Sometimes, a girl needs a hefty dose of chocolate and peanut butter.
At least, that was how I was feeling yesterday afternoon while eating one of these beauties. I’m not normally one to make cupcakes, let alone consume them. But when Peanut Butter and Co. sent me a variety of their peanut butter to try out, my brain poured out hundreds (thousands!) of recipes ideas, and these cupcakes were one of them.
I didn’t have peanut butter cupcakes in mind, because I had no clue how that would go down. But I already had a fool-proof recipe for chocolate cupcakes (courtesy of my good friend Allie from Baking a Moment) and I knew whipping up some peanut butter frosting would be easy peasy.
These chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting are a little bit healthier than your regular cupcake. And anyways, it’s meant to be more of a treat than an everyday snack. We only eat things like cake, cookies, or cupcakes on special occasions like birthdays or large family get-togethers.
The peanut butter frosting takes these delicious cupcakes to an entirely different level. And everyone knows that peanut butter and chocolate are the perfect combo. Peanut butter chocolate energy bites anyone?
I know you’re going to love these super delicious chocolate cupcakes. It’s a super indulgent treat that you don’t have to feel bad about eating.
A few recipe notes:
I rarely buy cake flour, so for this recipe I used a technique I found from Joy the Baker’s website on how you can make your own cake flour. For this particular recipe, I used 3/4 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour. I put the only the flour to be made into cake flour into the bowl. I then took out 1 tablespoons of it (which I returned back to my flour container) and replace it with 1 tablespoons of arrowroot flour (you can use organic corn starch, too). Then I sifted it four times and continued with the recipe.
The recipe DOES call for powdered sugar. I simply make my own by blending unbleached pure cane sugar with arrowroot flour. For the method, my go-to recipe is on Whole New Mom. It takes only 1 minute to make your own powdered sugar!
Here’s the recipe:
- ¾ cups organic unbleached pure cane sugar
- ½ cup unbleached all purpose flour
- ¼ cup cake flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup Greek yogurt, preferably homemade or organic
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2-4 tablespoons organic milk or heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons Peanut Butter & Co. The Bee's Knee's Peanut Butter
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pans with cupcake liners.
- Combine all dry ingredients (in the cupcake ingredients list) in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
- Add in the butter and mix on low speed until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Stir in the eggs, Greek yogurt, and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl to incorporate everything.
- Fill 16 line muffin cups halfway (about ¼ cup batter). A small ice cream scoop works great for this.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
- Beat butter for 2 minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed.
- Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the sugar doesn't blow everywhere) until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter.
- Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. Add peanut butter and mix for 1 minute to ensure that it's incorporated thoroughly. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk 1 tablespoons at a time.
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These look so delicious! Thank you so much for linking up at Tasty Tuesday! Your recipe has been pinned to the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board! Please join us again this week!
What an absolutely gorgeous recipe, Margaret! I can see this going over incredibly well in my family, as we’re all huge peanut butter and chocolate fans!
Also, this was one of my favorite links during last week’s #thatsfreshfriday link-up! Thanks for participating! I’ll be sharing it on my blog and social media channels this weekend as our new party kicks off, and I hope to see you back sharing another wonderful recipe this week!
Those pictures have me drooling! Thanks for linking up at Simple Meals Friday. I am pinning this one right now!
I really don’t make a lot of desserts, but these are soooo tempting. Peanut butter and chocolate are a heavenly combination. Beautiful photos
Fantastic. I love that you made the “healthier” Can’t wait to try them.
Love those cupcakes and yes, a girl needs some sort of sweets once in a while. The recipe is super healthy! Didn’t know I can make my own cake flour. Great tips!
Thanks Maggie! It’s so great to be able to grab a somewhat healthy dessert instead of eating out of an ice cream container with a giant spoon (which I may or may not have done last month).