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There is only one thing better than chocolate and peanut butter right now.
Gluten free cheerios!!! You’re probably laughing at me.. but I haven’t had cheerios in 8 years. It was a sad, long, cheerio-less time. When General Mills announced they were making gluten free cheerios, it was a great day, almost as good as the day Ryan asked me to marry him :)
I’ve been stalking the cereal aisle like it’s my third job (first job = nanny and second job = blog). Even if we were just at the store a few days ago and we were there again picking up something else, we had to walk down the cereal aisle. I even resorted to calling grocery stores to see if they had them.
One weekend we were at the store and I told Ryan I was just going to peak down the cereal aisle to see if they had them, I looked quickly and I couldn’t find them. I told Ryan I couldn’t find them as he was walking down the aisle, he took a second glance and TA DA!! He found them! I proceeded to hug the box while we finished our shopping and I opened it literally right after we walked out the door. Cheerios have never tasted so good.
To get to the point, I’m in this honeymoon period with cheerios right now (I just found the apple cinnamon ones this past weekend!!!) so nothing compares to them.
But I’m sure in a few months, the novelty will wear off and chocolate and peanut butter will regain their #1 spot as the best thing ever.
Let’s talk about how to swirl the cupcake batter and how to swirl the buttercream.
For the batter – alternate between the chocolate and peanut butter batter when adding it to the muffin pan. Use a skinny knife to swirl the batter together on the top. I don’t like sticking the knife down too far because that can lead to the tops looking wonky.
For the buttercream – I’ve tried all the methods for swirling buttercream frosting and the one I like best and happens to be the simplest is the “put one buttercream on one side of the piping bag and the other buttercream on the other side of the piping bag”. Genius. The trick is to try to get the same amount of buttercream on each side so they come out evenly together.
Now, who’s ready for some chocolate & PB?!
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ½ cup flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ½ stick butter, room temperature (1/4 cup)
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 2.5 tbsp sour cream
- 1 tbsp melted chocolate, cooled
Peanut Butter Cupcakes
- ½ cup + 1 tbsp flour
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2.5 tbsp peanut butter
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- ¼ tsp vanilla
Chocolate Buttercream
- 1 stick butter, 1/2 cup
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- ¾ cup cocoa
- 2-2.5 cups powdered sugar
Peanut Butter Buttercream
- 1 stick butter, 1/2 cup
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- ¾ cup peanut butter
- 2-4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gently mix using a spoon.
- In a larger mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar, beat using an electric mixer until fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla, lightly beat.
- Add in the sour cream and melted chocolate, mix by hand using a spatula.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, do not dump it in, rather take spoonfuls of the flour mixture and gently shake it over the wet ingredients, as if you were sifting in the flour. Fold in the mixture until no flour remains. Repeat with the other half of the flour, folding it in and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl to incorporate everything. Set aside.
Peanut Butter Cupcakes
- In a bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the peanut butter, oil, and brown sugar, beat together using an electric mixer. Add in the egg and vanilla, beat again. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk, alternating between the two and mixing by hand until everything is incorporated.
- Begin to add the batter into the pan, alternating between chocolate and peanut butter. Fill the cupcake liners almost completely full with batter.
- Place the pan in the middle of the oven and bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool for about 3 minutes in the pan, then take them out and allow them to cool upside down on a cooling rack. This will help create cupcakes with a dome top.
- Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before adding the frosting.
Chocolate Buttercream
- In a mixing bowl, combine the butter and vegetable shortening, beat using an electric mixer until fluffy. Add in the cocoa powder, and gently mix by hand with a spatula.
- Begin to add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing by hand first, then with the electric mixer. Continue adding powdered sugar until the frosting tastes good to you.
Peanut Butter Buttercream
- In a mixing large bowl, combine the butter and vegetable shortening, beat using an electric mixer until fluffy.
- Add in the peanut butter, beat using electric mixer.
- Begin to add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing by hand first, then with the electric mixer. Continue adding powdered sugar until the frosting tastes good to you.
To frost the cupcakes
- In a piping bag fit with a wilton 6B piping tip, do your best to add chocolate buttercream to one side of the bag and peanut butter buttercream to the other. Push the buttercream down into the bag. Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes, starting on the outside edge and working your way into the center, progressively stacking the frosting as you get to the center.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
I’m a big fan of cupcakes, I’ve never tried peanut butter flavored ones though, yours look fantastic!
Oh my gosh, that needs to change soon!!
That buttercream looks insanely delicious, and so darn pretty! And yes to GF Cheerios – I’ll have to let a couple of my GF friends know.
Oh for sure!! They will be so happy about them!
These cupcakes are gorgeous! I kind of have a love affair with cherrios too. They are my favorite cereal!
A lot of people write them off, but I love them now that they are GF!
I really like that you used sour cream in this recipe. These look delicious!
It makes the chocolate cake extra moist!
Chocolate and peanut butter is seriously my husbands favorite flavor combo ever. There’s never enough chocolate or peanut butter around. I might have to make a gf version of these to surprise him and win a wife of the year award ????
I say.. DO IT!!
I say.. DO IT!!
These cupcakes are amazing – I’ll take 3 dozen! ;)
Done :)
The swirl in the cupcakes and the frosting is absolutely perfect Beth! Wish I was eating one right now!
I wish I was eating one with you!!
Beth! My daughter just got cleared of her peanut allergy, which means I can finally make all your amazing looking peanut butter treats, I am so excited! :)
WOOHOO! I bet she is so excited, and you too!
These cupcakes are so perfect! … and that baking pan is so beautifully destroyed. I love it!
Oh thanks! Haha.. my mom has been using it for many, many years!
These hurt my heart I want them SO SO BAD!!!! Looks amazing!
Haha, you make me laugh!