Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

I don`t bake cupcakes or cakes often. Sure, they`re not my most favorite baked goods--but I do enjoy delicious cakes and cupcakes. Only if they`re delicious though. ;)

I follow a lot of blogs and a lot of those blogs often post gorgeous looking cakes and cupcakes. I, however, can`t imagine eating more than 4 or 5 of my own cupcakes. Let alone know what to do when I make a batch of 2 dozen+ cupcakes. I would give them to my friends...but you see, they got tired of eating baked goods.

Sad, sad truth. I wish that it didn`t happen. But, it did.


Last year, my friends and I would bake every week. Sometimes one of my friends and I would both bake in the same week. Our lovely friends could only handle so many cupcakes, cheesecakes, s`mores bars, nutella palmiers, and etc. Not to mention a cake on someone`s birthday.

So, I slowly started bringing home my baked goods to my family. Unfortunately, my parents have very Asian traditional taste buds when it comes to sugary foods. That left my two younger sisters. Then, one of them left to go to a college 7 hours away. (Hi, H.♥ ~ BTW, H. just started editing my blog posts because my grammar sucks...LOL. She`s a smart one. ;D) Down to 1 sister +  my boyfriend + my roommate.

I knew I would have to throw them away if I made cupcakes. However, I`ve been thinking about these cupcakes for awhile and simply could NOT get them out of my mind. I had to make them to see if they would taste as good as it does in my head. (Spoiler: It tasted better.)

Since I haven`t been giving any baked goods to my friends, I crossed my fingers and hoped that they wouldn`t be able to resist a chocolate cupcake and baked these delicious cupcakes.

According to my number 1 taste tester, these were AMAZING. I thought they were good, but since I`m not a die-hard chocolate cake fan...I`m not the right judge. Those that are, really loved these cupcakes. I ate more than I thought I would. These cupcakes were moist and the buttercream was oh-so-delicious.

Since I made these awhile back, my boyfriend will occasionally say to me, "You know what`s delicious? Those cupcakes you made."

I`m like, "The chocolate cupcakes?"

"YES. The frosting-or whatever it was-was SO GOOD. UGH."

I laughed and told him, "It`s chocolate buttercream. So, remember it." I think he does now.

The recipe is just an ordinary cupcake recipe, but I labeled the level as "Easy-Medium" since it had a lot of steps compared to the "Easy" recipes I`ve posted before.

Enjoy ♥

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream

Adapted from Kevin & Amanda + Savory Sweet Life

Yields: 26 cupcakes

Level: Easy-Medium

Total Time: ~55 minutes

(Print Recipe)

Materials Needed:

-          2 large bowl with electric mixer

-          1 small bowl

-          regular size muffin pan (1 or 2)

-          muffin liners

-          2 Rubber/silicon spatulas

-          Whisk/fork

-          toothpick

-          pastry bag + desired top

-          tall cup

Ingredients:

for the chocolate cake:

§  1 box of Devil's food cake mix (I used Betty Croker)

§  1 small package Jello instant chocolate pudding mix

§  1 cup sour cream

§  1 cup vegetable oil

§  4 large eggs

§  1/2 cup whole milk

§  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

§  1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

for the peanut butter swirl:

§  crunchy peanut butter (amount is personal preference)

for the chocolate buttercream:

§  1/2 cup (2 sticks of butter) unsalted butter, softened

§  1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

§  1/4 cups cocoa powder

§  1/4 teaspoon salt

§  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

§  2 tablespoons whole milk

Directions:

For the chocolate cake:

1.       Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin pan with the muffin liners.

2.       In a small bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk or fork.

3.       In another large bowl, add all the ingredients for the cake in the bowl: cake mix, chocolate pudding, sour cream, vegetable oil, beaten eggs, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix together using a spatula since the batter will be thick.

4.       Then, fold in the mini chocolate chips.

5.       Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pan to about 2/3 full.

6.       Add about a teaspoon of peanut butter on top of each muffin cup and use a toothpick to swirl it into the batter.

7.       Bake in the oven for about 18-22 minutes, rotating the pan 180° halfway through the cooking time. Cupcakes are ready when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

8.       Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before removing them onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

For the chocolate buttercream:

9.       In a large/medium bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter.

10.   Add powdered sugar and sugar and mix until combined.

11.   Add vanilla extract, salt and milk and mix until fully incorporated. If you want the buttercream to be thicker, add more powdered sugar. If you want it thinner, add more milk.

12.   Place a pastry bag with the tip inside the cup and fold the sides over the top of the cup.

13.   Using a spatula, carefully transfer the buttercream into the bag. Twist the top and pip on top cupcakes.