Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

I don't know why but there are two Holidays each year when I immediately start craving Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  The first is Easter.  I just can't get enough of those Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs.  The second is Halloween.  I loved it when I got Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in my Trick or Treat Bag. I would hide them so I could savor and enjoy them all by myself as an after school snack. With Halloween right around the corner the craving has me buying bags of miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and hiding them in my desk at work for an afternoon snack. Then I thought, what would be better...so I made Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting. These cupcakes are the perfect combination of chocolate with a peanut butter center and then topped with a sinful peanut buttter cream cheese frosting. They will definitely satisfy your chocolate peanut butter craving.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Yields: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients Filling and Cupcakes:
2/3 cup(s) confectioners' sugar
½ cup(s) creamy peanut butter
10 tablespoon(s) (1 1/4 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 1/4 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
1 2/3 cup(s) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
½ teaspoon(s) salt
1 cup(s) sour cream
2 tablespoon(s) milk
1 ½ cup(s) granulated sugar
2 large eggs

Directions

Prepare Filling:
In bowl, with mixer on medium speed, mix confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, 2 tablespoons butter, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla until blended. Shape mixture into 24 balls using heaping measuring teaspoons. (Balls will be sticky and don't need to be perfectly shaped.) Place balls on waxed paper-lined cookie sheet; set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 standard muffin-pan cups with fluted paper liners.

Prepare Cupcakes: On waxed paper, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and ½ teaspoon salt. In 2-cup liquid measuring cup, mix sour cream, milk, and remaining vanilla; set aside. In large bowl, with mixer on low speed, beat granulated sugar and remaining 8 tablespoons butter just until blended. Increase speed to high; beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat 1 to 2 minutes more or until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat just until ingredients are combined, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.

Spoon 1 heaping measuring tablespoon batter into each muffin-pan cup. Drop 1 peanut butter ball in center of each cup and top with another heaping tablespoon batter. Bake cupcakes 25 to 28 minutes or until toothpick inserted in cupcake comes out clean. Immediately remove cupcakes from pans and cool completely on wire rack.

When cupcakes are cool, prepare :

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

2 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature

2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese at room temperature

1 1/2 cups of peanut butter

8-12 cups of confectioner’s sugar

Miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Chopped peanuts

In large bowl, with mixer on high speed, beat the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy (approximately 5 minutes).  Add the peanut butter and mix together.  Blend in the sugar, starting with about 6 cups and adding more sugar till it reaches the desired taste and piping consistency. Increase speed to medium-high; beat until light and fluffy, scraping bowl often with rubber spatula. Pipe frosting on cupcakes and top with a miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and chopped peanuts.

Try not to eat them all at once.

Enjoy!