A Whole Ingredient Take on Reese's Valentine's Day Hearts
Soft peanut butter centers wrapped in a thin chocolate shell with flaky sea salt. Seven ingredients, no refined sugar, and so easy to make!
Growing up we always had a candy jar at our house filled with Airheads, Sour Patch Kids, and sour belts, but Reese’s was always my favorite by far. I loved Valentine’s Day specifically for the Reese’s hearts. I remember sitting at my desk in class flipping through all my valentines and hoping that one of them would have that little heart-shaped Reese’s tucked inside. There was nothing better!
The ingredient list today looks a lot different than it used to though. The original Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups recipe only had 9 ingredients and today they have 14, including things like PGPR which is a lab-manufactured emulsifier used to reduce the cost of cocoa butter, and manufactured citric acid that wasn’t part of the original recipe.
The one that really gets me though is TBHQ. It’s a synthetic chemical preservative that’s also used in things like lacquers, resins, and cosmetics to stop them from degrading. Studies from the Environmental Working Group and Michigan State University have found that it can harm immune function, and research has linked it to increased allergic responses, liver enlargement, and neurotoxic effects in lab animals. The FDA approved it decades ago and hasn’t reassessed it since, even as new science has continued to come out. As a kid I never thought twice about what was in them, I just loved them. But now as a parent I look at the back of the package and it's hard to feel good about what's in there.
My kids have never had a Reese’s because we try to avoid artificial ingredients and chemicals I can’t understand in our house. But for me a treat should be something I can feel good about giving them, and there are so many sweet alternatives to traditional candy now that it’s easier than ever to avoid artificial flavoring. Unreal Chocolate Gems (like an M&M) and Smart Sweets are some of our favorites. I still love that peanut butter and chocolate combination though so I’m always looking for ways to bring that flavor home in a way that feels right for our family. These whole ingredient peanut butter chocolate hearts are my answer to that, and they’re perfect for Valentine’s Day.
This recipe is surprisingly easy and Poppy and I had so much fun making them together. Video HERE. She helped me press the filling into the molds and was so proud of herself when they came out. You end up with a soft creamy peanut butter center wrapped in a thin chocolate shell with a delicate sprinkle of flaky salt. They taste nostalgic and indulgent, really close to classic peanut butter cups but made with simple whole ingredients.
Watching Poppy light up over something we made together with real simple ingredients felt a whole lot like that excitement I used to have digging through my valentines as a kid, and that’s what I want for them. For Valentine’s Day we always do a themed meal whether it’s dinner or breakfast (here are some past ones below)
2021:
2022:
2023:
2024:
…and we’re doing the same thing this Saturday. These hearts will definitely be making an appearance in our heart themed meal! Full recipe continues below for my Substack family: