Peanut butter cupcakes with fluffy chocolate frosting make for the best reese’s cupcakes! Add chopped reese’s into the batter or in the frosting for a stand out peanut butter chocolate cupcake.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line 2 muffin pans with 24 liners.
In a mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aide.
2 ¼ cups (270g) all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt
In a separate larger mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, oil, and brown sugar, beat together using an electric mixer. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract, beat again. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk, alternating between the two and mixing on low speed until everything is incorporated.
⅔ cup (167g) creamy peanut butter, ½ cup (118ml) vegetable oil, 1 cup (213g) brown sugar, 4 large eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 cup (236ml) buttermilk
Fill the liners 1/2 full with batter. Bake one pan at a time in the center of your oven for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely in the pan before frosting.
Chocolate Frosting
Place room temperature unsalted butter in a mixing bowl. Use an electric mixer on high and beat the butter for 3 minutes, until whipped and fluffy. Whipping the butter for 3 minutes will create a delicious fluffy frosting.
2 cups (452g) unsalted butter
Add in the cocoa powder, 3 cups powdered sugar, salt and vanilla extract, beat again on low for 1-2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until everything is incorporated. Add in 1 to 2 additional cups of powdered sugar (taste the frosting to determine how much you want to add) and 3 tbsp of heavy cream, beat again.
1 cup (84g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder, 4 to 5 cups (454-567g) powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 3 to 4 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
If the frosting is too thick, add an additional tablespoon of heavy cream, and beat until creamy.
Assemble
I used an Ateco 844 piping tip to pipe the frosting on these cupcakes. It’s kind of a ruffled frosting technique.
Start in the center of the cupcake, applying pressure to the frosting bag. Squeeze with the piping tip straight on top of the cupcake until the first layer of frosting reaches the edges of the cupcake. Rotate the cupcake a quarter turn, then repeat, stacking on another layer of frosting. Rotate the cupcake a quarter turn, then repeat, stacking the final layer on top. The 2nd and 3rd layers of frosting get consecutively smaller to create a tiered look. Add chopped peanut butter cup pieces to each cupcake.
Notes
Properly measure the all purpose flour using the spoon and sweep method.