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I’m guessing you figured that Peanut Butter Love Week wouldn’t be complete without at least one cupcake recipe. I’ve whipped up an insanely rich and delicious cupcake recipe that is bursting with the peanut buttery goodness we all adore.
You’ve heard me reminisce about my father and brother and our mutual love of candy in several posts. Jared and I prefer our candy on the fruity side of the spectrum; Starbursts, Gummi Bears, and Hi-Chews. My dad is definitely more of the chocolate lover with a list of favorites that most certainly contain Reese Peanut Butter Cups, especially of the Easter egg variety. He claims they’re better than the traditional cups, and I must say that happen to wholeheartedly agree. Along with Snickers, he was and still is quite fond of placing (hiding) his Reese Easter Eggs in the freezer. He says they’re better frozen, I think he’s sneaky…little does he know everyone has been on to his game for a very long time.
I have made Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes before, but this time I they are so much better! The frosting had the perfect balance of sweet and salty and the baked in Mini Reese Cup was a little surprise of pure peanut butter bliss.
Just a fair warning to all you cake mix haters out there…I used my favorite doctored up cake mix for this recipe, but you can certainly use this as a framework and make adjustments according to whatever floats your boat.
Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes
- 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
- 1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso granules dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
- 24 Reese’s Miniatures; frozen (this prevents them from disappearing into the batter)
For the Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1.5 pounds (24 ounces or about 5.5 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted
- 6-8 tablespoons heavy cream (if using milk, amount will be less)
Directions:
For the Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla and espresso water mixture. Beat for about two minutes on medium speed until well combined.
- Using a large cookie scoop, distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells; about 3 tablespoons of batter per well.
- Press one frozen Reese’s Miniature into the center of each cupcake.
- Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched. There will be a small sink hole in the top of the cupcakes from the Reese’s Miniatures, that’s okay - you’ll cover that with frosting. Allow cupcakes to cool inside muffin tins for about 10 minutes.
- Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.
For the Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, cream butter and peanut butter on medium speed until fluffy. Turn your mixer down to low speed and slowly add in the confectioner’s sugar, and continue mixing until well blended.
- Add vanilla and 4 tablespoons of heavy cream. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 1 to 4 tablespoons of heavy cream until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.
- Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes and finish with chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
Notes:
- Frosting was piped onto cupcakes using the large round tip.
- Cupcakes are best served the day they are made, but will store in a sealed container within the refrigerator for two days.
Follow Jamie on Instagram. We love to see what you're baking from MBA! Be sure to tag @jamiemba and use the hashtag #mbarecipes!
I made these cupcakes last night, and they were absolutely WONDERFUL! Great recipe!
Hi,
Since they’ve downsized the cake mixes (they’re roughly 15.25 -16.5 oz.), would you use the same amounts of oil, sour cream, eggs, etc.? It just seems like there are not enough dry ingredients for the wet ingredients (i.e., soupy batter). It would seem you would need to add the missing 2-3 oz. of flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder? Have you modified your recipe for the smaller boxes? If so, can you please post it? Thanx so much and I appreciate your help.
LHS
Hi there,
I cover the changes in this post: https://www.mybakingaddiction.com/cake-mix-recipe/
– Jamie
I have made these at least a dozen times and each time they are a huge success! People (to include myself) can not get enough of them. They are moist and so flavorful! The only thing different that I do is quarter up the Reese’s and push them into the batter before baking. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Darlene-
Thanks so much! It’s great to hear that the recipe is such a hit. Thank you for stopping in to share and have a wonderful day!
-Jamie
Oh my goodness those look scrumptious!
Hi, I would love to make these cupcakes for my boyfriend’s birthday, but unfortunately I won’t have time to make/ice them the day of. I will be making them around 9-10 PM, and serving them around 1-2 PM the next day. Do you think this will be an issue, or would you suggest any alternations to the icing recipe so it doesn’t dry out? Thanks!!
The icing should be fine so long as the cupcakes remain refrigerated.
– Jamie
These look amazing! I was wondering if they could be made into mini cupcakes? And maybe halve the mini reeses inside? Or would the ratio be thrown off? Sorry, don’t back that much, but am making some for a baby shower…thanks!
Sharon,
I’m sure you could bake them as mini cupcakes, but I suggest leaving the Reese’s out the first time, or doing a test batch with them before committing yourself.
– Jamie
Salted butter work (rather than unsalted)?
Salted butter should be fine in the frosting, Shanna.
– Jamie
OMG!! I just made these cupcakes and they are unbelievably delicious! Thanks, Jamie, for another great recipe!
Michele-
You are so welcome! Thanks for stopping in to let us know! Have a great day and thanks for following MBA!
-Jamie
Hi, I usually make cupcakes before an event and freeze them, would it be possible to do that with this recipe? Of course I would frost them the day I serve them. Thank you!
Hi Sandy, that should work fine.
– Jamie
Thank you so much for a wonderful recipe. My extended family absolutely loved them at our party. Do you know of any substitutions for espresso or coffee? I know chocolate recipes taste better with it, but we are not coffee drinkers, so I’m trying to find a replacement. I think you could mention to not press the peanut butter cup too far into the batter. Mine ended up all the way on the bottom.