Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

All your favorite flavors all wrapped up into one handheld cupcake? Yes, PLEASE. These fudgy chocolate cupcakes are topped with a dreamy peanut butter buttercream and finished off with a salted caramel drizzle. How you say… drool? Grab the recipe for these peanut butter chocolate cupcakes below!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Sauce

I think we could all use a peanut butter chocolate cupcake drizzled with salted caramel today. Probably for breakfast. At least that’s what I could use, and I’d feel a lot better about it if we all ate these indulgent cupcakes together. Plus they’re super easy to make, easy to share, and even easier to eat!

You will love them.

What do you need to make these perfect peanut butter chocolate cupcakes?

These peanut butter chocolate cupcakes consist of 3 separate components: super moist and fluffy chocolate cupcakes, dreamy peanut butter icing, and a to-die-for salted caramel sauce. It sounds like a lot, but it’s so worth it!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients for the Chocolate Cupcakes

• Granulated sugar – Plain old white sugar is the only sweetener you’ll need for this decadent chocolate cake.
• Cocoa powder – Cocoa Powder is what gives this cake its deep chocolatey flavor, so make sure you use a high quality cocoa powder. We always use Rodelle’s cocoa powder and cannot recommend it enough.
• All Purpose Flour – No fancy cake flour required! You can use regular ol’ all purpose flour to create that velvety crumb.
• Baking powder + Baking Soda – A combination of baking powder and baking soda will create a beautiful rise in your chocolate cake.
• Eggs – Use large eggs at room temperature for the best results!
• Buttermilk – Buttermilk is an absolute must when it comes to cake baking. It will give your baking soda a little extra oompf and really deepens the flavor of your cake. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand (does anyone?!), you can make your own buttermilk at home!
• Strongly Brewed Coffee – Coffee will deepen the flavor of the chocolate. I promise you, your cake will NOT taste like coffee. Just deep, rich, velvety chocolate 🙂 Make sure your coffee is at room temperature to prevent cooking your batter!

Ingredients for the Peanut Butter Frosting

• Peanut Butter: DUH! We recommend using a classic creamy peanut butter like Jiff, Skippy or Peter Pan. A natural peanut butter that needs to be stirred might split, so go for the cheap stuff for this recipe!
• Unsalted Butter: We like using unsalted butter in frosting so you can control exactly how much salt goes into your frosting. Make sure your butter is at room temperature for the creamiest frosting.
• Confectioners Sugar: This peanut butter buttercream only requires 1 cup of powdered sugar for the ultimate salty-sweet finish to your pb chocolate cupcakes.
• Vanilla: Make sure you’re using pure vanilla extract for the best results!
• Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is the secret ingredient to a perfectly silky peanut butter buttercream. It will keep your frosting light and fluffy without any splitting or curdling.

Ingredients for the homemade salted caramel (optional)

• Granulated Sugar: You’ll need plain ol’ granulated sugar to make homemade salted caramel.
• Unsalted Butter: I like to use unsalted butter in homemade caramel so that you can control how salty or not salty you want your caramel to be!
• Heavy Cream: A splash of heavy cream will give you the creamiest, richest homemade caramel. You can also use half and half if it’s all you have on hand!
• Salt: All sweet treats need a little bit of salt to deepen the flavor profile. You can feel free to adjust the amount of salt to your taste, but make sure to add at least a pinch 🙂

Tips for the best peanut butter chocolate cupcakes

These chocolate cupcakes taste like they’re straight from a bakery, but a child could make them. Which is about the level of difficulty I can handle today lololololololol. In all seriousness though, you don’t even need a stand mixer for this recipe and it’s the perfect indulgent treat to whip up with your nonbaker friends or a kiddo. Just follow these three simply steps and you’re guaranteed a gourmet cake.

• Don’t use hot coffee: Brew your coffee and then pop it in the fridge for ten minutes to cool it down so that you don’t scramble the eggs in your batter!
• Use high quality cocoa powder: The quality of your cocoa powder will make or break your peanut butter chocolate cupcakes, so please splurge an extra dollar on the higher quality stuff. Your cupcakes will thank you.
• Do not over bake your cupcakes: There is nothing sadder than a dry chocolate cake. Take your cakes out when a knife comes out mostly clean rather than waiting for it to come out completely dry. Your cupcakes will continue to bake as they cool!

• Author: Sofi | Broma Bakery
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 2 hours
• Yield: 24 cupcakes
• Category: dessert
• Method: oven
• Cuisine: american

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

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All your favorite flavors all wrapped up into one handheld cupcake? Yes PLEASE. These fudgy chocolate cupcakes are topped with a dreamy peanut butter buttercream and finished off with a salted caramel drizzle. How you say….drool? Grab the recipe for these peanut butter chocolate cupcakes below!

• Author: Sofi | Broma Bakery
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 2 hours
• Yield: 24 cupcakes
• Category: dessert
• Method: oven
• Cuisine: american

Units: USM

Ingredients

for the chocolate cupcakes

• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups dark cocoa powder
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup strongly brewed coffee

for the salted caramel sauce

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

for the peanut butter buttercream

• 2 cups peanut butter
• 12 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 Tablespoons cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• pinch of salt (to taste)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 standard cupcake tins with cupcake liners. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk oil, vanilla, eggs, and buttermilk.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, whisking until no lumps remain. Pour in the cooled brewed coffee, mixing until just combined.
4. Using 1/3 cup measure or a large cookie scoop, divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins. Bake for 22 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean and the cupcakes spring back to the touch. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool.
5. While the cupcakes cool, make the salted caramel sauce and the peanut butter frosting. To make the salted caramel, heat the sugar on medium low heat in a heavy bottomed sauce pan until its completely melted, swirling the pan gently every 20 seconds or so. The sugar will start to form clumps before melting slowly. Be patient and keep an eye on it to make sure it does not burn.
6. Once melted, remove from heat immediately and stir in the butter. The mixture will violently bubble. You’re doing it right.
7. Next, pour in the heavy cream and sea salt. Stir until everything is combined.
8. Pour into small bowl or cup and pop into the fridge to cool completely before using.
9. While the caramel cools, make the peanut butter frosting. In a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, combine the peanut butter and room temperature butter. Beat until creamy and completely combined, about 1 minute.
10. Add the powdered sugar, cream, vanilla extract, and salt and beat on low speed until combined.
    Scrape down the bowl and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
11. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a star tip and set aside until the cupcakes are cool.
12. Once the cupcakes are cool, pipe the frosting onto each cupcake in desired design.
13. Drizzle with the caramel sauce if desired and top with a sprinkle of flakey sea salt. Devour!