Matcha-Cashew Chocolate Cups

Simple matcha-cashew chocolate cups for a delicious and healthy take on a classic. Perfect for a last minute holiday dessert. 

I’m not sure there is anything better than creamy cashew butter nestled in-between a thick slab of dark chocolate. Toss some delicious matcha into the mix and I think we just hit all the food trends of the past few years with this dessert! But in all honestly these chocolate cups are down right addicting. I’d say have some friends come over when you make these or this might end up being a night where all you do is sit back, enjoy a movie and eat nothing but matcha-cashew cups…which is eerily similar to the first night I made these cups.

So, instead of purely enjoying them yourself, maybe spread the love and pack up a few and gift them to the lucky friends and family in your life. Homemade chocolate is a gift that most definitely says I love you and you’re a special one in my life so hey, here’s some chocolate for you. I mean, wouldn’t you love some homemade chocolate made by a friend? I think that’s a pretty fantastic holiday gift right there.

Homemade chocolate is also a synch to make. It only asks for three ingredients and from there you can adjust the sweetness to your liking. I’m a fan of dark chocolate, so these bars veer on the chocolaty side. Cashew butter is whipped with Aiya Matcha (which is a brand I absolutely love!), to create a delicious twist on the more traditional peanut butter cups. Since there is nothing but healthy and nutritious ingredients in these cups, feel free to have them as a midday snack, dessert or even as dinner…I kid :)

Enjoy! xx Marie

Serves: 6-7 very large and thick cups

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Freeze Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients for the Matcha-Cashew Chocolate Cups:

***TIP: If you don't have all the ingredients to make chocolate from scratch, simply use the double boiler method to melt 4 large bars of dark chocolate. Then carry on with the rest of the instructions below***

- 2/3 cup cacao butter

- 3/4 cup cacao powder

- 1/3 cup maple syrup

- 1/2 cup cashew butter, or any you'd like (you can use the method in this recipe)

- 2 teaspoons matcha powder (I use Aiya Matcha)

- sea salt

Instructions:

Fill a small saucepan with 1/3 cup of water and place a bowl on top, covering the saucepan. Turn on the heat and once the bowl is hot and the water below is boiling melt the cacao butter inside the bowl. Once it has melted, remove from heat, and stir in the maple syrup and cacao powder for a few minutes until the chocolate thickens.

Using a medium-size cupcake holder (I use a silicon one as it's easy to pop out when ready) fill the bottom layer with a generous tablespoon of the chocolate mixture. You want to make sure that it coats the bottom layer (about 1/3" high). Once you’ve filled all the cupcake holders, pop them into the freezer for 15 minutes to set. As it sets, mix the matcha powder with the cashew butter.

Take the frozen chocolate out of the freezer and dollop 1 tablespoon size of the matcha/cashew butter dough on top of the frozen chocolate layer. Press down so that the cashew butter is even. Once this is done, pour the remaining melted chocolate over each dollop, so that it covers everything. Sprinkle with sea salt and let this sit in the freezer for 15 minutes. You can store it in the freezer or refrigerator. Enjoy! 

I hope you love these chuncky matcha-cashew cups! Feel free to switch up the nut butter to use any flavor that you have on hand. And if you make these please tag me on Instagram @marie.reginato! xx

And thank you Aiya Matcha for sponsoring this post. It means everything to work with brands that I adore and who support this beautiful community!