Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

By srumbel

Let’s talk about how to swirl the cupcake batter and how to swirl the buttercream.

For the batter – alternate between the chocolate and peanut butter batter when adding it to the muffin pan. Use a skinny knife to swirl the batter together on the top. I don’t like sticking the knife down too far because that can lead to the tops looking wonky.

For the buttercream – I’ve tried all the methods for swirling buttercream frosting and the one I like best and happens to be the simplest is the “put one buttercream on one side of the piping bag and the other buttercream on the other side of the piping bag”. Genius. The trick is to try to get the same amount of buttercream on each side so they come out evenly together.
from thefirstyearblog.com

Ingredients

• Chocolate Cupcakes
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 stick butter, room temperature
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2.5 tbsp sour cream
• 1 tbsp melted chocolate, cooled
• Peanut Butter Cupcakes
• 1/2 cup & 1 tbsp flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2.5 tbsp peanut butter
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• Chocolate Buttercream
• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 2-2.5 cups powdered sugar
• Peanut Butter Buttercream
• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 2-4 cups powdered sugar

Preparation

Step 1

Chocolate Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners.
In a small mixing bowl, combine the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gently mix using a spoon.
In a larger mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar, beat using an electric mixer until fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla, lightly beat.
Add in the sour cream and melted chocolate, mix by hand using a spatula.
Add half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, do not dump it in, rather take spoonfuls of the flour mixture and gently shake it over the wet ingredients, as if you were sifting in the flour. Fold in the mixture until no flour remains. Repeat with the other half of the flour, folding it in and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl to incorporate everything. Set aside.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

In a bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the peanut butter, oil, and brown sugar, beat together using an electric mixer. Add in the egg and vanilla, beat again. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk, alternating between the two and mixing by hand until everything is incorporated.
Begin to add the batter into the pan, alternating between chocolate and peanut butter. Fill the cupcake liners almost completely full with batter.
Place the pan in the middle of the oven and bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow the cupcakes to cool for about 3 minutes in the pan, then take them out and allow them to cool upside down on a cooling rack. This will help create cupcakes with a dome top.
Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before adding the frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream

In a mixing bowl, combine the butter and vegetable shortening, beat using an electric mixer until fluffy. Add in the cocoa powder, and gently mix by hand with a spatula.
Begin to add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing by hand first, then with the electric mixer. Continue adding powdered sugar until the frosting tastes good to you.

Peanut Butter Buttercream

In a mixing large bowl, combine the butter and vegetable shortening, beat using an electric mixer until fluffy.
Add in the peanut butter, beat using electric mixer.
Begin to add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing by hand first, then with the electric mixer. Continue adding powdered sugar until the frosting tastes good to you.

To frost the cupcakes

In a piping bag fit with a wilton 6B piping tip, do your best to add chocolate buttercream to one side of the bag and peanut butter buttercream to the other. Push the buttercream down into the bag. Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes, starting on the outside edge and working your way into the center, progressively stacking the frosting as you get to the center.