Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcakes!

It's been a while!

My god it has been a while!

I have been so busy lately completing my degree, but now I am FREEEEEE and that can only mean one thing...baking, baking and more baking!

Anyway I'm back with another tasty recipe...

Are you ready??

I've never really been a fan of peanut butter, but I was asked by a friend to make her some cupcakes that involved peanut butter.  So I decided to make my brownie cupcakes with peanut butter icing.

Here they are!

Surprisingly Delicious!

Here's how I did it!

Ingredients

For the brownies:

- 185g unsalted butter

- 100g best dark chocolate

- 85g milk chocolate

- 85g plain flour

- 40g cocoa powder

- 50g white chocolate chips

-50g of milk chocolate chips

- 3 large eggs

- 275g golden caster sugar
- 12 muffin cases
- 12 hole muffin tin

For the icing:

                                 - 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened                           

                    - 100g smooth peanut butter                  

- 100g icing sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Reese's Peanut Butter cups (quartered)

- 1 tablespoon double cream
- Piping bag and nozzle

Method

1. Cut the butter and the dark and milk chocolate into small chunks and put into a bowl.  Put the bowl over a saucepan that has a small amount of water in it (about 2 inches).  Make sure that the bowl is not touching the water. Put over a low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted, stirring occasionally to mix them. Once all combined and liquidy, remove from the heat and set to the side to cool at room temperature.  
2. Pre-heat your oven to 160C fan/ 180C conventional/ gas mark 4 and prepare your cupcake tin with your choice of cases.  I chose cute pink polka dot ones :)
3. In another bowl break in the eggs and add the golden caster sugar.  With your electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar together until they look thick and creamy, almost a milk shake sort of consistency!  It may take a while if your mixer isn't very powerful, but keep going, it'll get there eventually! When it's ready it'll be pale in colour and double its original size.  
4. Next, pour the cooled chocolate and butter combo, over the egg and sugar mixture, then gently fold together with a rubber spatula.  Do not over mix, you want to keep as much air in the mixture as possible.  Gently use a figure eight motion, plunging in at one side and taking it under and out the opposite side.  It'll be a marbled brown colour when it is ready, just remember to be gentle.  
5. Sieve the flour and cocoa powder into the mixture, the fold it in using the same motion as in step 4.  It'll look fudgy in consistency when it is ready, stop before you think you should, to make sure that you're not over mixing.Once that is done, stir in the white and milk chocolate chips until they’re dotted throughout. Phew! Take a breath, you're done mixing for now, it's the ovens turn to tag in!
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared cases, make sure that you use all of the mixture to make the most out of the recipe.  Pop it in the middle of the oven for around 25-35 minutes, to check give the tray a slight shake, if it is ready then they will not wobble in the middle.  Another test is to stab it with a cocktail stick, if it comes out more or less clean then they are done.   The tops should look like shiny, cracked, paper! 
7. Leave them on a wire rack to cool whilst you get on with the icing.  
8. In a bowl, combined the butter and peanut butter using your electric mixer on a medium to high speed.  It'll be pretty sticky so now you can add the double cream and vanilla extract at this point, which will add a bit of liquidity.  Once they are combined gently sift in the icing sugar in small batches.  Keep mixing together until it is all combined and smooth in consistency.  
9. Once the cakes are cool, fill a piping bag, with your nozzle of choice attached (I used the Wilton 2d nozzle) but any nozzle will do, or if you don't have any piping bags or nozzles then you could use a knife to roughly apply the icing to the tops of the brownies.  Top them all off with some of the Reese's peanut butter cups.    
10. Sit back, relax and enjoy!

I hope that you enjoy making these cupcakes, I know I did (I probably enjoyed the eating more if im honest!).  Check back for more indulgent recipes coming soon :) If you have any requests, leave me a comment below!