Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing

In my quest for the perfect cupcake for my chef's challenge, I had to make a bunch, and eat them.  It was a really tough job.  I suffered through.  Actually, I suffered when I went to the gym to burn off the sampling.  It was worth it!

very fudgy cake, but I prefer my black polish cake.

These were amazing!  Loved!  The peanut butter icing tasted like a peanut butter cup filling.  These were SUPER rich though and needed a glass of milk, and I was only able to eat half of one at a time.  I saw "at a time" because you will go back for that second half!

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES with PEANUT BUTTER ICING

 adapted from: susannahskitchen

INGREDIENTS:

For the Chocolate Cupcakes

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• mini peanut butter cups

For the Peanut Butter Icing:

• 1/2-2/3 cup cream
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 5 tablespoons softened unsalted butter,
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Coating:

 

• 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

DIRECTIONS:

 Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pan with 10 cupcake cups.  In medium bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.  In larger bowl combine sugar, buttermilk, oil, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Add dry mixture and whisk until smooth. Spoon batter into cupcake cups, dividing evenly.  Bake 18-22 minutes or until center is just set. Meanwhile, peel your peanut butter cups.  When the cupcakes are out of the oven, push a peanut butter cup into the middle of each cupcake.  Let cool in pan for 10 minutes and then transfer cupcakes to wire rack. Cool completely.

don't look at my water spots.  Shameful really.  Which cupcake looks best?

 
While cupcakes are cooling, prepare the peanut butter frosting. With whisk attachment, whip peanut butter and butter on medium-high speed.  Add vanilla, powdered sugar and cream.  Add more cream to get consistency you desire.
Transfer frosting to pastry bag fitted with a plain 1/2-inch tip
Once the cupcakes have chilled, make the chocolate coating. Place shortening and chocolate in a medium bowl and melt over a pan of gently simmering water.
Stir until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth. Transfer to a large coffee mug.
 Holding cupcake by the bottom, carefully dip into the chocolate. Be sure to submerge all of the icing
Pull up and hold for a few seconds to let excess chocolate drip off. Transfer to cooling rack and repeat with remaining cupcakes.  

Alternatively, you can drizzle the chocolate, and/or garnish with a peanut butter cup.
Before serving, let cupcakes rest a few minutes so chocolate can set.
Yield: 10 cupcakes. Active time: 1 hour. Total time: 3 hours

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cinnamon Sugared Chip Oatmeal Frosting

That title is a mouthful, huh?  Maybe symbolic. . . of the mouthfuls of these cupcakes I have eaten.

It has been a week since I have blogged!  I am realizing I am doing a lot of things not so well, i.e.- homeschool, blogging, housekeeping, etc...  and Mr. Delectable was off some of this week, so not much got done.  So, what to do when you realize you are failing at everything.  Cut something out and still fail.  Yeah, winner here.

I saw these cupcakes a few weeks ago and knew I wanted to make them.  For some reason, in my head I thought the icing had oatmeal, so when I saw it didn't, I missed it.  So I added it, and I loved it. The original icing recipe was also too buttery for me, so I added more powdered sugar.  Perfect.

The cupcake is more like a cakey cookie...  so like a cookie cup.  Upon eating my 3rd one of these (actually, I only had 1/2 the first, and a bite of the second, but still, a bit gluttonous) I decided they taste a lot like Little Debbie oatmeal pies.  I really enjoyed these cupcakes, and would make them again. 


CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL CUPCAKES
from: howsweeteats
makes 12 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS:

They get a deep brown from the brown sugar.

• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), melted and cooled
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips, tossed in a sprinkle of flour

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake tin with liners.
In a large bowl, whisk egg and brown sugar together until combined, and no lumps remain. Add vanilla extract and butter, whisking until smooth. Add in flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Add in milk and stir until combined and smooth. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop about 1/4-1/3 cup of batter into each liner, or use a cookie scoop. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until cupcakes are set and spring back at the touch. Let cool completely before frosting.

CINNAMON SUGARED CHIP OATMEAL FROSTING
Adapted from: howsweeteats

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup loosely packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon of milk, if needed
• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Beat butter in the bowl of an electric mixture until completely smooth and creamy. With the mixer on low speed, add in powdered sugar slowly. Gradually increase mixer speed and add brown sugar and vanilla, then beat for 2-3 minutes, scraping down sides and bottom of the bowl. If frosting is too thick, add milk 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached If it’s too thin, add sugar gradually until it thickens. Fold in chocolate chips, and oatmeal.  Frost cupcakes. Extra frosting can be stored in the freezer for about 6 weeks.This recipe could probably be halved for these cupcakes and there would be enough.

