Silky chocolate pudding, rich peanut butter mousse, and crumbly chocolate crust stack up together to create this delightful peanut butter cup dessert.
The inspiration for this dessert came when I was scrolling along on Facebook. A photo of a layered peanut butter and chocolate dessert scrolled across my screen and nabbed my sweet tooth’s attention. Unfortunately, this version had an Oreo crust and peanut butter and chocolate layers that were full of flour and sugar. Since I’m trying to stick to Trim Healthy Mama, this would not do.
But it prompted me to recreate it from scratch into a THM, keto, low carb friendly dessert. This recipe, obviously, is the fruit of that spur of the moment craving. It features real homemade pudding thickened with egg yolks alone and made chocolately with cocoa powder. The peanut butter layer dons a cream cheese, peanut butter, and whipped cream base. And the chocolate crust is made with THM Baking Blend.
Peanut Butter Cup Dessert
Ingredients
For Chocolate Crumb Crust
- 1 cup THM Baking Blend or TJ's Basic Baking Mix
- ½ cup powdered erythritol (how to make powdered sweetener)
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ teaspoon mineral salt
For Chocolate Pudding Layer
- 1 cup almond or cashew milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup erythritol
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon mineral salt
- 5 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For Peanut Butter Mousse
- 8 ounces ⅓ fat cream cheese, softed
- 1 cup sugar free peanut butter, room temperature (crunchy or smooth)
- ¾ cup powdered erythritol
- 2 cups sweetened whipped cream (such as my homemade version)
For Topping
- additional sweetened whipped cream, optional
Instructions
For Chocolate Crumb Crust
- Mix together all of the chocolate crumb crust ingredients. Set aside.
For Chocolate Pudding Layer
- Whisk together the milk, cream, sweetener, cocoa powder, and salt. Heat to just before boiling over medium high heat.
- Using a ladle, scoop up about a cup full of hot liquid. While whisking briskly with one hand, steadily pour the hot liquid with the other hand into the egg yolks. Once combined, pour quickly into the pot of hot liquid and whisk.
- Continue to cook over medium-high heat for another 3 minutes or until thickened, whisking constantly.
- Once the pudding has thickened, remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla.
- Lay some plastic wrap directly over the top of the pudding and put it in the refrigerator to chill.
For Peanut Butter Mousse
- Using a hand mixer, beat all the mousse ingredients except the whipped cream together in a mixing bowl.
- Gently fold in the whipped cream.
Assembly
- Press the chocolate crumb crust into the bottom of an 8- by 8-inch baking dish or in the bottoms of 8 6-ounce mason jars.
- Add a layer with all the peanut butter mousse next.
- Add a layer with all the chocolate pudding last.
- Chill. Top with a dollop of whipped cream just before serving.
Nutrition
Looks great! If I don’t have straight erythritol, how much super sweet (preferred.. I can powder it) or gentle sweet should I use?
Hi, Sarah. You’d need 1.5 tbsp SS for the crust, 1.5 tbsp for the chocolate layer, and 2 tbsp for the peanut butter layer. Here’s a link to the conversion chart for future reference: https://media.trimhealthymama.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/05/07222306/THM.Sweetener-Conversion-Chart.pdf Hape a great day, Sarah! 🙂
Is the 20 carbs per serving accurate? If it is then this is a no go for me on keto. I try to stick to 20 net carbs per day. This would use all those in one serving.
There are, but the nutrition facts don’t show the sugar alcohols section, so it’s right around 0 net carbs once you subtract those. 🙂
This looks really yummy! Is the carb count right? 20f of carbs per serving? That seems really high for Keto and THM S. Help?!
The nutrition facts section currently doesn’t have a spot for listing Sugar Alcohols or Net Carbs, so the net carbs is right around 0 because most of the carbs are from the erythritol. 🙂
Oh my! This looks so good going on my to make list
This looks amazing. I’m going to try it for my birthday this week!
These look amazing! I’m planning on making them this week. One question, can they be stored in the refrigerator? If so, how long?
Thanks!
Yes. I would say probably about a week. 🙂