Happy Halloween! I’m celebrating the holiday with Salted Almond Butter Cups that taste sinfully delicious, but are filled only with whole foods ingredients; unlike that other famous nut butter cup, Reese’s, and its sugary peanut butter concoction.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were my absolute favorite candy of Halloween growing up. They were only to be had during Halloween however, as my mom was not the kind of mom to buy candy ever, much to the demise of my brothers and I. (Thanks mom!)

After a night of trick-or-treating donned in wacky costumes, freezing our little butts off on a chilly Pennsylvania evening, and filling up bags of treats, my brothers and I would return home to dump our bags out across our kitchen’s big wooden table. As our piles of sugar were spread across the table, we immediately started sizing each other up on candy procurement. I have lots of Twizzlers, but I hate Twizzlers, so maybe I can trade with Andrew who has piles of Butterfingers, but doesn’t even like Butterfingers. Alliances were made, trades established, partnerships broken and restored, and candy was swapped like illegal insider trading, sliding slyly from one pile to another. The candy of my eye was usually Reese’s and its bright orange wrapper. Oh, how I loved that classic combination of sweet chocolate and salty peanut butter found in those peanut butter cups.

Fast-forward to Halloween now; I think Reese’s are abnormally sweet and their peanut butter is just a bit too salty. Their smell gives me a bit of a headache, and I hate how greasy the chocolate feels. Gosh, I am such a downer.

That’s why I’ve been concocting these 5 ingredient Salted Almond Butter Cups instead of sugary, refined Reese’s. They’re made with all whole foods ingredients and aren’t packing in heaps of sugar and fat, unlike their original comrades. Instead, these guys are filled with raw cacao, which is packed with zinc and antioxidants, coconut oil – the mother of all heart-healthy oils, raw honey or maple syrup – a natural sweetener, and creamy almond butter which is a good source of Vitamin E, heart-loving fats, and protein. The sprinkle of sea salt on top provides the essential balance between sweet and salty and solidifies why these are just so much better than the original Reese’s.

Happy Halloween, I hope you love these!

Salted Almond Butter Cups

Makes 8 large almond butter cups, or 16 smaller cups

½ cup coconut oil
½ cup raw cacao powder
1/3 cup raw honey or maple syrup
½ cup creamy almond butter, no salt added*
1 T grainy sea salt

Line a muffin tin, or mini muffin tin, with paper cupcake liners and set aside.

Using a double broiler, gently melt coconut oil until liquid in consistency. Remove from heat and whisk in cacao powder and sweetener until thoroughly incorporated. Pour a small amount of chocolate into the bottom of the cupcake liners and place in the freezer to set, about 10 minutes.

Once bottom layer has set, gently place a teaspoon or less of almond butter in the center of the cup. Place tray back in the freezer to set, for about 5-10 minutes more.

Finally, pour the remainder of the chocolate over the almond butter and place in the freezer to set one last time. Leave almond butter cups in the freezer for 30 minutes or more to set. Now, you can remove the paper liner (if you’d like) and sprinkle each cup with a bit of sea salt on top. Place in an airtight container in the refrigerator to store. Almond Butter Cups will keep for about 2 weeks. Enjoy!

*If there is salt in your almond butter, I would recommend cutting back or eliminating the sea salt put on top of the almond butter cups – you don’t want them too salty! (Unless, of course, you do!) Add salt to taste.