Saturday, 15 January 2011 10:10

Justin's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups are Eco-Vegan!

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I've had my eye on Justin's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups for a while, but for some reason I never bought them. Perhaps it was the price: $1.99 for 2 small cup seemed a little steep. However, I decided to treat myself when I spotted them at Whole Foods today.

There isn't enough peanut butter inside to take over the bitter dark chocolate flavor - I'd say it only accounts for 40% of the taste, and that's not quite good enough for a peanut butter lover like me. But I was still satisfied after finishing 2 cups, despite that being 200 calories, 16 grams of fat, and 14 grams of sugar - talk about a treat!

On the plus side, these cups are organic, fair-trade, and gluten-free (and of course vegan). Even more exciting is that the outside packaging is home compostable, the cups are paper, and the cardboard tray inside doubles as a coupon for Justin's delicious nut butters. They also have a whole section of their website devoted to their green efforts, listing their carbon footprint, the location of their ingredients (on a really cool map), a mention of their solar powered headquarters, and their sustainability goals. I wish every food company would put this much thought into their planetary impact! Now I can understand why their peanut butter cups cost so much - you're paying for true quality.

While they are quite tasty (and eco-friendly), I can't say I'd pay the premium price for them again, mainly because I have made something similar myself and they have a lot of (eco) packaging. Making your own peanut butter cups simple requires:

  • melting dark chocolate
  • pouring a thin layer in a small cup cake tin 
  • adding some peanut butter, sweetener, and perhaps a tad of vanilla, salt, and oil
  • then pouring chocolate on top and freezing it
This method doesn't require much packaging and may be more cost effective then buying pre-made cups. However, if I find myself craving peanut butter cups again and I don't feel like making my own, I will definitely buy Justin's again because I love everything that they're doing for the environment and it's so rare to find a company that meets my eco-vegan standards!
Read 10271 times Last modified on Wednesday, 09 May 2012 08:39