Chocolate peanut butter cup mini cupcakes have a mini peanut butter cup baked in a vanilla cupcake and swirled with chocolate peanut butter frosting!
Chocolate and peanut butter-winning combination in my book. My boss loves these cupcakes and asks me to make them whenever he’s needing some cupcakes to gift someone. Sometimes I make them full size, but that’s almost tooo decadent. The mini ones are really the way to go.
How to make chocolate peanut butter cup mini cupcakes:
- Because I usually only want about 25-30 of these cupcakes, I usually only make half a cake mix. So start by making half a cake mix worth of batter.
- Line your mini muffin tin with mini muffin wrappers. This is a must because otherwise the peanut butter cups will stick to the bottom of the pan and be a gooey mess.
- Drop unwrapped mini peanut butter cups into the bottom of the cupcake wrappers.
- Fill the cupcake wrappers with batter (only 3/4 of the way full).
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes (mini cupcakes don’t take too long).
- Allow to cool completely.
- Frost with chocolate peanut butter buttercream. I like to pipe a swirl on top using a star tip but you can frost however you like.
- Enjoy!
Tips for success:
- Don’t over bake your cupcakes. Dried out cupcakes are no good and you can easily burn the peanut butter cup in the bottom.
- Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting so your frosting doesn’t melt off your cupcake.
- Don’t use an open round tip to pipe your frosting unless the poo look is what you’re going for.
Variations:
I’m a big fan of yellow cake with chocolate buttercream but a chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream would also be good. Or a chocolate cake with chocolate peanut butter buttercream. Or even tucking the peanut butter cup into some brownie batter and swirling on some peanut butter mousse would be excellent.
Chocolate peanut butter cup mini cupcakes
Equipment
- Mixer
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups dry yellow cake mix
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Because I usually only want about 25-30 of these cupcakes, I usually only make half a cake mix.
- If using stand mixer, fit with paddle attachment.Pour cake mix into bowl. Add in water, oil and eggs .Beat on high speed for 1-2 minutes.
- Line your mini muffin tin with mini muffin wrappers. This is a must because otherwise the peanut butter cups will stick to the bottom of the pan and be a gooey mess. Drop unwrapped mini peanut butter cups into the bottom of the cupcake wrappers.
- Fill the cupcake wrappers with batter (only 3/4 of the way full).
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes (mini cupcakes don't take too long).
- Allow to cool completely.
- Frost with chocolate peanut butter buttercream. I like to pipe a swirl on top using a star tip but you can frost however you like.Enjoy!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Buttercream
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup salted butter softened
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter don’t use natural
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup water for thinning, may use more
Instructions
- If using a stand mixer, fit with paddle attachment.
- Cream together butter and peanut butter until well combined and fluffy.
- Drizzle in vanilla extract.
- With the mixer on it’s slowest possible speed, SLOWLY add in cocoa powder and powdered sugar. The mixture is going to get SUPER thick. Drizzle in some water (2-3 tablespoons) to keep everything smooth
- Add in heavy cream and beat on high speed for a minute or two. This whips up the heavy cream and gives the frosting a little more “fluff”
- If the frosting is still to thick, add in more water-1 tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. I like a really spreadable frosting so I used the whole 1/4 cup of water but if you are planning to pipe anything with it, you don’t want to add as much water.
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Happy Baking!
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Happy Baking!