A Christmas Candy

As soon as we pulled up to the small, humble abode of my great grandmother’s house in Lacassine, Louisiana for Christmastime, I leaped out of my parent’s car and onto the gravel driveway. I imagined the crunch sound that the rocks made underfoot was the sound snow. Crunch, crunch, crunch, all the way to the front door.

Opening the screen door to the covered patio, I immediately and unsuccessfully bobbed and weaved to avoid terrifying chitchat and fuchsia lipstick “kisses” on my cheek. Let me tell you these “kisses” could not be erased even with the application of paint thinner. Smiling politely and enduring what seemed like cruel and unusual punishment to a seven year old, I slowly made my way to the threshold of her kitchen.

The smell of mothballs and yeast invited me into the room where chipped countertops, worn linoleum, and shiny cast iron skillets sang the praises of many memories made in this home. To the left of the kitchen was a wee room, and in this room were a deep freezer and a tiny, white refrigerator, which stood about the same height as my great grandmother. If you were to jump on top of said deep freezer onto the fridge, you would find a stash, a stash of Great Grandma Domingue’s coveted peanut butter rolls. These candies were about the size of a slightly squished silver dollar and had the texture and taste of the inside of a Reese’s peanut butter cup. Mmmmmm….

I grabbed as many peanut butter rolls as my fists would allow and slunk to the back of the house with my loot. There was only a slight tinge of fear and guilt for my swipe, but this was only because I failed to mention in the back room of my great grandmother’s house was a giant rug with a weaving of Jesus’s intense gaze penetrating my very being. Reverently, I finished my heap of treats and skipped away to the rest of the festivities with traces of peanut butter on my palms, fuchsia stains on my cheeks, the knowledge that when it comes to how many peanut butter rolls I ate during Christmas, well, that’s between me and the Lord.

As homage to my great grandmother’s memory and her beloved peanut butter rolls, these peanut butter cups reveal themselves for the holidays donning milk chocolate and are meticulously made by hand.

Recipe: Adapted from One Good Thing by Jillee

Makes about 50 mini peanut butter cups

1 2-pound bag of milk chocolate chips

1 16-ounce jar of Jif Natural Creamy Peanut Butter

1 ½ cups of powdered sugar

4 tablespoons of butter, melted

Cooking Spray

Coat mini cupcake papers evenly with cooking spray.

Melt chocolate chips in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between intervals, until the chocolate has completely melted. Spoon 1 teaspoon of chocolate in the bottom of each cupcake paper. Coax the chocolate up the sides with your finger, making sure all of the sides are coated. Place the chocolate filled cupcake liners in the fridge to set for about 5-10 minutes.

Combine peanut butter, powdered sugar and butter in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat until thoroughly combined. Place the filling in a gallon Ziploc bag, pushing the filling to one side of the bag and snipping the end of the bag.

Take the set chocolate covered liners out the fridge and fill each cupcake liner with a teaspoon of the peanut butter filling. Dip your finger in water and gently push the filling down into the chocolate lined cupcake papers. Fill the liners with the rest of the melted chocolate until each mini cupcake liner is completely covered. Set in the fridge for 30 minutes to set completely. Enjoy!