Devil's Food Cupcakes with peanut butter frosting

By now you know I love cupcakes. Hell, I named my website after them, of course I love cupcakes. If you follow my Facebook page, you know that we are PCSing in a few very short weeks. I'm happy to be going to a new duty station, we've been at this one for 4 years (his entire first enlistment) and I'm excited to start a new chapter in our lifelong adventure. But I will miss making cupcakes for his shop, I'm hoping his new shop accepts my wonderful treats so I can get my baking addiction taken care of occasionally.


So I wanted to make one last batch for his shop, and tomorrow is their division Christmas potluck. Of course my husband immediately volunteered to bring cupcakes. He originally wanted me to make 5 or 6 batches, all different! I would have been able to do it but it wouldn't have been very cost effective so I decided to just do a couple batches of one type. I'd been wanting to try this recipe out for months and since I've been having a chocolate and peanut butter craving, I figured these would be perfect! They are from the wonderful Brown Eyed Baker, I love her recipes and this one is no exception. Plus I got to use my new hot pink Kitchenaid mixer, so all in all it's been a GREAT evening!

What you'll need:

For the cupcakes

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

½ cup (1.5 ounces) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

¾ cup (3.75 ounces) all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

¾ cup (5.25 ounces) granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon table salt

½ cup (4 ounces) sour cream

1 bag Nestle chocolate chunks

For the frosting

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

⅓ cup heavy cream

Preparation:

1. To make the Cupcakes: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat to 350 degrees F. (If you are using a non-stick muffin pan, heat the oven to 325 degrees F.) Line standard-size muffin pan with baking cup liners.

2. Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in medium heatproof bowl. Set bowl over saucepan containing barely simmering water; heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted and whisk until smooth and combined. (Alternately, you can microwave the mixture at 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds until completely melted.) Set aside to cool until just warm to the touch.

3. Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder in small bowl to combine.

4. Whisk eggs in second medium bowl to combine; add sugar, vanilla, and salt until fully incorporated. Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Sift about one-third of flour mixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until combined; whisk in sour cream until combined, then sift remaining flour mixture over and whisk until batter is homogeneous and thick. Stir in chocolate chunks.

5. Divide the batter evenly among muffin pan cups. Bake until skewer inserted into center of cupcakes comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.

6. Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Carefully lift each cupcake from muffin pan and set on wire rack. Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes.

7. To make the Peanut Butter Frosting: Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

**My notes: If you want to make this recipe easier, use a box of devil's food cake mix for the cupcakes.**

Original recipe link: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2010/06/10/dark-chocolate-cupcakes-with-peanut-butter-frosting/