Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream

I think we have established that I have a small obsession with creating cupcakes! Hello, have you seen my blogs?! Well, I also love peanut butter and chocolate together, so I thought why not combine all three of these loves???? Now I see that look on your face, and I know what you are thinking...."you put peanut butter in a cupcake?" And my answer would be.....Yes, I put peanut butter in a cupcake, and no it did not turn out the way I planned!

So here's what happened on the first attempt.....

Does this look like a chocolate cupcake to you? No, well me either. And the taste.....it tasted like peanut butter! So I guess I scored there, but the peanut butter completely over powered the taste of the chocolate, and since I was kind of going for a CHOCOLATE peanut butter cupcake I decided that I had to make them again! 

And finally I got something that looked like a chocolate cupcake and tasted like a chocolate cupcake, but with a hint of peanut butter! 

Alas! I had done it, and I perfected my chocolate cake recipe while I was at it! Total bonus!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream

Yield: 18 cupcakes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

1 Cup Milk chocolate chips

1 Cup Milk + 1 Tbsp. Lemon juice (This will make buttermilk)

1 3/4 Cup Flour

1 tsp. Baking soda

1 Cup Sugar

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Vanilla

1/4 Cup Vegetable oil

3 Eggs

1/2 Cup Peanut butter

Heat oven 325 degrees. In a medium sauce pan melt chocolate and milk mixture and heat over medium heat, until the chocolate is completely melted, whisk together. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, sugar, and salt. In small bowl combine eggs, oil and peanut butter. Once the chocolate is cool add a little to the flour mixture and combine. Then add the egg mixture and mix thoroughly. Slowly add chocolate into mixture, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Mixture will be a little runny. Fill liners about 3/4 of the way and bake for 20-25 minutes, until cupcakes spring back when touched, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

Chocolate Buttercream

1 Cup Milk chocolate chips

2 Sticks Butter (salted or unsalted)

1 Cup Butter flavor Crisco

1 tsp. Vanilla

3 1/2 Cups Powdered sugar

In medium saucepan, combine chocolate and 1 stick of butter, place over medium heat and melt chocolate; whisk until butter and chocolate combine. Remove from the heat and allow chocolate to cool completely, you don't want your buttercream to melt! In a large bowl, or in your stand mixer cream together Butter Flavor Crisco and the other stick of butter. Add vanilla and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and mix on medium speed. Add another 1/2 a cup of powdered sugar and mix thoroughly. Once chocolate is cool pour some chocolate into the creamed mixture and mix together. (Make sure you scrap the bowl before you add the next ingredient). Now continue to add 1/2 a cup of powdered sugar and chocolate until both ingredients have been completely used. Mixture should be thick enough to not fall off a spoon and easy enough to pipe. If the mixture is too soft add another 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. If the mixture is too thick, add 1 Tbsp. of water, until the mixture reaches the desired thickness. Keep in mind that the temperature and humidity in your kitchen will effect the amount of powdered sugar needed to reach your desired thickness.

And there you have it.....Peanut Butter in a cupcake! What do you think? Is this something that you would try? Have you tried to put in any unusual ingredients into your cupcakes?

"Devouring worlds, one book and recipe at a time."