We are huge peanut butter lovers in this house, but you don’t see a ton of peanut butter recipes on here because our daughter has a nut allergy. We still eat it, but I don’t bake with it that often, which is a shame because it’ SO good. Buckeye Balls. Peanut Butter Cups. Chocolate + Peanut Butter. It’s such a wonderful amazing perfect combo. Every now and then I give in and whip something up…
Something like chocolate cupcakes with a buckeye ball type filling and peanut butter buttercream frosting.
Yeah, these are mind blowingly delicious.
I originally wasn’t planning to share these on the website for a few reasons… By no means is this an original idea, I’ve seen many people put peanut butter / Buckeye balls in cupcakes, so I take no credit for the idea. I made them late at night, which makes for lousy photos. I was baking them for a friend’s birthday, working quickly, with no time to set up for pictures and what not. But after sharing a few pics on Instagram, I realized that I had to share these. This is really more of an “idea” than it is a “recipe”. So some of the “in progress” pics are from my phone and not my camera, but you’ll still get the idea.
I started by making my peanut butter balls – the same ones I make when I make Buckeye Balls (quite possibly one of the greatest things EVER). There are SO many versions of peanut butter balls. I used the filling recipe at A Hen’s Nest for my peanut butter balls. (IF YOU WANT A QUICK CHEAT, USE A PB CUP OR GRAB SOME OF THOSE EASTER PB EGGS THAT ARE AVAILABLE – THEY WOULD PROBABLY WORK JUST FINE!) After making 24 of them, I put them in the freezer and made my cupcakes. For the cupcakes I used a good old box Devil’s Food cake mix. After preparing according to the package directions, I put a bit of cake batter in the bottom of each of my cupcake liners, and then added my peanut butter balls.
Next I covered the peanut butter balls in the remaining batter and baked according to the directions on the cake mix box. I was a little worried as to how the peanut butter balls would survive in the oven but a quick check after they were done revealed that they held their form wonderfully. Yay!
Seriously you could just stop right here and call it good. They are delish. Adding a peanut butter buttercream just takes them completely over the top, in a very good way. Much like peanut butter balls, there are many different recipes for peanut butter buttercream to pick from. Many have cream cheese, but since I was not going to be keeping these in the fridge, I decided to go a non-cream cheese route. I rarely follow an actual recipe when it comes to frosting, but it breaks down like this…
Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting
- 3/4 cup butter at room temp
- 1/4 cup shortening (Crisco) (or for people like my friend Risa who hate shortening, just add more butter!)
- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 4 – 5 cups powdered sugar
In a mixing bowl combine your butter, shortening, peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Add in your powdered sugar, starting with four cups. Add about 1/4 cup of your whipping cream, combine well with mixer and switch to a high speed to beat until fluffy. You can play with the amounts of powdered sugar and whipping cream to get the exact texture and consistency that you want.
Then simply frost your cupcakes. You can pipe it on. Use a spatula. Even just get a spoon and eat the frosting straight from the bowl – it’s not like there are frosting laws you have to follow (at least not that I’m aware of and if there are, ignorance is bliss). Top them however you like. Ever since seeing Kristan’s brilliant idea of using mini peanut butter cups as cupcake cupcake toppers over on Confessions Of A Cookbook Queen, I have been wanting to do something similar.
If you like peanut butter and chocolate, you must make these. If you are one of the many families who always make Buckeye Balls during the holidays, you must make these. If however you are allergic to peanut butter and would have to chase it down with epinephrine, do not make these. I’ve been challenged by my daughter to come up with a similar not lethal version of these for her, which I will share if I am successful at it.
Just to clarify – while my daughter does have a nut allergy, she is technically allergic to tree nuts (though we avoid peanuts as well, just to be safe). She has no issues whatsoever with nuts around her, so rest assured I’m not risking a trip to the ER to have some cupcakes!
Want to package up some to give away? One of my favorite ways to package up single cupcakes is to put them in a small clear plastic cup, put the cup in a bag, tie with a ribbon and call it good. SO simple, and makes transport a breeze.
Enjoy!
