This weeks Weekly Recipe Wrestler was inspired for my Halloween Bash that I hosted over the weekend. As you are aware, food completes a party. To have a successful party, you must have some drinks, decor, people, and food! With that being said, I decided to whip up some peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate butter-cream frosting! YUMMY! To improve my Halloween Bash, I labeled my food with spooky labels, such as, Poltergeist Peanut Butter Grave. Creative-right?! For this recipe- I borrowed it from a dear pal, Sally-she too writes a food blog! Spooky!
Ingredients:
- 1 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter (Unless you want a crunch-then select crunchy peanut butter)
- 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (Or microwave your butter for about 8 seconds)
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoons milk
- 2 and 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, like Hershey’s
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 6 Tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- First preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 12-cup muffin tin with liners. Set aside.
- Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. With a handheld or stand mixer, cream together the peanut butter, butter, and brown sugar until light and fluffy; about 2 minutes on medium speed. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then add in vanilla. Scrape down the sides as needed. Slowly beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Divide batter evenly between 12 cupcake tins. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool before frosting.
- For the frosting: Sift together the powdered sugar and cocoa powder to assure there are no lumps. Set aside. – If you don’t own a sifter, don’t panic, I remove my powdered sugar clumps by pressing them down into a powder with a small fork.
5. With a handheld of stand mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until fluffy – about 2 minutes. Gradually add the sifted sugar/cocoa powder alternately with the heavy cream and vanilla. Beat on low speed after each addition. Add more powdered sugar if frosting is too dark. Add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. Cupcakes stay fresh at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
6. Garnish with a Reese’s Mini, or a cute cupcake sign. I used both.
** Another fun tip: one batch of these cupcakes I added some food coloring-turning my cupcake batter into a ghoulish grey, making them really seem more like creepy Poltergeist graves.
** A creative way to make this recipe even more delicious and keep moisture would be peeling and slicing up an apple, and adding it to the batter. Apples help keep baked goods from drying out-plus who doesn’t love apples and peanut butter?!