CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

If you follow me on Instagram you may remember seeing a sneak peek of these cupcakes a few weeks ago.  I know a lot of you love chocolate and peanut butter, so I’ve been wanting to create a chocolate peanut butter cupcake for a while now.  And these cupcakes deliver!  These are literally like a Reese’s peanut butter cup in cupcake form.

I originally planned to stuff these cupcakes with a peanut butter cup in the middle.  But, since the cupcake batter is so thin they sunk straight to the bottom and stuck to the liners.  It was not pretty.  So I decided to just top them with the peanut butter cups and I think they actually look better that way.

Ingredients
For the chocolate cupcakes:

• 1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (30 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (100 grams) brown sugar
• ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
• ⅓ cup (80 ml) oil
• ½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup (120 ml) boiling water
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder optional

For the peanut butter frosting:

• 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup (250 grams) creamy peanut butter
• 2 cups (240 grams) powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Optional toppings:

• Chocolate ganache
• 8 miniature peanut butter cups unwrapped and cut in half

Instructions

1. To make the chocolate cupcakes:
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two 12-count muffin pans with 16 cupcake liners and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk in the granulated sugar and brown sugar until well combined. Add in the oil, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla extract and mix until just combined.
4. Add the instant espresso powder to the ½ cup boiling water and mix until fully dissolved. Add to the mixing bowl and mix until everything is just combined. The batter will be thin, this is okay.
5. ............................

for full recipes please see : www.livewellbakeoften.com

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