Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting Tops Off a Surprise Filled Cupcake
Last week I had a chocolate craving. Nothing new really. That’s a daily occurrence in my life.
But this one was a little different. I had a chocolate AND peanut butter craving AT THE SAME TIME.
I love peanut butter cups but I rarely crave them. I rarely crave anything mixed with my chocolate even though I love it mixed with lots of stuff. Like caramel, toffee, graham crackers, pretzels, marshmallows, sugar cookies, popcorn, etc., etc., etc.
When I crave my chocolate, I normally just want a piece of chocolate all by itself and the craving subsides for the next hour or two. Can you relate?
So here I was, craving chocolate AND peanut butter. And I just happened to have a few peanut butter cups left in the freezer from Halloween. No silly, I don’t freeze my kids’ candy. I buy MORE (on clearance) after Halloween and put it in the freezer for emergencies just like this. Thankfully Easter is just around the corner – my frozen stash is now gone.
I took a box mix of chocolate cake, made it up according to the package directions and poured it into muffin tins so that I could have 24 perfect chocolate cupcakes waiting for me – and my family. I do share my chocolate – some of the time.
And then I unwrapped my peanut butter cups and put them smack dab in the middle of the chocolate cake batter in each muffin tin.
They baked for the normal amount of time according to the package directions, cooled and then I topped them with some peanut butter buttercream frosting. Oh baby – they were good! They were so good, I shared, not only with my family but with some neighbors as well. See, I do share my chocolate some of the time.
What do you crave with your chocolate?
Print RecipePeanut Butter Buttercream Frosting
You can make this frosting from scratch or you can just add some peanut butter to a can of store bought frosting or some regular butter cream icing. Add about ¼ to ½ cup of peanut butter at a time to see if you like the taste. Be careful not to add too much though. If you do, it will get too thick and become more of a filling rather than a frosting. If it does get too thick, just beat some milk into the mixture until you get the desired consistency.
Yield: About 4 cups of frosting – enough to ice a 9” layer cake or more than 24 cupcakes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
• 3/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup salted butter - softened
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter (more if you want a stronger peanut butter flavor)
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla
• 6 - 8 cups (approx. 1 ½ - 2 lb.) powdered sugar
• 6 - 8 tablespoons milk
Directions:
1. Cream shortening and butter together with an electric mixer.
2. Add peanut butter and mix well.
3. Add vanilla.
4. Gradually add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each cup.
5. When all sugar is added, stir in milk, 1 tablespoon at a time until you get the desired consistency you are looking for.
Store left over icing in an airtight container. Rewhip before you use it next.
Wife, mom, business owner, volunteer, lover of chocolate, procrastinator of cleaning, experiencing life in my 40’s and not putting off to tomorrow what I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I stop lookin’ and get cookin’ in all areas of life.
I like chocolate – love chocolate bars, chocolates for Valentine’s Day…but can’t stand brownies – and can easily pass on cake. Dunno why. I’m more of a pastry gal. But for these? I’d convert. They look fantastic! 🙂
Kendra replied: — March 27th, 2012 @ 1:39 pm
You can’t stand brownies? Wow – not sure I’ve ever met anyone like that before. 🙂
I bought chocolate dipped potato chips at a craft show in North Carolina and they were so good..the people could not make them fast enough.
Kendra replied: — March 27th, 2012 @ 1:38 pm
I’ve had those before but have never made them in fear that I would eat a whole bag myself. 🙂
GREAT just GREAT Kendra- now I have this little voice in my head telling me to make these!
THANKS!
Kendra replied: — March 27th, 2012 @ 1:37 pm
Then listen to that voice Jody! 🙂
Wow. I am going to make these.
Kendra replied: — March 27th, 2012 @ 7:48 pm
You won’t be disappointed Ruth!
Yum! These look ah-mazing!! Just checking for when i try this out..did you put the peanut butter cups in before you baked the batter?
Kendra replied: — March 27th, 2012 @ 7:48 pm
Hi Casey – I did put the pbc in the batter before I baked them. These are awesome!!! 🙂
The cupcakes look so delicious! Its almost midnight and I am craving these, NOW!!
Are the PBCs full size or minis?
Kendra replied: — March 28th, 2012 @ 8:23 am
They are the full size at least the kind of full size you get in a bag. Not the FULL sized candy bar – 2 to a pack size. 🙂 The minis would work well if you were making mini cupcakes though. Plus those are already unwrapped!
These look delicious. My husband loves peanut butter, and will love this butter cream. Thanks for sharing.
Omg these look amazing!!!!
I’m going to assume yes on this, but, is it advisable to have the PBC’s frozen prior to baking?
Kendra replied: — April 1st, 2012 @ 12:05 pm
Hi Candace – you don’t have to have the peanut butter cups frozen – mine were not. I was surprised how they did not melt as much as I thought they might. From the photo you can tell they look pretty much like they normally do – only inside of the cupcake. I don’t think freezing them would hurt though.
You’ve been featured on Wednesday Whatsits!
http://whitelightsonwednesday.blogspot.com/2012/04/wednesday-whatsits-3.html
Whoa!! These cupcakes look fab. Going to def hunt down some peanut butter cups (in the UK) 7 give this a go – yahoo xx
My ULTIMATE favorite couple is Chocolate and Peanut Butter! I am going to try making these cupcakes for my cousins cupcake party.
Kendra replied: — April 10th, 2012 @ 9:48 pm
Let me know how you like them Julie!
I just made these and am letting them cool before I frost. It looks like the PBC’s sank to the bottom. Any suggestions? BTW, even if they did sink, I’m sure they will still be wonderful. I love how yours look…what kind of cake mix do you use?
Kendra replied: — April 15th, 2012 @ 3:24 pm
I used a Betty Crocker Devil’s Food Cake Mix but I don’t think it really matters. The PBC look like they sank to the bottom but they should be OK. Wait for them to cool and then cut one open. Mine looked like they sank too but the results are what I have photos of. If they sank too much, next time, just place the PBC in the batter and don’t push them down at all. I did push mine down some so that the batter would be even with them on top. Let me know how it all turned out but you are correct – they’ll still be wonderful!
I made these for my son’s 1st birthday party last weekend and they were a huge hit! Everyone thought I had ordered them special from somewhere 😉
My PBC did sink to the bottom though. Thinking of how to fix that for next time…maybe use a tad less water in the cake mix? I didn’t push them dough in the batter either, I just set them right in the middle.
Thanks!!
I found this on Pinterest and I just had to try it. I’m glad I did!! This was the best cupcake ever!!!
Kendra replied: — May 7th, 2012 @ 9:45 pm
So glad you liked it and I agree – Best Cupcake Ever!
I was going to make a dark chocolate cake later this week and searching for the perfect peanut butter icing recipe. Looks as if I’ve found it. Though I will not be using a cake mix next time I do get ahold of peanut butter cups I will try doing this as well. It’s going to be heavenly I know.
Kendra replied: — June 6th, 2012 @ 8:40 pm
You will love this!
Don’t know how I went wrong on this recipe but I have 12 giant cupcakes frosted and a pound (literally) of frosting left over!
Delicious anyways
Kendra replied: — June 7th, 2012 @ 1:20 pm
Hmmm – well, you can always freeze it and then pull it out when you want to use it again.
Just a hint to help your pbc from not sinking…if you toss them in a bit of flour first (dredge them) they will not sink…works great for berries, chocolate chips, etc 😉
Kendra replied: — June 14th, 2012 @ 11:39 am
Great tip Kelly! Thanks for sharing!