When you are on a diet, it can be a struggle to resist sweets. At least it is for me! Maybe I'm just weak, but I can't give up my candy bars. Reese's are my all time favorite candy (so if you want to send me some, go ahead!!).

Another favorite sweet is caramel. I could eat caramel by the spoonful!!

I try to follow a Keto lifestyle, but sometimes it's really hard. ESPECIALLY when I am running a dessert food blog!

So, I came up with my own Keto approved candy.

I came up with... Peanut Butter and Caramel Chocolate Cups, my own Keto Chocolate Candy.

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And might I just say, it's delicious. Layers of keto caramel, combined with a keto peanut butter cup, and some peanuts make this a wonderful treat, even when on a diet!

Now for this keto candy, there are a few steps. It will end up taking a couple hours to make this. You can do some of it ahead of time, like the keto caramel. You can make that a couple days ahead and keep it in the fridge until ready to use.

So let's dig into how to make this keto candy!!

Making the Keto Caramel

The first step to make this keto candy is the caramel sauce. I based my recipe off of Carolyn Ketchum's caramel sauce recipe, found in her cookbook 'Easy Keto Desserts'. By the way, this is a great cookbook, and all of her cookbooks are amazing for those eating a low carb/keto diet. You should also check out her blog, All Day I Dream About Food, for more great recipes!

To start, put the butter, sugar substitute, and brown sugar substitute into a pot, and put it over medium heat. Let it melt and bubble until it gets to a dark golden brown color. You want it to be on the darker side, without burning it, because you are next going to add heavy cream, which will lighten the color.

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Something important to note is you want to use a erythritol based sugar substitute.

This is the only one that will caramelize. I like to use Bocha Sweet, but you could also use Swerve. I use the brown sugar Swerve, because Bocha Sweet doesn't have a brown sugar substitute.

When you add the heavy cream, add it slowly, because it will start to bubble vigorously as you add it. Then you will sprinkle the xanthan gum and whisk to combine. Let it boil for about 1 minute, then add the salt and take it off the heat.

Allow the keto caramel to cool, then add the water to it. You can either set it aside while you make the rest of the keto candy, or store it in the fridge until you make it. When you add it to the chocolate cup, warm it up to help it spread in the cup.

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Make the Keto Peanut Butter Cup Filling

The peanut butter filling is very easy. You want to use a natural peanut butter (sorry JIF), because it has less added sugar to it. I microwaved the peanut butter until it was very loose, then added the powdered sugar substitute. Again, I used powdered Bocha Sweet for this. Then you add the vanilla, and stir to combine!

Building this Keto Candy

To start building this keto candy, we will melt the chocolate and coconut oil first. I use Lily's chocolate, which is a sugar free chocolate. I used their milk chocolate, but you could also use their dark chocolate if that's more to your taste.

For the cups themselves I used  mini silicone cups. These are so much better to use than regular cupcake liners. They allow the chocolate cups to just pop out, quick and clean!

Take a spoonful of melted chocolate and pour it into a silicone cup. Swirl it around the cup so that it coats the sides. You may need to add more melted chocolate to get it completely coated.

Put them in the freezer until they set up.

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Put the keto caramel, warmed up, into a piping bag.

This is the easiest way to do this, but you could spoon the caramel in if needed. You can also use a Ziploc bag, and cut off a corner to "make" a piping bag. Pipe the keto caramel into the chocolate cup.

Take some peanuts, and sprinkle them in the cup. Then put them all back into the freezer to set up again.

Next will be the peanut butter mixture. Again, I used a piping bag. Pipe the peanut butter into the chocolate cups, then stick them back into the freezer to set up.

Last, is the chocolate on top. Spoon some melted chocolate on top, and swirl it around to make sure it hits the edges. OPTIONAL- add some salt to the top!! Put them back into the freezer to set up for the last time.

You will want to store these in the fridge, as sugar free chocolate as an extremely low melting point.

Enjoy these sweet Keto treats!!

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