The Perfect Pair

As I started my last post, I absolutely love any and all things that are chocolate and peanut butter.
The best peanut butter frosting I have ever made was found on Sprinkle Bake's blog for a Coca-Cola cupcake with a salted peanut butter frosting.  I've made slight adaptations to the frosting, which I have made a few times. I have only baked the cupcakes once.

I made these last night because I hadn't baked anything all week and my girlfriends were coming over.
They were a hit.  One of my friends commented that she could eat the frosting by the spoonful- It is THAT good!

This is a frosting recipe that you definitely want to try. It will become your go-to peanut butter frosting!

Here is a recipe for my Chocolate and Peanut Butter Bliss Cupcakes:

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bliss Cupcakes

Yields 2 1/2 dozen cupcakes

Cake: adapted from Hershey's

Frosting: adapted from Sprinkle Bakes Blog

Filling: Adapted from Kraft

Combination: Original

Chocolate Cake:

Ingredients: 2 eggs, 1 C. milk, 1/2 C. vegetable oil, 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract, 2 C. sugar, 1 3/4 C flour, 3/4 C. unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder,   

1 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp. salt, 3/4 C. hot water combined with 1 Tbsp. of instant coffee

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line 30 cupcake tins. 

2. Combine ingredients in the order listed, adding one ingredient at a time.  Be sure to mix slowly when adding the coffee- the batter becomes very runny.

3. Fill cupcake tins 2/3 of the way full. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Allow to cool.

Peanut Butter Cookie Truffle Filling:

Ingredients: 18 peanut butter and chocolate sandwich cookies (such as Oreos), 6 oz. softened cream cheese

1. Using a food processor, crush the cookies to fine crumbs.

2. Reserve about 2 Tbsp. of the crumbs.

3. Mix the remaining crumbs with the softened cream cheese until well blended.

4. Once the cupcakes are cooled, add about 2 tsp. of the filling into the center of the cupcake (I use a cupcake corer).

Salted Peanut Butter Frosting:

Ingredients: 4 C. powdered sugar, 1 C. softened, salted butter, 1 C. creamy peanut butter, 2 Tbl. heavy cream

1. Beat the softened butter in the mixer, until it becomes almost whipped. 

2. Add 1 C. of the sugar at a time, until well blended.

3. Add in the peanut butter and beat on high for about 10 minutes.

4. Whip in the heavy cream.

5. After adding the filling to the cupcakes, pipe on the frosting.

5. Enjoy!