These copycat Reese's peanut butter trees are easy to make. Dipped in chocolate they are the perfect addition to holiday treat plates!
You might also like our copycat Reese's peanut butter ghosts, our shortbread tree cookies, or our pretzel trees!
Watch our step by step video!
Copycat Reese's Peanut Butter Trees
Reese's peanut butter trees are such a classic holiday candy. My mini versions are just as tasty and the perfect bite-sized treat. The filling is the same recipe that I use for peanut butter ghosts and eggs. I used a TINY cookie cutter to cut out the peanut butter filling before dipping the trees in milk chocolate. If you'd like to make larger peanut butter trees simply use a bigger cookie cutter! Peanut-buttery, chocolatey, and delicious. Add these to holiday treat plates for that special "wow" factor!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Made with simple ingredients that you probably already have on hand.
- The peanut butter filling dough is easy to work with.
- One batch makes 40 tiny peanut butter trees.
- They can be stored at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
HOMEMADE Peanut Butter TREEs Ingredients
- Butter: just a small amount to make the filling smooth and easy to handle. I use salted butter exclusively for all of my baking and cooking, but you can use unsalted.
- Peanut butter: obviously. I prefer creamy peanut butter to closely resemble Reese’s peanut butter filling.
- Vanilla: just a splash for flavor. Have you tried making your own vanilla extract?
- Powdered sugar: for texture. The powdered sugar gives the dough stability and makes it easy to form into shapes.
- Milk: This helps thin the dough a bit. You can use more or less than what I used to achieve the perfect consistency.
- Milk chocolate: you can use almond bark, chocolate chips, or melting wafers. I used chocolate chips and thinned them out with a teaspoon of coconut oil.
3 MORE CHOCOLATE-COVERED TREATS TO MAKE!
How To Make Peanut Butter Trees
Make the peanut butter dough: Combine softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, peanut butter, and milk in a mixing bowl. You can use a Danish dough whisk or electric mixer. Mix until a soft dough forms. If your dough feels a little dry you can add an additional teaspoon of milk. The dough will be soft and easy to form.
Shape the trees: Lightly cover your work space with powdered sugar. Roll the peanut butter dough out to about ½" thick and cut into shapes using a cookie cutter. Transfer trees to a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Freeze: Freeze for 1 hour, or until hard. The colder the trees, the easier they are to dip.
Melt chocolate: Melt the chocolate according to the package instructions, or in a double boiler.
Note: When using candy melts I microwave at 50% power in 30-second increments. When I use chocolate chips I microwave a full power in 20-30 second increments. If you find that your chocolate isn’t as thin as you’d like for dipping you can add a teaspoon of solid vegetable shortening or coconut oil to thin it (shortening is preferred).
Dip trees: Dip frozen peanut butter trees into the melted chocolate using a fork. Tap the fork against the side of the bowl to allow excess to drip off. Drag the fork against the side of the bowl to remove even more chocolate then slide the trees onto the parchment or wax paper-lined baking sheet.
The peanut butter filling may start to soften by the time you get to the last few trees. No worries, just pop them back into the freezer for a few minutes. You can also keep half of the un-dipped trees in the freezer while you dip the first half and then pull them out later.
Copycat Reese's Peanut Butter Trees Recipe
Peanut Butter Trees
Ingredients
- ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 Tbsp. butter softened
- 1 ½ cups sifted powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1-2 Tablespoons milk
- 12 oz. chocolate wafers or milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together (except for chocolate) using an electric stand mixer until it forms a soft dough. Start with 1 Tablespoon of milk and add more, 1 teaspoon at a time if necessary.
- Roll dough to ½" thickness and cut out trees using a cookie cutter. Repeat until all dough has been used up. Note: you can sprinkle a small amount of powdered sugar onto your work surface if you find that your dough is sticking.
- Place peanut butter trees on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the freezer for 45-60 minutes or until hardened.
- Melt chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl (in the microwave) in 20-30 second intervals (stirring after each interval) until melted and smooth. DO NOT overheat or chocolate will not be usable.
- Dip peanut butter trees in chocolate, tapping the fork against the side of the bowl to allow excess chocolate to drip off. Drag the bottom of the fork against the edge of the bowl to allow even more chocolate to dip off.
- Slide the trees onto the baking sheet lined with wax or parchment paper. If you find that the trees are softening and losing their shape while dipping, place them back into the freezer for 10 minutes to harden back up.
- Allow chocolate to harden.
Brandy says
Hi everyone! Brandy here, these peanut butter trees are legit. I make them in all sorts of shapes for different holidays, and they turn out perfect every time. Enjoy!