A super soft and moist chocolate fudge cupcake topped with a creamy peanut butter frosting. This classic recipe uses the reverse creaming method for a deliciously soft and buttery crumb.
So sorry for having to share yet another chocolate cake recipe! And a fudgy chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting recipe at that! I’m on a whole chocolate craze lately, since the beginning of the year actually, and I still haven’t had enough 😂. I’ve even re-made my double chocolate fudge cookies and have managed to make them even more amazing! be sure to check them out 😄.
This is probably my favourite… there’s peanut butter involved.
This recipe is based on my already-top-post of the year chocolate fudge cake that I shared earlier this month. The cake is so moist and rich, deeply chocolate-y and fudgy and just leaves you needing more. Coupled with my favourite frosting, a perfectly creamy and peanut buttery frosting that just pairs so well with the chocolate cupcake.
Reasons to adore this cupcake:
- Deep chocolate flavour with a lusciously soft and buttery crumb. Using the reverse creaming method gives the cupcake a beautiful super soft and moist crumb.
- Ease and simplicity. This cupcake is a one bowl recipe meaning that everything will get beaten in one bowl so cleaning up will be minimal.
- Guaranteed results. Having a perfectly soft fudgy cupcake that is also moist and flavourful is quite literally the best. As long as the steps mentioned in the recipe card below are followed, you will get this cupcake!
- Gorgeous peanut butter frosting that is creamy and bursting with flavour. The combination of chocolate and peanut butter is like no other. Definitely one of my favourites.
Power ingredients that guarantee results:
First and foremost, fresh room temperature ingredients are key to succeed with these cupcakes. The ingredients mix together much better compared to cold ingredients so they cupcakes will bake perfectly.
- Softened butter: although chocolate cupcakes tend to use oil, these cupcakes are made using all butter. We incorporate it into the dry ingredients instead of creaming it with sugar. In doing so, the butter moistens the flour and this prevents the batter from overmixing and the baked cupcake becoming tough or dry.
- Cornflour: just a tablespoon gives the cupcakes such a soft crumb, it’s definitely a must add ingredient.
- Soft brown sugar: replacing some of the white sugar with soft brown sugar makes these cupcakes nicely fudgy with a lovely caramel undertone.
- Buttermilk: the combination of buttermilk with the cocoa powder and brown sugar reacts with the baking soda giving a luscious melt-in-your-mouth crumb. If you can’t find buttermilk, a mixture of sour cream and milk can be used instead.
I used chunky peanut butter for the frosting, just as I did here with these cupcakes, that’s my favourite way to go these days. Alternatively you could just use creamy peanut butter and top with peanuts. Using the chunky peanut butter gives you a little bit more texture and depth of flavour.
I drizzled some chocolate on top but the cupcake is just as perfect without it. You could even melt some chocolate and drizzle that instead or top with chopped chocolate bars like Reeses 😉 or even add some nuts and/or caramel!
I’m a major peanut butter chocolate lover so this is my kind of cupcake! the frosting goes with pretty much any chocolate cupcake recipe and I HAVE made it with all of these chocolate cupcakes but I had to make a chocolate and peanut butter cupcake recipe with it’s own post 🙂
Chocolate-y, moist, fudgy and peanut buttery. The perfect cupcake 😍
Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes With Chunky Peanut Butter Frosting
16
Cupcakes20
minutes17
minutes37
minutesThis recipe makes up to 16 cupcakes or 1 layer 9 inch cake.
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Ingredients
3/4 cup (90gms) minus 1 tablespoon flour*
1 tablespoon corn flour/corn starch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (48gms) natural cocoa powder
1/2 cup (100gms) unsalted softened butter, cut into cubes
1/2 cup (100gms) white sugar
1/4 cup (50gms) soft brown sugar**
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (125mls) buttermilk***
- For the frosting
1/2 cup (100gms) salted softened butter
2 cups (250gms) icing sugar
6 tablespoons (90mls) milk
1 1/2 cups (380gms) peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to180C/350F. Line a muffin tray with cupcake cups. This recipe should make 16 cupcakes.
- In a bowl, add the flour then sift in the corn flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder until well combined. Add in the sugars and whisk until everything is well mixed together.
- Add in the butter and whisk until all the flour is moistened and mixture resembles coarse sand.
- Add in the eggs one at a time whisking between each addition and whisk until the mixture is smooth, about 1 minute on medium speed. It will look like a very thick frosting.
- Add in the buttermilk and vanilla and whisk until batter is smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Batter will be slightly thick and smooth (only just thick enough to spoon into cupcake cups).
- Divide batter between cupcake cups and bake until cooked through about 15 – 17 minutes, don’t over bake so try and take them out of the oven when a toothpick or knife comes out with a few moist crumbs (no batter) attached to it. Cool cupcakes on a wire rack before frosting. (I like to cool for about 10 – 15 minutes on the rack then place in an air tight container to continue cooling completely. This helps retain as much moisture as possible and is a great trick for all cakes and cupcakes).
- For the frosting
- Whisk butter and peanut butter until combined.
- Add in the icing sugar and milk until well blended. Add more milk if the frosting is too thick. Don’t overmix the frosting.
- Frost cooled cupcakes and top with crushed peanuts.
Notes
- *For best results, you should measure 3/4 cups flour and remove 1 tablespoon. This is replaced with 1 tablespoon corn flour for a better structured cake.
- **White sugar can be used instead of soft brown so you would use 3/4 cup (150gms) white sugar all together.
- ***Unless you have actual buttermilk, I’ve found that sour cream is the best substitute so use 1/4 cup (60gms) sour cream whisked with 1/4 cup (60mls) milk instead. If you can’t find sour cream then substitute with thick Greek yoghurt. Use as stated in the recipe.
- Recipe adapted from The Best Chocolate Fudge Cake and Oreo Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes.
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