How cool is it to have your birthday on a National holiday? Seriously, you can always tell yourself that the entire country is celebrating YOU! I guess, when my husband was a kid he always thought that everyone was shooting off fireworks for him. Surprise surprise, when he was old enough to know better he realized that the 4th of July was Independence Day. Whoops. Until this year he has never EVER missed 4th of July fireworks. Sadly, this year much of our state is under a firework ban due to the crazy dry weather. There are a couple of towns still shooting some off, but they're pretty far away. Besides, it's crazy hot outside and we are not big fans of taking our 11 month old baby outside in the blazing heat unless absolutely necessary. In hopes of cheering him up, and making up for the lack of fireworks, I chose to make him cupcakes (and a cake) that resembled his favorite candy in the world: Reese Cups. Oh yeah! You know this is going to be good when peanut butter and chocolate are involved. I can tell you over & over again that these taste exactly like Reese cups, but until you try them, you won't really grasp the reality of the statement. The frosting for these babies is so rich and creamy you kinda want to just melt after the first bite. To give these an extra kick, I stuck a mini Reese cup inside some of the cupcakes. *sigh* It was like eating a piece of chocolaty heaven. Did we see fireworks outside? Sadly, no. Did our mouths explode from the deliciousness? Oh yeah!!
Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcake
Inspired by Good Heavens Baking
For the Cupcake:
2 c all-purpose flour
2 1/2 c sugar
3/4 c dutch processed cocoa (Valrhona for me!)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1 c vegetable oil
1 c sour cream
1 1/2 c water
2 Tbsp distilled white vinegar
1 tsp Mexican vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Mini Reese Cups (optional)
For the Frosting:
10 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
5 c confectioners' sugar
2/3 c smooth peanut butter
For the ganache:
4 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 Tbsp smooth peanut butter
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 c half-and-half
For garnish (optional):
Mini Reese cups
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prep your cupcake trays with liners.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together until well blended. Attach to mixer, then mix oil and sour cream in, using paddle attachment. Beat in water at low speed, followed by vinegar and vanilla. Lastly, add eggs, one at a time, until they are completely incorporated.
Grab your trusty scoop and fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. If desired, unwrap your Reese cups and push one in each cupcake, right-side up. Pop trays into oven and bake 17-19 minutes, or until tops pop back up when lightly pressed. These are going to be very soft, so let them sit in your cupcake pans for about 10 minutes before tipping them out, onto your cooling racks. If you try to pull them out, you might smoosh them.
While these cool, prep your frosting. Toss your butter and cream cheese into mixer bowl and beat for 1 minute. Scrape down your bowl, then beat for one more minute until it is nice and creamy. Slowly add confectioners' sugar, about 1 c at a time. Beat this for about 3 minutes, until beautifully light and fluffy. Last, add your peanut butter, mixing for another minute. The color will seem very light, and you might not think that it is peanut buttery enough. Trust me, it is. You don't want to go overboard, or these cupcake will be even more intense than they already are. Go ahead and pipe frosting onto cupcakes, once they are COMPLETELY cool.
For the ganache, put your chopped chocolate, peanut butter, and corn syrup into a double boiler (or a glass bowl, over a saucepan, as I did) Whisk constantly, until smooth. Remove from heat and quickly whisk in half-and-half. Working quickly, pool ganache over frosting. It should be nice smooth, so it will drip down the side of your frosting, making them look BEAUTIFUL. If desired, garnish these with unwrapped mini Reese Cups.
Grab yourself a tall glass of milk (trust me) and take a bite. You will never regret trying this recipe. I know I won't!
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