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Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

After seeing Joe’s banana cake, topped with a gorgeous looking peanut butter frosting, I knew that I had to find something to put it on. And very few combinations work as well as peanut butter and chocolate.

I went with a batch of moist chocolate cupcakes. They are quite easy to put together and are really delicious. The cake is cark, moist and tender, with a great chocolate flavor. Though I usually like to use buttermilk in chocolate cakes, this recipe uses plain milk. The lowfat variety is fine, but make sure to warm it up slightly, as that will help the flavor of the cocoa really come out.

Peanut butter wasn’t overwhelming in the frosting, making the inside of your mouth sticky. Instead, it was plesantly sweet and smooth, a great topper for the cupcakes. I liked a thin coating of frosting for these, not only because I would have had to double the frosting recipe for a thicker layer, but because it would have been too sweet otherwise. I added 1/4 cup more confectioners sugar to the original recipe to make it a bit stiffer.

Chocolate Cupcakes
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
¾ cup cocoa powder
¼ tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup butter, very soft
1 cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk, warm

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars.eat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.
Add flour and milk, alternating in 3 additions, ending with flour.
Evenly distribute into prepared muffin tins.
Bake at 350F for 15-17 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the cake springs back when lightly pressed.
Cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes 24.

Peanut Butter Frosting
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 cups confectioners sugar
chocolate buttons or kisses

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt peanut butter and butter and dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and whisk in milk. Transfer to a medium bowl and set aside to cool completely.
Add confectioners sugar and beat on medium/high speed with an electric mixer, until smooth and fluffy. Spread on cooked cupcakes and top each with a chocolate button.
Will thinly frost 24 cupcakes (approx. 1 1/2 cups).

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24 Comments
  • Barbara (Biscuit Girl)
    January 2, 2006

    Wow, those look sooooo good. I may just have to make some myself.

  • bokbaksa
    January 2, 2006

    Oh~~~yummy and cute cupcakes.
    I am going to try these someday.

  • Fran
    January 2, 2006

    This is just too good! My favorite food groups–chocolate & peanut butter! Thanks for the recipes and the mouthwatering photo.

  • Michele
    January 2, 2006

    My daughters just voted that we make these this week. I can’t wait to taste them!

  • Patti
    January 2, 2006

    Those look simply divine!

  • J
    January 2, 2006

    hi nic, those look utterly divine! i have a fatal weakness for the chocolate-peanut butter combination…happy new year to you and your loved ones!

  • Joe
    January 2, 2006

    I like your idea much butter than mine Nic! Love the combo!

  • Cindy
    January 3, 2006

    Look so good ! Well, I’m taking one, it’s tea time 😉

  • The Cookbook Junkie
    January 3, 2006

    Those look fantastic!

  • Baking Soda
    January 3, 2006

    Those look great, I like the idea and the look of the frosting. Did you use a pastry bag and tip?

  • Nic
    January 3, 2006

    biscuit girl – I highly recommend it!

    bokbaksa – They’re a great choice to bring to a party, and sure to be a hit.

    fran – It’s my pleasure! Thanks for stopping by.

    Michele – Good choice! Please let us all know how you liked them next week!

    Patti – Thank you.

    J – Happy New Year to you, too.

    Joe – I think you’ve done plenty of delicious chocolate/peanut butter combos. And peanut butter/banana is a close, close second.

    Cindy – These are a great choice with tea, possibly even better with coffee or milk, though.

    Cookbook Junkie – Thanks!

    Baking Soda – I used a small offset spatula, but a blunt knife will work fine; I wanted the icing to be smooth, not as defined as a pastry bag would have made it.

  • ~~my~~
    January 3, 2006

    those cupcakes looks so delcious, i copied the recipe just now 🙂 By they way, it says preheat oven to 350, but bake at 375?

  • Baking Soda
    January 4, 2006

    Okay I see, thnks. Now I have to develop an elegant relationship with my spatula… The thing we have going now is more a blob-like fiendship 😮

  • the baker
    January 6, 2006

    oh boy do those look sinfully inviting! I could do with some right now. I can only imagine how it’ll taste like. YUMMY…

  • Anonymous
    January 8, 2006

    Oooh… looks absolutely yum! One question though, how should I alter the baking time if i wanted to bake them as mini cupcakes?

  • Nic
    January 8, 2006

    Anonymous – For mini cupcakes, you would probably have to bake them for around 11-14 minutes. Make sure to check them with a toothpick; minicupcakes can overbake quickly.

  • Anonymous
    March 9, 2006

    hi, i am new to baking, can you explain whats ap flour? thks

  • Nic
    March 9, 2006

    Hi anonymous. “AP flour” is “all purpose flour”, it is just a shortened way of writing it.

  • Reese
    January 14, 2008

    I made these cupcakes this weekend and they were a big hit. Very tasty, a nicely dense cake and the icing has just the right amount of sweetness and peanut butter flavor. Bravo!

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