Just compensate with extra amaranth.
• Use non-dairy chocolate chips and Earth Balance to make these vegan.

Oh my dear these are good! They’re everything a peanut butter cup should be, but with a little extra crunch from the peanuts and amaranth. And the chocolate bottoms give them an extra decadent touch.

The flavor is astonishingly similar to Reese’s PB Cups. If you wanted you could even add another layer of chocolate on top to get them closer to the real thing. But I preferred the peanut butter tops exposed. It gave them a more rustic look and I could taste the saltiness from the peanuts as soon as they hit my mouth.

I’ve somehow managed to not eat the entire batch yet. Somehow.

Ooh, this reminds me. I need to try eating my next one upside down.

Enjoy!