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Blackberry Filling and Blackberry Buttercream

 I am the messiest cook in the world.  After making these cupcakes my kitchen looked like a war zone.  I had a bit of a challenge filling some because I didn't mash all the berries quite enough and the filling got stuck in the piping bag.  That is what I get starting cupcakes at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when I have to be out of the house by 4.  OOPS!   While icing them, I think I had more icing on my hands than in the piping bag.  Seriously, it was scary.

The original recipe calls for cake flour, which I am out of and frankly, I hate using.  It is ubber processed and I feel terrible using it... so instead, I used what was in my crock- a mix of wheat, oat and unbleached.  You can't tell.  The cupcake is still tender and wonderful!

These little beauties are just as tasty as they look. You can taste the blackberry in the icing, and the little surprise of blackberry in the middle of the cupcake= yum!  I have leftover filling which I am planning on slathering on pancakes or waffles on Saturday.  And a bit of icing was left as well, which I think I should eat by the spoonfuls between now and Saturday.  Yeah, I got big plans. 

VANILLA BEAN CUPCAKES

recipe from: mybakingaddiction.com

Yield: 20-22 cupcakes 
INGREDIENTS:

Do you see those luscious little vanilla beans in the cupcake?

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
•  1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
•  1 1/4 cups whole milk, room temperature
•  4 large egg whites, room temperature
•  1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
•  1 1/2 cups sugar
•  seeds scraped from a 5"-7" vanilla bean
•  2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Beat egg whites for about 2 minutes on high speed until they form soft peaks. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla bean seeds at medium speed for 3 minutes, or until the butter and sugar are very light. Add in the vanilla extract and one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until well incorporated. Add the rest of the milk, beating until the batter fully incorporated and smooth, then add the last of the dry ingredients.  Beat for a minute.

Fold in the egg whites.  Using a large scoop, distribute the batter between 20-22 muffin wells, filling each paper liner about 2/3 full.   Bake for 18-24 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack. 

BLACKBERRY FILLING
adapted from Baked Perfection  

INGREDIENTS:

• about 20 ounces fresh blackberries
• 4-6 tablespoons sugar
• Juice of one lemon
•  4 tablespoons cornstarch
• pinch of salt

Place blackberries in a small bowl and sprinkle with sugar, let thaw. Mash blackberries and squish the blackberries in a fine mesh sieve to get juices out.  You should get about 3/4-1 cup. In a large saucepan, combine the blackberry liquid, lemon juice, cornstarch, and salt. Heat and stir until the mixture boils and thickens, add in the berries and makes sure it remains thick. Cool completely.  Chill until ready to use. (This can be made several days in advance and any leftovers works well on toast, on pancakes, or mixed in plain Greek Yogurt.)  Use piping bag to put into cupcakes.  Place tip deep in center of cupcake, holding the piping bag with one hand and the cupcake with the other.  As you fill it you will feel the cupcake swell and vibrate.  Fill each cupcake.

BLACKBERRY BUTTERCREAM
 from Baked Perfection


INGREDIENTS:

• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup blackberry filling (seedless blackberry jam or preserves can be substituted)
• pinch of salt
• 5 1/2- 6 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk

DIRECTIONS:
Beat butter and vanilla until creamy. Mix in blackberry filling and salt. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating until combined. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach desired consistency.

Strawberry Cupcakes with Fresh Strawberry Buttercream

With strawberries being so inexpensive right now, I have been buying them every time I go to the store.  Sometimes, my kids will eat them for a snack, sometimes I will eat a whole container by myself,  and sometimes they rot in the fridge because I am saving them for something.  You know you've done it.  Let fruit rot in the fridge because you are saving it for something.  No one knows what that something is, but we all do it. 
No more rotting berries! Seize the day!  Take out the berries and dip them in chocolate, or eat the whole container over the sink.  Or best yet, make cupcakes!!

These cupcakes are delish. I love the soft pink of the icing and the bits of strawberry in them.  The cupcakes were moist with bits of berry in them as well.  For some insane reason, the cupcake itself tasted like banana to me, and upon bringing them to church to share, someone asked me if they were banana.  But they didn't smell like banana, and my husband and kids thought I was nuts for mentioning a banana flavor.  Very strange, but no matter which way you bite it, they tasted fabulous. 


STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES
adapted from apronofgrace.com
yield: 24 cupcakes plus a small cake


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup softened butter
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 5 egg whites
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups strawberry puree
• 3 cups cake flour (I used 1 1/2 cups regular)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• heavy pinch salt
• 1 cup buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350.    Line cupcake tins with liners, or grease/flour pans. Beat butter and sugar for 3 minutes.  Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating in between.  Add vanilla and strawberry puree and beat another few minutes (you can add 1 tsp. red food coloring here if you want).  Whisk together dry ingredients and add in 3 increments, alternatively with buttermilk to the butter mixture, mixing well in between each addition.  In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold into batter.  Fill cupcakes to 3/4 full.  Bake cupcakes for 22-24 minutes (until toothpick comes clean) and cake for 30-34 minutes. 
Cool  completely before frosting.


FRESH STRAWBERRY BUTTERCREAM

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 stick softened butter
• 3 oz. softened cream cheese
• 4 TBSP strawberry puree
• 1/2-1 TBSP milk or cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 5-6 cups confectioners sugar (more if needed)

DIRECTIONS:
Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth.  Add 1/2 the sugar and 1/2 the strawberry puree and extracts.  Beat well.  Add remaining sugar, puree, and milk and beat until fluffy, adding more sugar if too soft, and puree or milk by the tsp if too stiff. Frost and eat!

Gingerbread Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

  Picture this: the creamy texture of the mini pumpkin pie against the moist crumb of cake.    I was thinking of making a pumpkin pie filled pumpkin muffin, which sounded great, but I was not feeling super inspired.  Then I thought about gingerbread and then the wheels really got turning.  Pumpkin pie, gingerbread and cinnamon cream cheese icing, now that will work! These cupcakes were delicious!   Lick your fingers and the cupcake liner/paper good.  (Well, my 8 year old daughter was licking hers until I gently and lovingly told her to stop.) 

A few words of caution; (OOO! sounds so scary!) This is a very gingery/molasses tasting cupcake, which I love, but may not be for you if you are not a big gingerbread fan. Also, these require a bit of prior planning because you have to cook the pumpkin pie before hand, but I enjoyed making them with my kids helping me along the way.  Maybe it was because I couldn't wait to taste them.   The pumpkin pie sinks while baking, which I didn't mind at all.  I topped them with some gingerbread men sprinkles so there would be no mistake that they are gingerbread and not chocolate. 

 

 

GINGERBREAD PUMPKIN PIE CUPCAKES WITH CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE ICING 

adapted from allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:

For the Cupcakes:

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon Dutch process cocoa powder
• 1 TBSP ground ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup hot milk

For the Pumpkin Pies:

I just made a pumpkin pie and used up some filling by placing into mini-muffin tins.

For the Frosting:

• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 5 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon

DIRECTIONS: 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Spray a 12 spaces in a mini-muffin pan with cooking spray and fill 12 about 2/3 full.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  

this is just before spooning more batter to cover.

Butter or line with paper liners a 12-cup muffin tin. Cream 5 tablespoons of softened butter with the white sugar. Add the molasses and the egg and egg yolk and mix. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and salt. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot milk. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in the hot milk mixture. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared tins filling about halfway. Carefully run knife along outside edge of the pumpkin pies.  Carefully spoon out and place in the center of each cupcake.  Spoon some batter into each to cover pumpkin pies. You may have some batter left.  You can discard or make a 1-2 more cupcakes.  Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 17-20 minutes or until slightly springy to the touch.  Allow to cool a few minutes in the pan and carefully remove to a rack to cool.  

For the Frosting: Cream the 2 tablespoons butter and the cream cheese together. Beat in the confectioners' sugar until fluffy. Add the vanilla and cinnamon and beat. When the cupcakes are cool, frost the tops with the frosting and serve.

