There are few things that most chocoholics (at least the American ones) agree on as a more delectable combination than peanut butter and chocolate. I hear it time and time again on chocolate tours, people frequently citing peanut butter cups, chocolate peanut butter cupcakes, cookies, cheesecake, whatever, as their absolute most favorite chocolate dessert. It probably starts with that very first Reese’s Peanut Butter cup in the trick or treat bucket, or the Reese’s egg in the Easter basket, or some Reese’s miniatures out of Grandma’s candy bowl, or some other variety of Reese’s, since they do seem to come in just about every size and holiday shape imaginable. Whatever the case may be, it’s hard to deny that the combination of rich chocolate flavors with the salty creaminess of peanut butter appeals to a great majority of folks.
It was with this particular taste in mind that I first purchased my first jars of Peanut Butter & Co.‘s flavor varieties in “White Chocolate Wonderful” and “Dark Chocolate Dreams.” At first they seemed to only be available in more specialty stores like the Meat House and Whole Foods, I have since seen them popping up at Stop and Shop and even Christmas Tree Shops.
The White Chocolate Wonderful is a super creamy, rich tasting peanut butter, that contains a good amount of cocoa butter, which is the primary ingredient in fine white chocolate. Its flavor is not super chocolatey, as the cocoa butter adds more creaminess than anything else, but I have also used it in baked goods that call for regular peanut butter, and found that it kept a much more pleasant texture and flavor.
The Dark Chocolate Dreams smells, and tastes, like a jar of melted peanut butter cups. The richness of the cocoa content plus the cocoa butter in the peanut butter make it very indulgent, and very delicious to dip pretzels and fruit in. Keep an eye out for a how-to recipe soon on making home-made peanut butter cups. I’ll be experimenting with using the Dark Chocolate Dreams as the filling, as well as a few other surprise ingredients!
[…] made a few times for friends that involves those two blissful ingredients we discussed in yesterday’s post–chocolate and peanut butter. The original recipe calls for crunchy peanut butter, but when I […]