Peanut Butter Cupcakes - Just Put 'Em In Your Mouth, K?

September brought three different birthdays at work and so of course, that meant three different kinds of cupcakes.  I planned on blogging them all but it turns out a second hand is required for photographing while dealing with volatile caramel, and making gluten-free cupcakes requires a lot of timing and attention.  Mission: Blog3Cupcakes was abandoned and Mission: BlogAnything began.


I love peanut butter, and cake, and when I first came across this recipe it seemed like a big hand-to-the-forehead DOH! Instead of cupcakes, I used two loaf pans and made a peanut butter cake with a jam & peanut butter frosting that was presented as half sammies.  It was really good, so it seemed like a natural evolution to a peanut butter cupcake with chocolate.  The chocolate was good, but next time I'm going to try and keep the PB & J theme intact.  There's something really comforting and nostalgic about that archetypal sweet and salty taste.


This recipe is adapted from the June 2010 issue of Cuisine at Home. (Issue 81)


Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting


Tools 
muffin/cupcake tins, whisk, hand or standing mixer, measuring cups and spoons, spatula, medium bowl, large bowl, muffin/cupcake liners


Ingredients 
3 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached; 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. table salt, 1 1/4 cups whole milk; 2 tsp. vanilla extract; 1 1/2 cups of creamy peanut butter; 1 stick of unsalted, softened butter; 2 cups granulated sugar; 1 cup packed brown sugar; 6 room temperature eggs

A word about the peanut butter: Don't use an all-natural kind.  I am kind of a staunch Adams Creamy kind of girl- I scorn the Laura Scudder and Sunny Select varieties.  I made the mistake the first time I made this recipe of sticking to my guns- it wasn't a disaster, but it was nothing I'd want proclaim, "I made that!" about.  The crumb of the cake will be drier and coarser, and more like a cornbread than a cake.  The natural peanut butter is much harder to cream and incorporate.  Just trust in Jif or Skippy or whatever brand you prefer-- I know it can be difficult, but sometimes you just have to compromise your principles to eat something delicious.  


Preheat the oven to 350, and line the tins.  Set them aside. 


Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set that aside.


Combine the milk and the vanilla in a small bowl or measuring cup. Set it aside.


In the bowl of your standing mixer, or a large bowl if you're using a hand-mixer, cream the peanut butter, unsalted butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar.  

It's going to take about 5-7 minutes on high speed.  Make sure the sugar dissolves into the peanut butter, but don't over do it. It won't be super light and fluffy like creaming plain butter and sugar-- but resist the temptation to overbeat. You don't want the cake to be too dense. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 30 seconds after each addition.  

Add about 1/3 of the flour mix to the wet ingredients and beat on low speed just until it's mixed.

Add a third of the milk. Continue alternating the flour and milk, beating just until mixed.

I like to use an ice cream scoop to measure my cupcakes, because it helps keep things neat and evenly distributed.  Divide the batter among the tins, and bake for 22-26 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  This recipe makes roughly 36 cupcakes, so you might have to repeat this step.

The frosting I used was pretty simple-- 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, 1/4 cup of dutch cocoa, 2 tbsp of powdered sugar and a sprinkle of salt.  Combine it all. Let stand in the fridge for about an hour so that the cocoa can dissolve. Remove from fridge and beat until it is the consistency of whipped cream, a little thicker if you're piping it onto the cupcakes.

Pour a glass of milk and put one in your mouth. Voila!