Jumbo Chocolate Cups with Salted Chunky Date Filling

Prep time: 2 hours      Cook time: 0 mins      Rest time: 30 mins     Total time: 2 hrs 30 mins

Servings: 6-12 cups

Make it Dairy-Free: Use water instead of ghee to make the filling; omit the ghee when melting the chocolate

Made with just five ingredients, these chocolate cups are lightly sweetened with Manuka honey and are filled with a salted, chunky ghee-date paste.

What you need to make Jumbo Chocolate Cups with Salted Chunky Date Filling

Ingredients:

• Unsweetened chocolate
• Pitted dates
• Grass-fed ghee (or butter)
• Raw honey (ASHLEYR for 10% off); Note: I recommend local or Manuka
• Sea salt (ASHLEYR for 15% off)
• Coarse Celtic sea salt (optional)

Equipment:

• Blender or food processor
• Paper cupcake liners
• Cupcake baking pan (optional)

Substitutions

You can substitute the ghee for your animal fat of choice, although I do highly recommend ghee with this recipe due to its sweet and buttery flavor.

How to make Jumbo Chocolate Cups with Salted Chunky Date Filling

To start – prep the dates.

Soak the pitted dates in water for 1-2 hours to get them soft.

Next – make the ghee-date paste.

*Note: If you would like your filling pasty like caramel, use 12 dates + 1/2 cup of ghee. If you would like it chunky like cookie dough, use 15 dates + 1/3 cup of ghee. I recommend the cookie dough, but both are great! Both options are pictured below in the “Tips to make the best…” section.

Melt the ghee.

Add the melted ghee, dates, and sea salt (ASHLEYR for 15% off) to a blender. Blend until your preferred consistency. I like to leave chunks of dates in mine.

Put the paste in a bowl and set it aside in the fridge to firm up.

Next – make the chocolate.

Melt the ghee and chocolate in the same container on your stovetop on low heat, stirring consistently to prevent the chocolate from burning.

As soon as the chocolate is melted, remove it from the heat.

Add the raw honey (ASHLEYR for 10% off) to the ghee-chocolate mixture. Stir well (at least 30-60 seconds) to fully incorporate the honey.

Now – put it all together and make the chocolate cups.

If you have a cupcake baking pan, line it with the paper cupcake liners. If you’re not using a cupcake baking pan, place the paper cupcake liners on a regular baking sheet.

Pour the chocolate into the paper cupcake liners to cover the bottoms of the liners, or more if you prefer a thicker bottom layer. I try to use no more than 1/3-1/2 (in total) of the chocolate to create the first layer.

Place the cupcake baking pan in the freezer for 5-7 minutes so the first layer can set.

Once the first layer is set, remove the ghee-date paste from the fridge.

Take the ghee-date paste and form the second layer of the chocolate cups. You can do this by rolling it into balls (like a Reese’s peanut butter cup), flattening it into an even layer (like an oreo), or getting creative with it and trying something new!

Once the second layer is formed, throw the chocolate cups back in the freezer for another 5 minutes or so to set.

Once the second layer is set, pour the remaining chocolate over the tops. You can get creative here by fully covering the second layer (like a Reese’s peanut butter cup), topping with coarse sea salt, doing a chocolate drizzle over the ghee-date paste instead of fully covering it, or leaving the ghee-date paste fully exposed (like a cookie dough top!). All of these options are pictured below in the “Tips to make the best…” section.

Serve and enjoy!

Makes 6-12 cups, depending on how you pour and create them. These are best kept in the freezer and enjoyed immediately or after thawing for a minute or two.

Tips to make the best Jumbo Chocolate Cups with Salted Chunky Date Filling

• When it comes to how you design your chocolate cups, the sky is the limit!
  • For the first layer (the bottom chocolate layer): Experiment with thickness.
  • Second layer (the ghee-date paste):
    • Roll the ghee-date paste into balls (like a Reese’s peanut butter cup) so it’s surrounded by chocolate
    • Flatten the ghee-date paste into an even layer (like the cream in an oreo)
    • Or something else!
  • Third layer (finishing off the chocolate):
    • Fully cover the second layer (like a Reese’s peanut butter cup)
    • Do a chocolate drizzle over the ghee-date paste instead of fully covering it
    • Leave the ghee-date paste fully exposed (like a cookie dough top!)
    • Top with coarse sea salt
    • Or something else!

  • The variations I played with are pictured here:

• If you would like your filling dense and pasty like caramel, use 12 dates + 1/2 cup of ghee. If you would like it chunky like cookie dough, use 15 dates + 1/3 cup of ghee. I recommend the cookie dough texture, but both are great! Both options are pictured below.

Caramel consistency:

Cookie dough consistency:

A few of my other favorite sweet eats:

Flourless Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Spongey Cake Bars

Maple Bacon Doughnuts

Blueberry Beef Liver Waffles with Honey Butter

Beef Liver Pancakes with Strawberry Glaze

Jumbo Chocolate Cups with Salted Chunky Date Filling

 

What I used for this recipe:

     

Looking for some more easy sweet eats? Try one of these recipes:

Flourless Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Spongey Cake Bars

Maple Bacon Doughnuts

Blueberry Beef Liver Waffles with Honey Butter

Beef Liver Pancakes with Strawberry Glaze

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