Trick or Treat...Almond Butter Cups!

I kind of view Halloween as the kick-off to the official Holidays! I enjoy Halloween. The weather is still pretty decent and the trees are still on fire with rustling leaves gently wafting to the ground. The sunsets are vivid and golden pink. The air smells crisp and clean and cool. For blocks and blocks the yards are filled with tombstones and scarecrows and ghosts. There is a spooky excitement in the air and I find it contagious.

The downside? The grocery stores and discount stores and gas station shelves are piled high with cheap, lousy, high fructose corn syrup laden candy. The fun and excitement of picking and building costumes is culminated by an overload of crappy candy. The ghosts and goblins and zombies and minions will haul home their booty of genetically modified edibles and stash them in a safe hiding place. That's what frightens ME...

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=27448489&nid=1009&title=woman-to-give-fat-shaming-letters-to-obese-trick-or-treaters&fm=home_page&s_cid=queue-18

Did anyone else read the above article? This woman is so off the mark! Really??? Picking and choosing who should get candy and who shouldn't based off her idea of the perfect weight? So, it's okay to give skinny, malnourished kids a pillow case full of processed crap? NO kids should be eating this stuff. If you want to make a change for the better treat all kids equally and find a better quality of food for their generation! Instead of putting some snarky letter in some poor little guys plastic pumpkin bucket, how about addressing the big picture and not giving any kids a huge dose of HFCS? Come up with a real solution lady. Instead of a nasty, hurtful note to a kid who is the victim of the Western food system why not come up with something useful? 

Oh, I don't know...maybe give them all a dollar bill, or a pack of crayons or an organic juice box. If you are going to be the "weird" lady in the neighborhood why not be "weird" with something useful or healthy instead of some ridiculously hurtful nonsense?

Yeah, yeah, I know it's hard with kids. It's also hard with husbands who have a hankering for a peanut butter cup. Sheesh...even I am tempted by the square orange packets filled with chocolate and a gooey filling. But, really...isn't the fun of Halloween so much more than the candy? Well...it could be!

I am happy to report I have not given in to any cravings for "store bought" candy this season. Nope, I'm not going to! But, I can't lie...we all want a peanut butter cup around here! So...make some! I decided to make a twist on the traditional cup and instead I made "almond butter cups"! I was NOT disappointed...

And, I made them with quality white chocolate.

I LOVE the little baking cups I found for Halloween. Cute, right??? After melting the chocolate in a double boiler I use a small spoon and line the bottom and sides of the little papers with the chocolate. This recipe makes 30 almond butter cups.

The almond butter. I like the "no stir" feature...

After the cups are coated with the chocolate you add a small dollop of the almond butter mixture.

Then top off the cups with the remaining white chocolate. Let them set up at room temperature for about 3 hours.

Um...yeah, they are freakishly good! You won't be disappointed and you won't miss the ones in the orange packets! I find that eating one is actually enough! They are rich and decadent and not outrageously sweet. The almond butter is sweet/salty and the perfect gooey texture.

If you need a sweet treat (I do!) this is a fun way to go. No HFCS, nothing genetically modified and very satisfying. Your kids will love helping you make these and it's a treat you can indulge them with and not feel guilty for filling them up with processed fake food. Yay...

Almond Butter Cups
Yield 30

16 ounces of quality white chocolate
1 cup of almond butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. of kosher salt
2 TBSP. brown sugar

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Line the bottom and sides of small baking cups with the melty chocolate. Blend all other ingredients in a food processor, "Magic Bullet" or blender. Spoon a dollop into each cup. Top the  filling with the remaining melty chocolate. Let sit at room temperature for about 3 hours.


Okay...for you semi-sweet chocolate and peanut butter fans you can sub the white chocolate for the semi-sweet and peanut butter for the almond butter!

Personally, I like the white almond butter the best...but, Hubs prefers the chocolate peanut butter ones. Go figure...I guess it's true, "opposites DO attract"!

Oh, and I guess I will be the "weird" lady in the neighborhood who is giving out seed packets in hopes there are a few new gardens in the neighborhood next spring ;)