Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

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Light, fluffy, and oh-so delicious Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes…with a rich and creamy peanut butter frosting, of course! It’s truly the perfect cupcake to bake if you love peanut butter cups. Rich dark chocolate cupcakes made with melted chocolate for a more intense flavor, stuffed with a mini peanut butter cup, and frosted with a sweet, lightly salty, but drool-worthy peanut butter frosting. Enjoy as an oh-so special weekend treat or even as a way to use up excess candy! Truly the perfect cupcake.

About The Recipe

Happy Friday!!

Can you believe August is almost over? I feel like I always say this, but this month has REALLY flown by! We’ve been so excited planning for Fall content that we almost forgot that we needed to share something this week.

Thankfully, we had this recipe idea kinda tucked in our back pocket for October…but it just seemed like now would be the perfect time to share it!

I mean, who doesn’t love a peanut butter cup?

They’re the perfect combination of sweet AND salty! So, we knew we wanted to replicate it as close as we could with these cupcakes. And, of course, we had to stuff them with a peanut butter cup for extra goodness.

The cupcakes are a light and fluffy chocolate cake, made with melted chocolate to intensify the flavor.

The frosting is a classic buttercream, but with the addition of peanut butter to be the perfectly balance of sweet and salty. Plus, it actually tastes like the center of a peanut butter cup!

Every bite is perfectly balanced between chocolate and peanut butter…just like all peanut butter cups should be!

The best part? Whether you like a lot of chocolate or a lot of peanut butter in your candies, these cupcakes are highly customizable to your preferences.

They are SO good and so much easier to make than you might think!

Reasons You Will Love These Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

• Oh-so pretty with minimal effort!
• The perfect treat to bake to use up leftover candy.
• Made with melted dark chocolate for an intensely rich chocolate flavor.
• The frosting literally tastes like the inside of a peanut butter cup!!
• A real crowd pleaser.
• Each cupcake is STUFFED with a peanut butter cup!

Equipment Needed

• Mixing Bowls
• Whisk
• Stand Mixer
• Rubber Spatula
• Muffin Pan
• Cupcake Papers
• Large Cookie Scoop
• Cake Tester
• Piping Bag
• Piping Tips

Ingredients

Full ingredient amounts and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

For The Cupcakes:

• All-Purpose Flour – We opted to use all-purpose flour rather than cake flour for this recipe to keep things as simple as possible. Though, don’t worry! The cake has almost no structural difference and is truly melt-in-your-mouth tender.
• Salt – Cuts the sweetness and helps enhance the flavor.
• Baking Powder – Leavening is essential in baking! This provides the perfect rise in the cake to give is a light, tender, and delicious texture.
• Baking Soda – For this recipe, we add a dash of baking soda to ensure the rise of this cake, as it does have an acidic ingredient!
• Bittersweet Chocolate – This is what adds a rich chocolate-y flavor to the cake.
• Unsalted Butter – For these cupcakes, we decided to use unsalted butter to help us control the amount of salt in the recipe, as peanut butter can be very salty.
• Granulated Sugar – Adds just the right amount of sweetness.
• Large Eggs – Remember to set our your eggs ahead of time to allow them to come to room temperature before mixing.
• Vegetable Oil – Makes this cake extra moist and oh-so tender.
• Whole Milk – Using whole milk in a cake does SO MUCH! From creating a lighter, stronger crumb, to activating the leavening, and even making the cake itself a little richer.
• Mini Peanut Butter Cups – Adds a fun surprise in the middle of each cupcake!

For The Frosting:

• Unsalted Butter – By using unsalted butter, it keeps this frosting from becoming too salty.
• Smooth Peanut Butter – Adds flavor and color to this frosting!
• Salt – Enhances the flavor and cuts some of the sweetness.
• Powdered Sugar – For the smoothest buttercream, sift your powdered sugar!
• Vanilla Extract – Rounds out the flavor in the frosting.
• Whole Milk – With the addition of peanut butter in this frosting, you will need a little extra milk to ensure a light, fluffy, and silky smooth frosting.

How To Make Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

Step 1: Make cake batter

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a microwave proof bowl, heat chocolate in 15 second increments, stirring after each, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

Beat in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.

Mix in chocolate.

Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Step 2: Fill and bake

Use a 3 Tablespoon cookie scoop to portion batter into prepared pans. Insert 1 peanut butter cup in center of each cupcake. Cover peanut butter cup with ½ Tablespoon of batter.

Bake for 20-22 minutes, until puffed and cooked through.

Step 3: Make frosting

With an electric mixer, beat the peanut butter and butter until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.

Add salt, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk. Beat until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.

FAQ’s and Troubleshooting

Decorating Ideas

With these cupcakes, decorating can be super fun! You can keep it simple or go all out. If you need some ideas, here are a few of our favorites!

• Crush some peanuts and add it on top of the frosting! This will not only add a cute decorative element, but also some pleasant crunch!
• Shove extra peanut butter cups into the frosting.
• Top with Reese’s Pieces to add color, flavor, and crunch.
• A drizzle of salted caramel sauce or even chocolate sauce would add a delicious and gorgeous element!
• Sprinkles of any kind! From rainbow, holiday themed, and everything in-between. Sprinkles always add a cute and fun decorative element to any cake!

Substitutions

• This recipe can be made vegan by using a non-dairy butter, plant-based milk, your favorite vegan egg, and a plant based peanut butter cup. For the frosting, use your favorite vegan butter and plant-based milk.
• To make this recipe gluten-free, be sure to use your favorite 1:1 gluten free all-purpose flour. Be sure to check the ingredients on the peanut butter cups to ensure no gluten.

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Expert Tips

• Check the expiration date on your baking powder and baking soda.
• Remember to preheat your oven!
• Don’t let the melted chocolate for the cake sit too long before stirring in the cake batter. The longer you let it cool, the higher chance you have of it solidifying. If you need to, you can always remelt it in the microwave.
• Be careful to not over-mix your batter.
• The chocolate cake batter is very thick! It’s intended to be, as it holds the peanut butter cup in place as it bakes.
• It can be difficult to test if these cupcakes are baked, as the peanut butter cup is in the center. You can use a toothpick or cake tester near the center, being sure to avoid the peanut butter cup, to test the doneness of each cupcake.
• Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting them.
• Do not use natural peanut butter for this recipe, as it is softer than traditional peanut butter and may cause the frosting to be too soft.
• Make sure you use creamy/smooth peanut butter for the frosting.

When you make these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting, leave a comment down below! We love hearing from you and answering any questions you might have! Also, be sure to tag us on social media and hashtag it #BakersTable.

– Still Hungry? –

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