Recipe A Day

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you're going to be hard pressed to find a better combination than peanut butter and chocolate. You can try -- you might even find something that comes close -- but you just won't find anything that matches the deliciousness of gooey peanut butter and decadent, sweet chocolate.

So instead of searching for the world's next great combo, why not just embrace peanut butter and chocolate and search for more desserts that contain both of these ingredients? Why not make Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes?

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes from My Baking Addiction

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes

• 1 package devil’s food cake mix
• 1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso granules dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
• 24 Reese’s Miniatures; frozen (this prevents them from disappearing into the batter)

For the Buttercream Frosting

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 6-8 tablespoons heavy cream (if using milk, amount will be less)

Instructions:

For the Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla, and espresso water mixture. Beat for about two minutes on medium speed until well combined.

3. Using a large cookie scoop, distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells; about 3 tablespoons of batter per well. Press one frozen Reese’s Miniature into the center of each cupcake.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched. There may be a small hole in the top of the cupcakes from the Reese’s Miniatures, don't worry -- you’ll cover that with frosting. Allow cupcakes to cool inside muffin tins for about 10 minutes.

5. Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.

For the Buttercream Frosting

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, cream butter and peanut butter on medium speed until fluffy. Turn your mixer down to low speed and slowly add in the confectioner’s sugar, and continue mixing until well blended.

2. Add vanilla and 4 tablespoons of heavy cream. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 1 to 4 tablespoons of heavy cream until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy

3. Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes and finish with chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

Image via kimberlykv/Flickr