In the recipe, puffed quinoa is coated in a rich mixture of peanut butter, coconut butter, coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. That nutty mixture is then spooned into muffin liners and popped into the freezer to set. After an hour or so, you’ll have crunchy, peanut-buttery, and addictive little cups of goodness. These crave-worthy peanut butter cups are sweet enough for dessert, yet totally pre and post workout snack-approved.
All of my bunnies know that I love making recipes as simple as possible, and simple to me means as few ingredients as possible. This recipe only contains 6 ingredients and I bet you have more than half of them at your house right now!
Now before anyone asks, “do I have to go out and buy coconut butter? Isn’t it the same as coconut oil?” let me give you the 411! At one point, I thought they were the same thing. I thought that when coconut oil was at its solid form it was considered coconut butter and when it was melted and liquid it was considered coconut oil. Well I was wrong! No shame!
Coconut oil is JUST the oil that is extracted from the meat of a coconut. Coconut butter is the whole meat of the coconut pureed into a creamy butter. If you’re curious, coconut meat (by nature) is approximately 65% oil! So there it is folks, coconut butter has the flesh of the coconut in it! Look at the difference in the photo above (coconut butter on the left, and coconut oil on the right).
*You can purchase puffed quinoa at specialty health food stores but it’s kind of tricky to find and it may be a bit on the pricier side, so in this post I’m showing you how to make your own puffed/popped quinoa! Heat a large stock pot over medium heat (I have an induction stove, and I set my heat to level 6 out of 9). Once the pot is hot, pour a small amount (just enough to cover the bottom of the pan as seen in the photo below) of pre-rinsed and dried quinoa over the bottom of the pan. Gently swirl the quinoa around with a wooden spoon as it pops (this helps prevent burning). You’ll notice that the quinoa has a very quiet little crackle pop, and its popped state is only the tiniest bit larger than its unpopped state (nothing like popcorn!). Once your first round of quinoa has popped (a minute or two), pour it into a bowl and repeat until you have 1½ cups. I like to have a bowl of unpopped quinoa ready to pour into the pot, and then a bowl on the other side for the puffed quinoa to go into when it has finished popping.
1½ cups of unpinned quinoa is pretty darn close to 1½ cups of puffed quinoa in the end since there is barely any difference in size once it has puffed!
Above is a photo of unpopped quinoa to the left and popped or puffed quinoa on the right. See how there is a very slight difference in size, but the little ring inside has expanded?
Quinoa Peanut Butter Crunch Cups
By Blissful Basil
Makes 12 crunch cups
1½ cups puffed quinoa*
¼ cup + 2 Tbsp peanut butter
¼ cup + 2 Tbsp coconut butter
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1½ Tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Puff quinoa over a stove as described underneath photos above and set aside.* In a saucepan over low heat, combine the peanut butter, coconut butter, coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Stir for 3-4 minutes or until the mixture is completely melted and smooth. Next, turn off the stove and pour the puffed quinoa into the melted peanut butter mixture. Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin liners. Scoop 2 tablespoons of the quinoa mixture into each muffin liner and smooth the tops with a spoon if needed. Place the muffin tin in the freezer for 1 hour to set. Once the cups have set, they can be transferred to the refrigerator to store. Do not leave at room temperature or they will melt!
The Rabbit Food Pyramid Breakdown:
Produce: none
Whole Grain: quinoa
Protein: none
Plant Based Fat: peanut butter, coconut butter, and coconut oil
Rabbit Food Meal Tip: 1 Quinoa Peanut Butter Crunch Cup is 2 tablespoons of plant based fat and a small serving of whole grain. Enjoy this with an apple and glass of soy milk to make it a Rabbit Food Approved meal! Or blend some fruit and soy milk together with some ice as a smoothie.
Health & Happiness
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Snapchat: @EatRabbitFood
evolvewithmary
February 19, 2015 at 10:01 pm (10 years ago)Puff Quinoa?!?! I love you Catherine, you always post simple yet exciting recipes for us to enjoy. I’ve made vegan peanut butter cups with raw cocoa, maple syrup, vegan peanut butter and coconut oil. I couldn’t keep enough in my freezer, they disappeared faster then the ice cream. The quinoa should add a much needed crunch to the cup.
Catherine
February 19, 2015 at 11:49 pm (10 years ago)Mary, that sounds absolutely AMAZING!!!! I might need your recipe so I can try those! I bet they would be great with some puffed quinoa for a little crunch too! You can also play with how much quinoa you want in them if you think it’s too overpowering with your recipe! Can’t wait for you to try, it’s fun to pop the quinoa!
Jojo @ RunFastEatLots
February 20, 2015 at 6:07 am (10 years ago)Wow I didn’t know you could pop quinoa! THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
Tom @ Raise Your Garden
February 20, 2015 at 6:41 am (10 years ago)What guy doesn’t love peanut butter? This meets my peanut butter cup cravings but is actually healthy. Perfect! You made me a happy man.
jules @ Less Sugar Naturally
February 25, 2015 at 9:21 pm (10 years ago)It never crossed my mind that you could pop quinoa! As soon as I read that I ran upstairs and tried the recipe. It was good, but I did add a few drops of stevia.
Catherine
February 25, 2015 at 10:20 pm (10 years ago)Isn’t it awesome?! I was so excited when I learned about it too!
Kim
March 2, 2015 at 12:28 am (10 years ago)Hello! Any suggestions for a coconut butter substitute? These look amazing but I can’t seem to find coconut butter!
Also, I just started following your blog after the skinny bunny cleanse and I LOVE it!! 🙂
Dee
March 11, 2015 at 4:55 am (10 years ago)Hi Catherine. I just made these last night and enjoyed one this morning with some berries and a glass of skim milk on the side for Breakfast. These are DELISH! O M G ! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe, your thoughts and your feelings on your weight loss journey. As Miley Cyrus said ” ain’t about how fast you get there, ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side, it’s the climb”. I too have been struggling with weight loss and found your website a few weeks ago. I finally worked up the nerve today to post! you are an inspiration! I love your blog, thank yo so much for sharing. Hugs, Dee.
Catherine
March 12, 2015 at 12:58 am (10 years ago)Hi Dee! OMG I wish you knew how much I used to be obsessed with Miley back in “The Climb” days! Thank you so much for your support, it means so much to me! I am so thankful that you found my blog and that you had the courage to post a comment here! Thank you so much for your kind words, and I am so glad you loved the recipe! xo
Ashley Melillo | Blissful Basil
March 12, 2015 at 7:24 am (10 years ago)Hi, Catherine! Your photos are gorgeous, especially the in-process ones. I’m so glad you gave the recipe a try — it’s one of my absolute favorites!
CJ
March 26, 2015 at 10:28 am (10 years ago)What a great recipe! I would never have thought of it. Also, your entire blog is such a pleasure to read. It’s easy to see that your major in graphic design really paid off: only a trained designer could come up with such an elegant visual style. Well done!
Gabriela
July 7, 2015 at 8:33 am (9 years ago)Recipe looks amazing! I’m curious though as to why you say there’s no protein in the recipe, since there’s protein in both peanut butter and quinoa…
Dani
September 8, 2015 at 3:54 pm (9 years ago)Hi- Can you tell me why you need to “puff” the Quinoa in this recipe? What are the benefits of “puffing”?
Catherine
October 4, 2015 at 4:26 pm (9 years ago)Hi Dani! The puffing gives a crunchy texture that is much easier to eat than hard whole dried quinoa!
Ciera
January 1, 2018 at 8:53 pm (7 years ago)Will it turn out the same if I don’t use coconut butter? I don’t have any and payday isn’t close 😒