Want some more peanut butter and chocolate recipes? You must check out the Chocolate and Peanut Butter Bites From Other Blogs!
Sadie Frericks says
These look amazing. They satisfy my hubby’s requirement that dessert isn’t dessert unless there’s peanut butter and chocolate involved. They appeal to my love for cupcakes. Saving recipe to make sometime soon, really soon.
Becky says
My daughter also has both a peanut and tree nut allergy. We use Sunbutter as a peanut butter substitute. It is made from sunflower seeds and we love it. It looks like PB and has the same consistency. I have used it to replace the PB in the no-bake cookies (a.k.a. preacher cookies) and it turned out great. Will have to try this one too!
Kathie vanderaa says
Just what I was looking for and the presentation is beautiful!
But where is the PRINT button for this recipe?
Thank you, in advance, for your help.
Christi says
Hi Kathie, sorry, I did not a print option a few years ago when this was written. What I often do myself in cases like that is just highlight the text I want, copy it and paste into a word doc to print. I’ve been trying to update the old recipes with printable versions, but it’s a slow going process.
Anna says
Quick question… how early in advance could you make the cupcakes? I saw your recipe and would love to try and make them for a bridal shower; however, I’m terrified of making the day of in case I screw them up! 🙂 Any chances, one might be able to make them a day ahead and would they still taste good? I’m new to the entire cupcake baking world! 🙂 Thanks! Also, thanks for sharing the recipe! 🙂
Christi says
Anna, yes, a day ahead would be fine! I would just store them in the fridge. 🙂 Enjoy!
Amanda says
Just wanted to let you know of an alternative to PB. We were shopping at Costco and came across a demonstrator sharing WOW BUTTER. I had seen it before but with the price, I just kept going. My son was with me and decided to try it. He LOVED it. His school is a peanut free school so we have been looking at alternatives to PB. We found some called PEABUTTER, but it had an aftertaste that my son didn’t like. If it is at all possible, WOW BUTTER tastes BETTER than PB. Or, at least I think so… THe price for I think it was 2Kg was $13 something. But now, he can have yummy tasting PB and J sandwiches for lunch at school without harm to others. Try it! Your daughter will LOVE it! 🙂
Hope this helps!
Christi says
Amanda – thank you! Do you have any idea what it is made of? I could look it up. PB is such a great ingredient and I miss using it more often. I would love to find an alternative that isn’t insanely ridiculous. I always feel so bad for those with many allergies like dairy, gluten, soy – eating must cost so much, there are lots of alternatives but they all seem to have quite a price attached to them. I will look for it, thanks for the tip!
shelley says
My nephew is allergic to nuts too, severely like you touch it and him we are going to the ER. and he loves his tahini sandwiches. its sunflower oil i believe, but it has the same consistency as peanut butter.
Jaime says
3/4 c or 3/4 stick of butter?
Christi says
Jamie, 3/4 cup – sorry! 🙂
Nikki says
Hi! This recipe was amazing and i followed the recipe for the peanut butter balls you suggested. Taste was amazing but my peanut butter balls melted to the bottom. Do you have any suggestions how to stop this? Thanks! Nikki 🙂
Christi says
Nikki, I find different peanut butters can really change the outcome, and that the more “natural” ones that I like to eat don’t do very well so I usually stick with a Jif or Skippy type. You might want to up the dry ingredients in the pb balls and make sure you freeze them prior to baking. But all peanut butters certainly don’t react the same ways, so don’t be afraid to add in more powdered sugar. I actually prefer to make my pb balls on the dry side. 🙂 Hope that helps.
Bette says
Clever idea for packaging individual cupcakes, but how do you get them out of the cup without getting icing all over your fingers?
Lisa Frank says
These look AMAZING! I just *had* to think of an excuse to make them, so here it is…Teacher Appreciation week is May 7-11, so my daughter’s teacher and the school staff will be receiving big trays of both these cupcakes and your Oreo truffle version, packaged in cups and cute bags just like you showed. I’m so excited! I was a teacher for 10 years before I had kids, so I know how appreciated these delicious treats will be. 🙂