The Story: I got an adorable email last month from a girl asking for a recipe she can use to make cupcakes for her boyfriend. Of course, I obliged. But I had to think about it… what kind of cupcakes do the men want for Valentine’s Day? Nothing covered in pink and red. Probably nothing fruity-tootie. So I decided to stick with the classic peanut butter and chocolate combo. This cupcake is so simple and decadent, no girlfriend has any excuse not to make these for her bf for Valentine’s Day.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Servings 24 Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 Box Devil's Food Cake Mix
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream
Peanut Butter Ganache:
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 2/3 cup milk chocolate chips
Peanut Butter Buttercream:
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 4 cups powdered sugar roughly
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pans with 24 cupcake liners.
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2. Sift cake mix into a small bowl with cinnamon.
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3. In a large bowl, combine buttermilk, oil, eggs, vanilla extract and sour cream. Don't over mix.
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4. Combine the dry and wet ingredients and stir until well mixed.
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5. Fill liners 3/4 full and bake for 17-22 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
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6. Ganache: Melt peanut butter and chocolate chips and stir until smooth. (You can do it over the stove top or use a microwave.)
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7. Once cupcakes have cooled, dip the tops into the ganache and let set before frosting.
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8. Buttercream: Beat butter, cream cheese and peanut butter for 4 minutes. Scrape the bowl as needed. Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat. If your buttercream is too thin, continue to add more powdered sugar.
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9. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and top with peanut butter chocolate hearts or any candy you have.
Oh these look delicious! A perfect play on a classic combination that anyone would enjoy
These look amazing! What kind of icing tip did you use? 🙂
For this one I used a medium sized closed start tip. Mine was a Bakers Craft 2D, which is pretty similar to a Wilton 1M. But if you only get one tip, get a Wilton 1M, they are great for everything! I have a piping tutorial being posted very soon!
hi there! Your cupcakes always look amazing! Huge fan! But i was wondering how you managed to pipe it so beautifully and what tip you used cause mine always ends up in just one big glop instead of the defined swirly pattern that is absolutely fabulous!
I am posting a piping tutorial very soon, It might not be publicized on the blog for a little while, but send me an email and I will forward you the link. The tutorial give all my favorite tips and hints on how to use them.
I just made these cupcakes… they taste awesome already! I made the ganache and it is now sitting out setting… but I have never made ganache before so I was just wondering how long I should wait before do the icing, and what it should be like when the ganache sets?
Right now its just gooey chocolate on top. Going to be so yummy though!
Depending on the temperature on where you live it will vary, but about 15 minutes and then the tops are solid enough for buttercream. Just touch the tops with your fingers and check it out!
Ooh, these look good too! You come up with the best variations on cupcakes!
Thank you so much for the recipe!
I didn’t have any sour cream on hand, so I used 0.2 % greek yoghurt instead and substituted regular cream cheese for a light version – everything tastes heavenly! Especially the ganache, as I used some organic milk chocolate that I found on sale – $1
This looks like a good addition to my weekend baking plans. My son will love this.
I made these today. I followed the recipe exactly and everything turned out great. I used natural peanut butter and it made the frosting taste awesome! My one critique is that the actual cake isn’t that special. It tastes like a box cake to me, which I really try to avoid. I thought adding sour cream and the other ingredients would spruce it up, but the taste and texture just reminded me of a boxed cake. Other than that, these are great and really fun to make! 🙂 I put a mini reeces cup on the tops of mine.
These cupcakes are my go-to recipe. People can’t help themselves to “just one more”.
One question though:
All of your pictures of cupcakes show icing that looks stiff enough to keep in place.
Every time I make icing, it weeps more than it should. How do I get it stiff enough, as well as thoroughly mixed. I always end up having to beat for longer than a recipe calls for because there are little chunks throughout.
Help?
Add more powdered sugar to make it more stiff, if you live in a hot place you always need to add more. Chunks of butter? If so, you need beat your butter longer before you add anything else. Make sure it is soft to start with but never ever let your butter start to melt.
Peanut butter hearts… I need them!!!
My grand daughter wants a chocolate peanut butter cupcake for he birthday party. I think this cupcake looks delicious. I am somewhat concerned because the party is planned for outdoors in a park (no refrigeration) and cream cheese in the frosting. Can I leave out the cream cheese and add more butter and peanut butter or something less apt to spoil and still have a yummy cupcake?
Yes, use and extra 1/2 Cup butter to substitute for the cream cheese!
These look fabulous! The only thing I am apprehensive about is the cinnamon in the cupcakes…. Can you really taste it? Will I really miss it if I leave it out?
You can leave it out if you want! Chocolate and cinnamon just go really well together
Could I make them a day before and just keep them in an airtight container?
Yes!
My son and I made these last night and they heavenly. Thank you for sharing your recipes. It was the jump start of my new favorite pastime!
I have this recipe saved in my bookmarks for year already lol & i love it can i substitute half n half or regular milk if i dont have any butter cream? Please reply thank you
replace it for the buttermilk you mean? Yes regular milk it fine, I just buttermilk because it’s thicker and cuts through the sweetness of the cake a little 🙂
Do these cupcakes need to be refrigerated due to the cream cheese in the frosting? I am making them a day before I want to serve them……
Nah, just keep it in a tupperware in a cooler place. If you put it in the fridge the frosting will get rock solid!
Hi Lizzy!
Love all your stuff!! I just just had a question because I have found this several places so I just wanted to know what the reason was… Many of the recipes that you have online are called the same thing, but then in the actual cookbook, they call for different ingredients. They are all good, but I just wanted to know why they were different?
I’ve just updated recipes, there’s lots of different ways to make each cupcake 🙂
Can I use a different type of chocolate cake and add those ingredients still?
Yes you can! If you use a white cake mix, decrease the oil by 1 1/2 Tbsp!