Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

You know how sometimes you just really want chocolate and peanut butter? And sometimes a Reese’s just doesn’t cut it? In those cases, you should do what I did when I was craving peanut butter and chocolate and knew that my friend Amber was coming over to help me eat whatever I baked.

This cupcake combines the best of many worlds – a rich, moist chocolate cake, peanut butter cream cheese frosting, and a chocolate peanut butter ganache. All you need are some friends to help you with the extras and a tall glass of milk.

Or just the milk depending on what kind of week it’s been.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen 

This recipe is adapted like WOAH from SK’s recipe. Not only is her recipe a cake, but I also quartered the recipe to ensure I wouldn’t have cupcakes hanging around my kitchen for days on end. This would be why the measurements might seem a bit wonky at first glance. If you are interested in making many cupcakes to share (and really, with this recipe you should!) either double the ingredients listed or view the original recipe at the source and simply halve it. A double batch should make between 22 and 24 cupcakes, more than enough to be the star of any party.

Ingredients:

Cupcake

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sour cream

6 tablespoons water

1/2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 and 1/2 tablespoons mixed egg*

* This is basically what half of an egg measures out to be if you are using volume measurements (if you have a scale, you can try halving it by weight instead). Crack the egg into a small container and mix it well. Measure out 1.5 tablespoons and you’ve managed to get yourself half of an egg!

Peanut Butter Frosting

2 and 1/2 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 and 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

2 and 1/2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter

Chocolate Peanut Butter Glaze

2 ounces semisweet chocolate (about half a small bag of chocolate chips)

2 and 1/2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter

1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 tablespoons half-and-half

Equipment:

Muffin tin, cupcake liners, hand mixer

Make cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk well to combine. Add the oil and sour cream; whisk to blend. Gradually add the water, vinegar, and vanilla, continuing to mix well. Whisk in the egg and beat until well blended. Pour into cupcake liners until liner almost completely full.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Let cool in the pan about 15 minutes before removing, then allow cupcakes to cool completely. To help the frosting process, you might want to stick the cupcakes into the freezer for 15-20 minutes before frosting.

Make peanut butter frosting:

Using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, making sure to mix completely and scrap down the sides of the bowl in between additions. Continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the peanut butter and beat again until completely blended.

Frost the cupcakes:

Take the cupcakes out of the freezer and frost well. To be very fancy, you could core out the center of each cupcake and fill with frosting, replace the top of the cupcake, and frost the entire top of the cupcake.  I didn’t bother – I simply used the frosting to fill in the collapsed center of the cupcake to make the top level with frosting.

After frosting, place cupcakes in the refrigerator to allow frosting to set. This will make adding the glaze later on easier.

Make the glaze:

Set a bowl (heat resistant) over a pot of simmering water to create your own double boiler. Combined chocolate, peanut butter, and corn syrup and whisk mixture often. Cook until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat, add the half-and-half, and whisk mixture until smooth.

Finish the cupcakes:

Place cupcakes on top of a foil lined baking sheet to make clean up easier (there will be dripping) after decoration is complete. Using a tablespoon, drizzle warm glaze mixture on top of peanut butter frosting, allowing it to dribble over the edge of the cupcake if you’d like. I made a thick circle of ganache in the center of each cupcake. Refrigerate at least 20 minutes to allow glaze and frosting to set completely.

Makes between 10 and 12 cupcakes