Roasted Blueberry Cupcakes with Chocolate Fudge Buttercream

My cousin Michelle wants to make me fat.  She is pregnant and has an uber-fast metabolism when she is preggers and sent me this recipe.  She is so mean.  At a glance I thought, "interesting" but did not know how good they would actually be.  I am always up for a food adventure, so I decided to go for it!
OH....  MY....  GOSH!  We all loved these!  The combination of the flavors was amazing and I will be making these again and again! Purple people eater meets wonderful chocolate fudge buttercream and made a confection that will have even blueberry haters eating these.  All the kids loved these.  Even my friend's little girl who hates blueberries was eating it, enjoying it thoroughly until she discovered what made the cupcakes purple.   It was a dense, rich, delicious cupcake and wonderful. Start your own little cooking adventure and make these!


ROASTED BLUEBERRY CUPCAKES
recipe from: http://www.howsweeteats.com
makes 12 cupcakes (and 6 mini's)

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries + a few additional ones rubbed with sugar for garnish
• 2-3 tablespoons milk, if needed (I used 2.)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spread blueberries on a baking sheet (with sides) and roast for 20-25 minutes, or until berries start to burst. (I used silicone liner for easy clean-up.) Remove from oven.
Meanwhile, beat butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined, another 2-3 minutes. Add flour, baking powder and salt with the mixer on low speed, then gradually increase speed. Scrape in blueberries (mine were fresh out of oven so they burst quickly in batter) and beat on medium speed until the berries break down – about 2-3 minutes. At this point, the berries most likely have enough liquid that you only need to add a small amount of milk to the batter. Begin adding 1 tablespoon of milk at a time and beat with the mixer until the batter is smooth. You definitely want it to be cake batter and not dough.
Pour into cupcake liners, filling 2/3 of the way full, and bake for 18-22 minutes or until cake is set. Let cool completely, then frost.




CHOCOLATE FUDGE BUTTERCREAM

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup of unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
• 3-4 cups of powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder (reg. or dark, it’s what I had)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup hot fudge sauce (at room temperature or cold, and using store bought is fine)
• 1-2 tablespoons milk, if needed

DIRECTIONS:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter until smooth. Gradually add in powdered sugar about 1/2 cup at a time with the mixer on low, increasing it to medium-high speed once all the sugar has been added. Add the cocoa, vanilla and hot fudge, and mix until completely combined (while scraping down the bowl every few minutes) for about 5-6 minutes. If the frosting seems very thick, simply add some milk 1 tablespoon at a time and mixer for another minute or 2 until it comes together.
Note: this makes enough frosting for me to frost 12 cupcakes with a pastry bag. If you use a spatula for frosting, you will most likely have frosting left over. If you use a pastry bag and add a lot of frosting, you may not have enough. I add about 1/4 cup of frosting on my cupcakes when piping (still had leftover.  Sandwich between some graham crackers!) If you have some leftover, simply store it in an air-tight container in the fridge (a few days) or the freezer (3-4 months!).

Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with PB Brown Sugar Buttercream

This cupcake is from Joy of Baking and is an delicious cupcake.  Perfect texture and just very tasty.  I completely screwed up the original recipe for the icing by adding too much peanut butter, so I had to fix it, so I can not tell you how the icing is.  While mine is still a bit too peanut buttery, it is very good.  I am sure the original recipe is excellent.  Sorry.
The combo of peanut butter frosting with this cupcake is very good though.  I could easily eat it with chocolate icing or no icing at all which is strange for me because I am an icing kind of girl.  But this is just an excellent cupcake.  Original recipe came from:
http://tidymom.net/2011/banana-buster-brown-cupcakes/

BANANA CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES 

by Joy of Baking

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 scant cup all-purpose flour
• 3/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (little more than 1/3 cup)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 1 medium sized banana)
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup canola or corn oil
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350° and line muffin pan with 12 cupcake liners.  Using a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set asideIn another large bowl, whisk remaining ingredients until combined: egg, banana, water, milk, oil, vanilla.Combine wet and dry ingredients and stir until combined.Scoop batter into cupcake liners 3/4 full.Bake for 20 minuets or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.Remove from oven. Cool completely before frosting.

Peanut Butter Brown Sugar Buttercream

Ingredients

• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

Instructions

In a heat proof bowl, whisk together egg whites, sugar and salt. Place over (not in) a pan of simmering water. Cook, whisking continuously until sugar is dissolved and warm to the touch.  Pour mixture into bowl of electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 15 minutes.  Raise speed to high, and mix until stiff peaks form (this took about 7 minutes).  Reduce speed to medium-low and add peanut butter a little at a time, then butter, 1 tablespoon as a time until fully mixed.  Pipe onto cupcakes.