Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Surprise Cupcakes

So I LOOOVE Peanut Butter. and I LOOOVE Chocolate. So it's only appropriate that Reese's was my first love.

Whoever Mr. (or Mrs.) Reese was, deciding to put Chocolate & PB together is almost as genius as PB & J. It just works.

I've had my eye on these cupcakes from Stop Lookin'. Get Cookin'. for quite some time now & decided to finally give them a go. I tweaked them a little bit and even though they weren't quite as aesthetically pleasing as the originals (check out her pics by the way -- food photography > my cell phone), they were still delicious! I am now in love with PB Buttercream.

I cooked a nice hot supper of Slow Cooker Chicken BBQ which is a Mikey fav along with slaw and some squash casserole, which I had never done before but we had boo coos of squash so I decided to give it a whirl. To my surprise, even Sticky Vicki loved it (who normally does not like anything that is not in it's raw, healthiest form. I even said at the dinner table with my Daddy, sister, and Mikey as my witnesses that she wouldn't like it. AH-MAZING! Maybe I'll post that recipe sometime.

I took the cupcakes to a church softball game to get as many of them out of my house as possible and my feedback was positive! Although I did get lots of funny looks and exclaims when they found the Reese in the middle. Like I said, I love baking for other people, but my diet does not need 24 cupcakes hanging around in my house. I did eat one for breakfast though....Guilty.

I decided to use THE BEST Chocolate Cake recipe from Kevin & Amanda, minus the chocolate chips because I forgot them and I'll have to admit -- it might be the best.

Then you just drop a Reese's Miniature Peanut Butter Cup in the middle of the batter, bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean, cool & frost with Peanut Buttercream. Be sure to check out Stop Lookin'. Get Cookin'.'s photos. I didn't do all of the prep shots that she did, so hers will give you the idea of what it will all look like before and after.

Shoutout to big sis Lindsay who bought me the adorable Leopard Print Tins. She knows how I feel about animal print (It's my second favorite color). I hate she wasn't home to enjoy one after taking the CPA exam last night -- she probably could've used some chocolate therapy ;)

Peanut Buttercream Frosting

adapted from  Stop Lookin'. Get Cookin'.

Yield: About 4 cups of frosting – enough to ice a 9” layer cake or more than 24 cupcakes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

You can make this frosting from scratch or you can just add some peanut butter to a can of store bought frosting or some regular butter cream icing. Add about ¼ to ½ cup of peanut butter at a time to see if you like the taste. Be careful not to add too much though. If you do, it will get too thick and become more of a filling rather than a frosting. If it does get too thick, just beat some milk into the mixture until you get the desired consistency.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup salted butter - softened
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter (more if you want a stronger peanut butter flavor)
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla
• 6 - 8 cups (approx. 1 ½ - 2 lb.) powdered sugar
• 6 - 8 tablespoons milk

Directions:

1. Cream shortening and butter together with an electric mixer.
2. Add peanut butter and mix well.
3. Add vanilla.
4. Gradually add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each cup.
5. When all sugar is added, stir in milk, 1 tablespoon at a time until you get the desired consistency you are looking for.
Store left over icing in an airtight container. Rewhip before you use it next.