Peanut Butter Cupcakes

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Soft and fluffy Peanut Butter Cupcakes are topped with a creamy homemade peanut butter frosting in this delicious recipe! It’s a peanut butter lover’s dream dessert!

Fluffy Peanut Butter Cupcakes

You know that feeling of sinking your teeth into an ultra moist and tender cupcake with pillowy soft buttercream on top? It’s heavenly! Now imagine both the cupcake and the frosting are filled with nutty peanut butter flavor. Mmmm. My kids can’t get enough peanut butter right now, so this is their dream cupcake!

These cupcakes are packed with peanut butter without being dense, which seems like it’s too good to be true! They are actually an update of an old peanut butter cupcake recipe, which was more dense. It can be hard to work with peanut butter because it’s quite dry. You actually need more liquid in a peanut buttercream than others because it can be dry. So I made a few extra adjustments to these cupcakes to make sure they had plenty of peanut butter flavor and weren’t too dense or too dry.

This recipe just gets it right. I didn’t stop adjusting the ingredients until both the cupcakes and the buttercream were perfectly textured and flavored. Needless to say, it was well worth the effort. This is hands-down my new favorite peanut butter dessert!

What You’ll Need

First, we’ll focus on the cupcakes, then we’ll get into our lovely buttercream. Here are the ingredients you’ll need for each:

For the Peanut Butter Cupcakes

• All-Purpose Flour: For structure.
• Baking Powder: To help the cupcakes rise.
• Baking Soda: This works with the baking powder to ensure fluffy, beautifully risen cupcakes!
• Salt: For flavor.
• Unsalted Butter: Brought to room temperature.
• Sugar: You don’t need much!
• Brown Sugar: Packed.
• Creamy Peanut Butter: I have not tested these cupcakes with crunchy peanut butter, so use it at your discretion.
• Sour Cream: For extra moisture.
• Vanilla Extract: For flavor.
• Eggs: You’ll need one egg plus an additional yolk.
• Milk: Half a cup of milk will make your cupcakes moist and fluffy.

For the Peanut Butter Buttercream

• Unsalted Butter: Room temperature.
• Peanut Butter: Creamy.
• Powdered Sugar: For volume and consistency.
• Vanilla Extract
• Salt: Just a dash, for flavor.
• Milk: Or water.
• Crushed Peanut Butter Chips (Optional): These add a unique touch on top and even more peanut butter flavor!

How to Make Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Perfect peanut butter cupcakes are just a few mixing bowls and an oven timer away. There are no special steps or tricky techniques involved in this recipe!

Make the Cupcakes

1. Prep for Baking: Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
2. Combine Dry Ingredients: Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set the mixture aside.
3. Beat Butter, Sugars & Peanut Butter: Add the butter, sugars and peanut butter to a large mixer bowl and beat together until light in color and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
4. Add Sour Cream & Vanilla: Add the sour cream and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.
5. Add Egg and Extra Yolk: Add the egg and additional egg yolk one at a time, mixing until mostly combined after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
6. Start Adding Dry Ingredients: Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until mostly combined.
7. Slowly Add Milk: Slowly add the milk and mix until well combined. The batter may look a little curdled, but that’s ok.
8. Finish Adding Dry Ingredients: Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until the batter is well combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all the ingredients are well incorporated. Don’t over-mix the batter.
9. Bake: Fill the cupcake liners only about halfway full. Bake them for 13-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
10. Let Cool: Remove the cupcakes from the oven and place them on a cooling rack to cool.

Make the Buttercream

1. Beat Butter: Beat the butter in a large mixer bowl until smooth.
2. Add Peanut Butter: Add the peanut butter and mix until well combined.
3. Start Adding Powdered Sugar: Add about half of the powdered sugar and mix until well combined.
4. Add Vanilla, Salt & Milk: Add the vanilla extract, salt and 3 tablespoons of milk or water and mix until well combined.
5. Finish Adding Powdered Sugar: Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until well combined.
6. Adjust Consistency: Add additional water or milk, as needed, until your desired frosting consistency is reached.
7. Pipe Onto Cupcakes: Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. I used Ateco tip 847.
8. Add Peanut Butter Chips: Sprinkle some crushed peanut butter chips onto the frosting, if desired.

Tips for Success

The process for preparing these peanut butter delights isn’t much different from that of your average cupcakes. Here are some tips to help you knock them out of the park!

• Use Room Temperature Ingredients: Bringing your butter and eggs to room temperature will help everything combine more easily.
• Do Not Skimp on the Creaming Time: Be sure to cream the butter, sugars and peanut butter for your batter until the mixture becomes fluffy and lightens in color.
• Avoid Over-Mixing the Batter: Stop mixing the batter once all of the ingredients are well incorporated. Over-mixing it can mess up the texture of your cupcakes.
• Don’t Overfill the Cupcake Liners: These cupcakes rise a good bit. Because of this, you should only fill the liners up to the halfway point. You don’t want the tops of the cupcakes baking up into each other.

How to Store Leftovers

These cupcakes should be kept in an airtight container at room temperature. They’ll stay fresh for 2-3 days, if stored properly.

Can I Freeze These?

Yes! These cupcakes can be frozen for 1-2 months, frosting and all! Just freeze them on a baking sheet or freezer-safe plate for one hour. Once the frosting has completely hardened, wrap each cupcake in a layer of plastic wrap followed by a layer of heavy-duty foil.

Freeze the wrapped cupcakes in a freezer-safe container. The night before you plan to enjoy them, remove them from the freezer and gently unwrap each one. Place the unwrapped cupcakes back in the container and thaw them out in the fridge. Bring them to room temperature before enjoying, if desired.

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More Peanut Butter Desserts to Try

Hungry for more peanut butter treats? The following recipes are calling your name!

• Reeses Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
• Crispy Peanut Butter Balls
• Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownie Layer Cake