Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

The enduringly popular combination of peanut butter and chocolate shines in these rich, elegant cupcakes. Tender chocolate cupcakes are filled with peanut butter cream, dipped in chocolate ganache, then topped with a fluffy, not-too-sweet peanut butter buttercream. The frosting is technically a Swiss meringue buttercream, which is known for its silky, light and creamy texture that won’t form a crust as the cupcakes sit. Because of the several components to this recipe, these peanut butter chocolate cupcakes do take some time to prepare, but none of the steps is particularly difficult, so this is a great recipe if you’re a beginning baker wanting to practice piping—and end up with something impressive!

Ingredients for Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

• Sugar: Sugar in the cake batter ensures a sweet and soft tender crumb.
• All-purpose flour: Flour is the base of this cupcake recipe. You can substitute a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend for the all-purpose flour, if you need.
• Baking cocoa: Cocoa powder gives the cake a chocolaty flavor while also working with the flour to give the sponge cake its tender texture. To get you started, we found the best cocoa powders you can buy.
• Baking soda and baking powder: Two leavening agents work together to give these cupcakes a fluffy lift.
• Buttermilk: The acidity of buttermilk creates tenderness in the cupcake batter and works with the baking powder and baking soda to help the cupcakes rise.
• Coffee and vanilla extract: A cup of strong brewed coffee and a splash of vanilla extract both heighten and accentuate the flavor of the cocoa in the cake batter.
• Canola oil: Canola oil is the primary fat in the cake batter. Because it’s a liquid at room temperature, it helps the cake feel moist and tender, and still soft even after a couple of days.
• Eggs: Eggs contribute richness and also elasticity to the cupcake batter. Note that it’s always best to work with room-temperature eggs when baking.
• Peanut butter filling: A mixture of creamy peanut butter, unsalted softened butter, confectioners’ sugar and a little milk make a creamy peanut butter filling.
• Chocolate ganache: Once filled with peanut butter cream, we dip these cupcakes in a chocolate ganache made from semisweet chocolate chips and heavy whipping cream melted together.
• Peanut butter frosting: Cooking egg whites and brown sugar together creates a meringue base and gently stabilizes the eggs so they can, with the help of some cream of tartar, be beaten to a fluffy texture with stiff peaks. Adding butter turns it into a buttercream, which is then flavored with peanut butter and a splash of vanilla.
• Chocolate curls (optional): Though optional, there’s no more elegant way to finish off these cupcakes than with a few homemade chocolate curls.

Directions

Step 1: Mix the cupcake batter

Sarah Tramonte for Taste of Home

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda and baking powder. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, coffee, oil, eggs and vanilla until blended. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until combined. (The batter will be very thin.) Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.

Step 2: Bake the cupcakes

Sarah Tramonte for Taste of Home

Bake the cupcakes for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing them to wire racks to cool completely.

Step 3: Make the peanut butter filling

Sarah Tramonte for Taste of Home

In a small bowl, cream the peanut butter, butter, confectioners’ sugar and enough milk to achieve piping consistency. Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry bag, insert a small round tip and fill the bag with peanut butter filling. Insert the tip into the top center of each cupcake, and pipe about 1 tablespoon of filling into each.

Step 4: Make the ganache

Sarah Tramonte for Taste of Home

Place the chocolate chips in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream just to a boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate, and whisk until smooth. Dip the top of each cupcake into the ganache, and place them on wire racks to set.

Step 5: Start the peanut butter frosting

Sarah Tramonte for Taste of Home

In a large heavy saucepan, combine the brown sugar, egg whites, salt and cream of tartar over low heat. With a hand mixer, beat on low speed for one minute. Continue beating on low over low heat until the frosting reaches 160°, 8 to 10 minutes. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, then add the vanilla. Beat on high until stiff peaks form, about five minutes.

Step 6: Add the butter and peanut butter

Sarah Tramonte for Taste of Home

Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. If the mixture begins to look curdled, place the frosting bowl in another bowl filled with hot water for a few seconds. Continue adding butter and beating until smooth. Beat in the peanut butter for one to two minutes or until smooth.

Step 7: Frost the cupcakes

Sarah Tramonte for Taste of Home

Place the frosting in a pastry bag with a large star tip, then pipe it onto each cupcake. If desired, top the cupcakes with chocolate curls. Store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and let them stand at room temperature before serving.

Editor’s Tip: Topping these cupcakes with chocolate curls will make them extra special. To make the curls, warm a chocolate bar in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time, until just pliable. Run a vegetable peeler down the long edge of the chocolate bar.

Sarah Tramonte for Taste of Home

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake Variations

• Take a shortcut: You can use a chocolate or devil’s food cake mix to make the cupcakes before proceeding with the recipe.
• Change out the toppings: Skip the chocolate curls and decorate your cupcakes with sweet and salty honey roasted peanuts, chopped peanuts or mini peanut butter cup candies.
• Make a different frosting: If the idea of cooking eggs and sugar into a meringue base for Swiss meringue buttercream is intimidating, you can make easier, American-style buttercream peanut butter frosting instead.

How to Store Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Store unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature up to a day before frosting them. Frosted cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for three days. Just let them return to room temperature before serving.

Can you freeze chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes?

Yes, you can store frosted and decorated cupcakes in an airtight container in the freezer for up to two months. Let them thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving them. You can also freeze undecorated cupcakes and the peanut butter frosting mixture, if you want to make the components ahead of time. Defrost both in the refrigerator and re-whip the buttercream until it regains its fluffy, pipeable texture.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake Tips

Sarah Tramonte for Taste of Home

My egg whites and sugar scorched. What did I do wrong?

The most technically challenging part of this chocolate and peanut butter cupcake recipe is definitely cooking the egg whites and sugar to make the base for the Swiss meringue buttercream peanut butter frosting. We call for doing this directly in a pan on the stove, but if you’re using a gas stove where your pan may have hot spots and cooler ones based on where the flame hits it, instead cook the mixture in a double boiler—a heat-safe bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. That will disperse the intensity of the heat under the egg whites so you don’t get a film of cooked egg on the pan.

My meringue stayed soupy. How do you fix a meringue that won’t whip?

If your egg white and sugar mixture wouldn’t whip to stiff peaks, there’s a chance it didn’t cook to a high enough temperature to integrate the two ingredients into a matrix capable of supporting the weight of the fat in the butter and peanut butter. We recommend using an instant-read thermometer to ensure that the meringue mixture reaches 160°.

What is the secret to good cupcakes?

The secret to good cupcakes is not overmixing your cupcake batter. Overmixing develops the gluten too much, resulting in dense and tough cupcakes. Instead, mix the wet and dry ingredients together until just combined.