Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

If you are a peanut butter cup lover, then these cupcakes are definitely for you! These cupcakes are made with a rich chocolate cake and peanut butter packed butter cream!

When I brought one over to my friend, she was eating peanut butter M&Ms, took a bite of the cupcake, and couldn’t taste a difference! So if you like peanut butter M&Ms (or Reese’s Pieces), then I guarantee you will love these!

What you’ll need for the cake:
– 1 cup flour (120g)
– 3/4 cup sugar (150g)
– 1/2 cup cocoa powder (40g)
– 1/2 t salt
– 1/2 t baking soda
– 1/2 t baking powder
– 1 egg
– 1 cup milk
– 1/4 cup oil
– 1/2 T vanilla

What you’ll need for the buttercream:
– 1 stick butter, room temp
– 1/2 cup peanut butter
– 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar (420g)
– 1/4 cup milk
– 1/2 t salt
– 1 T vanilla

What you’ll do:
– Preheat your oven to 350F and line a cupcake tray with liners.
– Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients and then pour over dry and whisk for 2 minutes.
– Evenly divide batter between 12 cupcakes and bake for about 18 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
– While your cupcakes are cooling, make your butter cream by first beating together the butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy.
– Add in half the powdered sugar and milk, salt, and vanilla and beat until mostly combined. Beat in remaining powdered sugar and milk until fully incorporated.
– Transfer your buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a 1M tip and generously ice the cupcakes.
– ENJOY!

A few notes:
– If you don’t like as much icing on your cupcakes, I recommend cutting the recipe in half as I actually had some left over after decorating.
– Cupcakes actually freeze very well. So if you don’t want to eat all 12, just package them up in an air tight container, pop them in the freezer, and allow to thaw for about an hour before eating.