Candy Stuffed Peanut Butter Cupcakes

 This is a recipe for peanut butter lovers only!  Hello??  Pick me!  Pick me!  These are the most peanut-y delights that I have made.  They consist of a peanut butter cake base, filled with peanut butter candies, and topped with peanut butter buttercream!  Oh heavens. 

I think I’ve said it before -I’m beginning to repeat myself as I get closer to 40- but if I was suddenly informed that I had a nut allergy and I could no longer eat peanut butter, I’m not sure I could go on.  Yes, I love it that much.  I would live out my remaining days in my bed, unhappy and craving vats of PB.  Have you seen the kind that has honey mixed in??  OMG!  So delicious.  

For these cupcakes, I used the same recipe that I used when I baked a Giant Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, except I put the batter into cupcake liners, and baked them for 20 minutes. 

You can fill these cupcakes with pretty much anything you want, but I thought the perfect accompaniment was Reece’s Pieces!  

The peanut butter frosting/icing/buttercream is amazingly light and fluffy.  It’s deceiving since having peanut butter in it makes me think that it would be heavy- but it’s totally not.  I hope you like it! 

Peanut Butter Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour (210 grams)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder (15 grams)
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda (1.5 grams)
• ½ teaspoon salt (2.5 grams)
• ¾ cup butter (180 grams)
• 1 ⅓ cups sugar (265 grams)
• ⅔ cup creamy peanut butter (165 grams)
• 3 large eggs (156 milliliters/5.25 ounces)
• ½ cup sour cream (121 grams)
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract (2.5 milliliters)

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F/180˚C.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together and set aside for later. 
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium speed until light and soft. Add the sugar, peanut butter, and eggs one at a time and continue to mix until combined.
4. With the mixer on low speed, mix in half of the flour mixture and then the sour cream and vanilla. Allow to incorporate and then add the rest of the flour mixture. Continue to mix until all of the flour has incorporated. 
5. Place liners into the wells of a cupcake pan and spoon about 4-6 tablespoons (60mL- 90 mL) of batter into each well. The wells should be about ⅔ full. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, remove from pan, and cool cupcakes completely on a wire rack.
6. When the cupcakes are cooled, take a sharp paring knife to hollow out the centre of the cupcake, about an inch wide in diameter. Save the hollowed out piece and cut the top off to replace back on the cupcake later. Fill the hole with chocolate covered candy pieces and replace the top back on the cupcake.
7. With prepared peanut butter buttercream, squeeze a dollop of icing in the centre of the cupcake (this gives the icing height), then, pipe a loop around and over top of the center dollop to finish off your cupcake. 
8. Finish by adding the candies, and chopped peanuts to the top of the cupcake.
9. Serve immediately, or store in the fridge in a sealed container for 2-3 days.

Peanut Butter Buttercream

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter (240 grams)
• 2 cups creamy peanut butter (540 grams)
• 4 cups icing sugar (400 grams)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (10 milliliters)
• 4-6 tablespoons milk, or as needed (90 milliliters)

Procedure:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and peanut butter until fluffy. 
2. Add half of the icing sugar and slowly continue to mix. 
3. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla and half of the milk. Mix until no clumps remain. 
4. Add the rest of the icing sugar, but do not add any more milk until the icing sugar begins to mix together more completely. 
5. Add one or two more tablespoons of milk until desired consistency is reached. (You will want a thinner buttercream for spreading onto cakes, and a thicker one for piping flowers, or borders.) 
6. Use immediately or store in a sealed container for 2-3 days in the fridge. If you are storing the buttercream in the fridge, allow it to come to room temperature, and remix it briefly before using.