Chocolate Butter Cups
I was talking to Samuel the other day about a new dessert that I had in mind. He thought it was a great idea and wanted to help me in the kitchen.
We used one of my all-time favorite recipes, Nana’s Butter Cookies, as our base. Instead of turning them into cookies, we scooped out the dough and flattened it into discs that were inserted into mini muffin cups.
We baked the cups and let them cool before filling them with chocolate gananche and topping them with strawberries. I debated topping them with raspberries, but the raspberries available were not very appealing.
A couple of days after I baked my first batch of these Chocolate Butter Cups, I stopped by my friend Ellen’s house. I was starving at the time and pillaged her pantry (yes, I really do have great friends). She had a jar of dulce de leche, of which I took a giant spoonful. It was delicious and I, immediately, thought this might be really good in the Cups, too.
When I got home I baked a second batch and instead of filling each cup with chocolate gananche, I filled a few with a bit of dulce de leche and then topped that with chocolate ganache.
The end result was fabulous. Samuel approved of the variation, too, and has been talking about how he created a new recipe ever since. I will bake with him anytime. He is my favorite sous chef!
| Chocolate Butter Cups | Print |
- Crust:
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Filling:
- 2.5 ounces chocolate chips
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- strawberries or raspberries to top
- For the crust:
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Set aside 24-cup mini muffin tin.
- Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping bowl down as needed. Blend in egg yolks followed by vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
- Spray mini muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Measure out 2 teaspoons dough per muffin cup. Flatten out dough in the palm of your hand and transfer to a muffin cup. Use your fingers to fit it evenly and snuggly. Refrigerate until firm.
- Bake in 350° oven for 16 minutes, rotating pan front to back halfway through.
- Remove from oven and cool completely before filling.
- For the filling:
- Place chocolate in small bowl and set aside. Bring cream to simmer and pour over chocolate. Allow this to sit for five minutes.
- Stir until well blended. Set aside to thicken. This will take about an hour or so. Stir occasionally during this time.
- Use a small cookie dough scoop to transfer ganache to chilled crusts, filling to the top. Refrigerate to set.
- Once set, use a small metal spatula to help lift Chocolate Butter Cups out of pan.
- Top with sliced strawberries or raspberries.
- Betsy's tidbit:
- Dulce de leche is also fabulous with these. Spoon a bit of dulce de leche into crust and then top with a chocolate ganache and berries.
