Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

I couldn't let a weekend go by without baking so before starting my talapia dish, from the post before, Lauren and I whipped up a batch of Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes. Sounds delish, right?? They were!


I figured I could just tuck Reese's cups inside any chocolate cupcake recipe, but wanted to make sure they'd be great so I searched high and low and found a great recipe from Mindika Moments, which I soon found out was her own homemade recipe. The batter was very fluffy, which helped keep the Reese's cup from sinking while baking. They turned out so rich, incredibly delicious and look beautiful! (Thanks to my baking assistants Lauren and Becky) ;)


Recipe:
8 ounces cream cheese (about 1 cup), softened
2 egg whites
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 box chocolate fudge cake mix
1 cup water
36 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter cups

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2) In a large bowl combine cream cheese, egg whites and vegetable oil. Using a mixer, beat the ingredients until combined and creamy. Add the cake mix and water and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes.
3) Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full. Place 1 mini Reese Peanut Butter Cup on top of the batter. Do not put the cup down into the batter, just set it on top. Bake about 18 to 20 minutes. The Reese’s will settle down into the cupcake as they bake.
4) Remove from the oven and let cool slightly in the tin, then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack. When cool, frost with the frosting. Then top each cupcake with a mini peanut butter cup sliced in half.

Frosting Recipe:
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
3 tbsp coco powder
3-4 cup powdered sugar

1) Beat the peanut butter and butter with a mixer until smooth.
2) Add the coco powder and mix well.
3) Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until desired thickness of frosting.
4) This frosting is quite thick so you'll need to thin it out a little, add a couple tablespoons of milk. I used about 4.
5) Frost as desired then top with little Reese's chunks.