Peanut Butter Cupcakes

I love peanut butter. I love cupcakes too. So when I finally found a recipe that combined both peanut butter and cupcakes, naturally I jumped at the chance to make them. With only 1/2 cup of peanut butter in them, these cupcakes are not overwhelming in their peanut butter taste. The taste of the cake is subtle and when paired with a simple chocolate ganache glaze then topped with chopped peanuts...delicious. I think these cupcakes would also be good with a jelly inspired glaze or frosting. So next on my list is to come up with something to match that and goes with the cupcakes.

These are not cupcakes that require a lot of frosting. In fact, I think it would ruin the flavor of the cake if they had a pile of frosting on top (this coming from the girl who scrapes the frosting off a cake to eat first). I went ahead and used the glaze included with the recipe, though I used semi-sweet chocolate instead of milk chocolate. I love milk chocolate but sometimes its just too sweet.

I loved the added crunch of the chopped nuts on top. Very, very tasty. The guys at work accused me of trying to make their desks messy since I keep bring muffins and cupcakes with crumbly tops! Hehehe...maybe I am!

While these were in the oven baking, my apartment smelled like peanut butter cookies. It almost made me whip up a batch of cookies to go along with them! I made these for a co-worker's birthday last week and they were a definite hit. It definitely gave me a boost to receive praise on them. I've been stepping up my baking lately and trying to experiment with different flavors to expand my baking/cooking abilities.

I'm also trying get more into the food blogging game. I've been participating in Tuesdays with Dorie to get my feet wet and I've been having a blast. Sorry if the look of my blog seems to change often, I'm trying to find a nice balance with it and I'm not as familiar with Blogger's customization options. Bare with me through my learning!



Cupcakes:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup whole milk

Icing:
2/3 cup heavy cream
8 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped (I used semi-sweet instead)
2/3 cup chopped peanuts

Special equipment: a muffin tin with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups and paper liners

To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together peanut butter, butter, and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until blended, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and beat until fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and milk alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture, then mix until just combined.

Divide batter among lined muffin cups (about two-thirds full) and bake in middle of oven until pale golden and a tester inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Turn cupcakes out onto a rack and cool completely.

To make the Icing while cupcakes cool: Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan, then pour over chocolate in a small bowl. Let stand 1 minute, then whisk until smooth.

To thicken icing to spreading consistency quickly, spread it on a metal baking sheet and chill until thick and glossy, about 5 minutes. Scrape icing back into bowl and stir until smooth. Spread icing on cupcakes and sprinkle with peanuts.

Cooks' notes:
* If you aren't pressed for time, chill icing in bowl, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 20 to 30 minutes before spreading on cupcakes.
* Iced cupcakes keep, chilled in an airtight container, 3 days.

Source: Food Network and Gourmet Magazine