Dark Chocolate Pistachio Butter Cups

If you love peanut butter cups, give this pistachio version a try. They are so much fun and make perfect Easter treats! 🐰🌷🐣 It all started the day Joel (Courtsie’s brother) decided to pick up the ingredients to make dark chocolate pistachio butter cups. That sounded like a great idea to us! He loves Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups, and since we all really love pistachios, he thought it might be a fun experiment. What’s not to love … dark chocolate, pistachios, and sea salt? Plus it’s a fun project for the family to do in the kitchen. 

They make a fun dessert to bring to a party and they keep really well in the freezer until you’re ready to eat them. In fact, we eat them frozen and they are really great that way … nice and cold for hot summer days! We made ours in mini muffin tins with liners so they are easy to get out of the pan. 

We have found that using tempered chocolate works best for these treats. Basically, the way to temper chocolate is to melt 2/3 of the quantity you need for the recipe in a double boiler. When it reaches a temperature of about 115 F, remove it from the heat and stir in the remaining 1/3 of the chocolate. Stir until all of the chocolate is melted. Here is a great blog post on Handle the Heat about how to temper chocolate.  Trader Joe’s also has a formula for tempering chocolate.

Dark Chocolate Pistachio Butter Cups

Servings 24 mini muffin size cups
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces bittersweet or dark chocolate Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate bar is perfect for this
  • 1 cup unsalted roasted pistachios
  • 4 teaspoons pistachio oil La Tourangelle packages this, or almond oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt or Himalayan pink salt
  • 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting tops of finished butter cups.

Instructions

  • Line two mini muffin tins with paper liners and lightly spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
  • Melt 2/3 of the chocolate in a double boiler. Once the temperature reaches 115 F, remove from heat and stir in the remaining 1/3 chocolate. Stir until all chocolate is melted.
  • Spoon enough chocolate to cover the bottoms of the muffin liners with a thin layer of chocolate. Freeze or refrigerate until firm.
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  • Meanwhile, purée pistachios in a food processor until very fine and mushy. Add enough almond or pistachio oil to form a thick paste. (Can also use coconut oil.)
  • Using a round half-teaspoon measuring spoon or small melon baller, form pistachio butter into small balls and slightly flatten into a disc that will almost fill the width of the muffin tins, allowing a little room around the edge to pour the final chocolate shell. Chill until firm.
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  • Place pistachio discs on top of the chocolate bottom in the muffin tins. Spoon remaining melted chocolate (you may need to re-melt the chocolate) over the pistachio filling, allowing the chocolate to completely cover the top and sides of the pistachio butter. Freeze or chill for about 10 minutes and then bring them out of the refrigerator.
  • Lightly dust tops of finished butter cups with cocoa powder and sprinkle the sea salt over the top. I actually just use my Himalayan pink salt grinder for this part, grinding a little salt over the top of each pistachio cup. Place back in the refrigerator or freezer until the chocolate is completely firm. Store in the refrigerator or freezer in an airtight container until ready to serve.
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Notes

INFO BOX-You can find pistachio oil and specialty markets or right here at Treks & Bites through Amazon. Here is the link!
La Tourangelle Pistachio Oil

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