Creamy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

The best part of these cupcakes are the hidden peanut butter cups buried in chocolate! Whoever made the first chocolate and peanut butter combination is a winner in my book! AND they take less than 10 minutes to get into the oven!

There really is no secret ingredient in this easy recipe; however I do have a quick cheat! I'm all for chocolate cake from scratch, but it takes some time to pull it all together perfectly well. I was in a pinch so for this recipe, just use your favorite cake box mix! Shhhhhh, don't tell anyone! No one will even notice because the star of this show is this peanut butter frosting! Be easy on yourself and you will have about 20 cupcakes in no time!

Look at those cups peeking out of the cake batter! Doesn't it make your heart giggle? You don't have to cover the peanut butter cups completely, as they bake the cup will be covered.

This homemade peanut butter frosting is light and creamy without being overly sweet like traditional butter cream. I just love this take on my favorite butter cream. The peanut butter cuts through the powdered sugar sweetness.

I used a piping tip 2D to make those beautiful ruffles of peanut butter. I loved the star tip it finishes with, a perfect pillow for the peanut butter cup. Make sure your consistency of your frosting has stiff peaks for piping that looks amazing and creates beautiful edges.

Ingredients:

For the Chocolate Cupcakes -

• 1 box chocolate cake mix (plus the ingredients called for on the (box)

• 40 mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, divided

For the Peanut Butter Frosting -

• 1 stick of salted butter (1/2 cup), room temperature

• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (I use Jif)

• 2 cups powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2-3 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 regular muffin tins with cupcake liners.

2. Mix together the cake mix, according to the instructions on the box for cupcakes. Spoon batter into cupcake pans, filling the liners 1/2 full.

3. Place a Reese's peanut butter cup into the center of the batter in each cup (it's okay if the the tops of the Reese's are showing, like my photo above).

4. Bake cupcakes for 16-20 minutes or until done. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

For the Peanut Butter Frosting

1. Beat together butter, and peanut butter and mix until smooth.

2. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat again until combined.

3. Add heavy whipping cream, one tablespoon at a time and mix until light and fluffy. (Add more cream or powdered sugar if needed to make the frosting thicker or thinner).

4. Frost cupcakes (I used a wilton 2D tip in the photos above).

5. Add another Reese's to the top of your frosting and gently press in. You can even chop them up into smaller pieces for a different look.

6. Store leftover cupcakes, covered, in the fridge for 3-4 days.
   

Let me know if you love these as much as I do! I had one late last night that totally derailed me from my low carb, healthy eating. And I'm not even sad about it!

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