Peanut Butter Cup Doughnuts

Deliciously decadent raw, vegan peanut butter doughnuts, topped with chunks of peanut butter cups and dipped in a thick layer of rich, dark chocolate. Perfect for when you want to treat yourself to something a little bit naughty, but don’t fancy munching on lots of processed ingredients and refined sugars. 

Raw Peanut Butter Cup Doughnuts

By Rachel Smith (www.rawberryfields.co.uk)

Serves: 6

GF DF EF V MF

Ingredients

Raw Peanut Butter Cup Doughnuts:

• 1 cup (100 g) oats
• 1 cup (170g) dates (pitted).
• 2-3 tbsp coconut OR maple syrup
• ¾ cup (190 g) peanut butter (If you don’t want to make your own, find one without palm oil/sugar added)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
• 3 tablespoons water
• ⅓ cup (50g) raw chocolate cut into rough chunks OR vegan dark chocolate chips with a high cocoa percentage

Raw Peanut Butter Cups:

• 4 large Tbsp peanut butter
• ½-1 tsp Nutritional yeast
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 Tbsp coconut OR maple syrup
• ½ cup (60g) cacao powder
• 118ml (½ cup) liquid cacao butter (gently and slowly melted over a Bain Marie)
• 115g maple syrup

Raw Chocolate Sauce:

• ¼ cup (30g) cacao powder
• ¼ cup (60ml) liquid cacao butter (gently and slowly melted over a Bain Marie)
• 6tbsp maple syrup OR your preferred liquid sweetener

Method

Raw Peanut Butter Cup Doughnuts

1. Blend the oats in a food processor until they are roughly ground. You don’t want them to turn into dust, but they need a tiny bit of texture.
2. Add the dates, and blend until the dates are in tiny pieces.
3. Add the peanut butter, vanilla, maple syrup and water and pulse until the ingredients stick together in a dough-like substance. Add a couple more Tbsp of water if necessary.
4. Mix the chocolate chunks into the dough using a spoon (you don’t want them to get chopped up in the food processor!)
5. Press the doughnut into the doughnut pan. I then added another small bit to the top of each one and shaped it so the top of each doughnut wasn’t flat.
6. Stick the tray in the fridge so that the doughnut can firm-up, which takes roughly fifteen minutes.
7. Remove the doughnuts from the pan; mine was non-stick and I found they popped out very easily just by placing a knife down the side.

Raw Peanut Butter Cups

1. Make chocolate mixture by stirring together the cacao, coconut oil and maple syrup.
2. Place 1 tsbp of the chocolate into the bottom of a small cupcake case. Make sure you put enough in to cover the bottom of each case. You should have over half your mixture left by the end of this stage.
3. Put the cases on a tray or plate and pop them in the fridge to harden while you make the filling.
4. Stir together all the ingredients for the peanut butter filling in a bowl.
5. Take the peanut butter cup cases out of the fridge, and put a small amount of the filling in the bottom of each case. Make sure it does not go right to the edges of the case.
6. Cover with the remaining chocolate and put them in the freezer to harden whilst you make the chocolate sauce.

Raw Chocolate Sauce

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until a smooth, melted chocolate-like mixture is created.
2. Dip the top of the doughnuts into the melted chocolate, and place on a lined baking tray, before placing in the fridge to harden.

Store the doughnuts in an air-tight container. They can be stored in the fridge for a couple of weeks, or in the freezer for a few months (although I seriously doubt they will stick around that long before you eat them all!)

About the author: Rachel is a raw foodie, whose aim is to try and put a unique twist on raw dishes from ‘nicecream’ and smoothies, to salads and snacks. She want to show people that adopting a vegan, plant-based lifestyle does not mean you have to give up eating delicious, decadent food, and that eating a diet of raw fruits and vegetables will fuel the soul and the body. For more recipes, visit her blog Rawberry Fields, or say hello on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest.