These Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes are my go-to cupcake recipe! They’re rich, dark, and insanely moist. The Peanut Butter Buttercream on top is the perfect pairing, and only has 4 ingredients.
Ingredients
For the cupcakes::
3.75ozall purpose flour, by weight(3/4 cup, measured)
1/4cup+ 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1cupgranulated sugar
1tspbaking soda
1/2tspbaking powder
1/2tspsalt
1/2cupwhole buttermilk*
1/4cupoil**
1large egg
1/2tspvanilla extract
1/2cupcoffee***
chocolate syrupfor drizzling, optional
chopped peanutsfor garnish, optional
For the peanut butter buttercream::
1cupunsalted butterat room temperature
5ozconfectioner's sugar, by weight(1 cup, measured)
3/4cupcreamy peanut butter
1tspvanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
Whisk to combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk to combine the buttermilk, oil, egg, and vanilla. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry while stirring, and before the flour has disappeared into the batter, stir in the coffee. It will make the batter quite thin. Evenly divide the batter into the 12 muffin cups, but make sure they are no more than 3/4 full.
Bake for 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool on a wire rack completely.
To make the buttercream, beat all buttercream ingredients in a bowl until smooth and blended, about 3 minutes on high speed.
Pipe on the buttercream as desired. Optional: drizzle with chocolate syrup, and sprinkle on some chopped peanuts. Enjoy!
Notes
*Ideally, please use a real buttermilk here. However, I’ve successfully substituted 1/2 cup milk or almond milk mixed with 1 teaspoon white vinegar.**Any neutral oil works, such as sunflower, canola, grapeseed, melted coconut, etc.***The coffee does not need to be hot or freshly brewed. Leftovers are great. If you want to skip the coffee, substitute water.Storing leftovers at room temperature: I recommend you only keep for up to 1 day, though the USDA says butter can be left at room temperature for up to 2 days.Storing leftovers in the fridge: Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.Freezing: Store in an airtight container for up to 3 months.Make-ahead Instructions: This recipe can be made entirely and stored at room temperature for up to 1 day, in the fridge for up to 7 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. You may also refrigerate or freeze the components separately, then assemble them right before serving.