Chocolate-Fudge Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream

This last Saturday was my Grandma Jean's 80th "Surprise" Birthday Party and I was in charge of baking her a cake and cupcakes.  For the cupcakes, I wanted something fun and tasty!  I've seen many bloggers bake Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups inside cupcakes, and one of my cookbooks also has a recipe for them.  I seriously love anything that involves Peanut Butter and Chocolate, well just about anything!  So I decided I would just use box mix Chocolate Fudge cake mix, and made this homemade Peanut Buttercream which I found over at Inside BruCrew Life.  Which btw, she's always baking up something yummy and sweet, check her blog out...love it!  It seriously is the best buttercream I've made and tasted so far!  I could've set there and ate the whole bowl full of frosting...but I decided I better save all those yummy calories for everyone else!!

Nom Nom Nom...!

Ingredients for Cupcakes:
1 box Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix (I used Betty Crocker), plus ingredients to make cake
Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, unwrapped (I used the new Reese Peanut Butter Cup mini's unwrapped and bite sized)

Directions: Mix up cake mix as directed on package.  Line cupcake pan with liners, fill liners with approximately 1 tbsp of mix, add 2 mini Peanut Butter cups into cupcake liner, continue to fill liner to 2/3 full.  Bake as directed on box.  When toothpick comes out clean, they are done!  Cool completely before frosting cupcakes on cooling rack.  Once cool, frost with Peanut Butter Buttercream (recipe to follow), and top with chopped up Peanut Butter Cups. 

Ingredients for Peanut Butter Buttercream:
2 sticks Butter (1 cup), softened
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
2 tbsp Water, plus 1-2tbsp (to use later)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/8 tsp Salt
4 cups Powdered Sugar

Directions: Cream butter and peanut butter together. Add in the water, salt, and vanilla, and cream again. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, scrape sides after adding each cup. After all the sugar is added, beat in another 1-2 tbsp. water. It should be very creamy and whipped looking.  Frost cupcakes using your favorite icing bag and tip!

Side notes: Before I added in the Peanut Butter Cups, I tossed them in some flower hoping they wouldn't sink to the bottom.  However, some did and some didn't.  I'm not sure what I did wrong, any idea's?  Next time, I think I'll use the normal miniature peanut butter cups, they are a little bigger and  I would only need to use 1 instead of 2 per cupcake.  Also, I only needed to add 1 tbsp of water, but you may want to add another tbsp, depending on the consistency you're looking for. 

I actually baked these cupcakes on Thursday night, decorated one up to take a picture of (and to devour), and the rest I frosted on Friday night after I got to my dad's.  They were a HUGE hit!


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At Home With Haley
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