These are my new & improved peanut butter cupcakes. I use oil, brown sugar, sour cream, and extra milk to guarantee each cupcake is soft and moist. Very finely chopped peanuts add flavor. They’re tender, flavorful, and EASY, making this updated recipe the indisputable peanut butter cupcake champion!
Recipe disappointment solved.
Back in 2013, I published a different peanut butter cupcake recipe, a dessert I found easy at the time. They were far from perfect. The cupcakes were dense and dried out quickly. Many readers had commented with the same disappointing results. I knew I could do better. The cupcakes (and you!) deserve it. 🙂
And after a few cupcake experiments with many taste testers, I produced flavorful and soft peanut butter cupcakes. These laugh in the face of the old recipe and they’re even more wildly delicious than they look. So moist!!
Recipe Fix: Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Old Peanut Butter Cupcakes Recipe:
- Creamed butter & brown sugar
- Too many eggs weighed them down
- Not enough milk
- Not enough flavor
The original recipe called for creamed butter and sugar. This is how I typically start vanilla cupcakes. But peanut butter is a special ingredient. Though it’s technically “wet,” it’s heavy, dense, and actually pretty drying. Peanut butter baked goods need extra insurance to remain moist. I replaced the butter with oil and added sour cream and extra milk. Because the cupcakes are peanut butter flavored, we won’t miss the butter.
As we taste-tested, my friend Gabe recommended very finely chopped peanuts to amp up the peanut flavor. This addition worked miracles! If you chop the peanuts fine enough, they won’t be crunchy or anything. Rather, they’ll melt right into the cupcake itself.
As soon as they finished baking, I knew the new peanut butter cupcakes would be a huge success! They smell AWESOME. Here’s a list of everything I did differently.
New Peanut Butter Cupcakes Recipe:
- Oil instead of butter
- Keep the brown sugar for moisture & flavor
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 egg
- Sour cream for moisture
- Add more milk for moisture
- Finely chopped peanuts for flavor
And for even more flavor, I snuck some peanut butter into the chocolate frosting too!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting
The chocolate peanut butter frosting is simple. Start with butter, confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, and milk or cream. Remember: proper room temperature butter! Beat it together, then add vanilla extract, a giant spoonful of creamy peanut butter, and a pinch of salt. Just when you thought chocolate buttercream couldn’t get any better…. now it literally tastes like a peanut butter cup.. This is a VERY easy swirled frosting technique. Any large open or closed star piping tip will give you a similar swirl look. Though it’s a little smaller, I also love Wilton 1M.
If you’re looking for a little something different, top with my strawberry buttercream frosting for a PB&J flavor combination! And if you can’t get enough of peanut butter with chocolate, try these peanut butter chocolate swirl cookies next.
Peanut Butter Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Line a second pan with 2-3 liners because this recipe yields 14-15 cupcakes. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Using a handheld mixer, stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, or a whisk, mix the oil, peanut butter, brown sugar, egg, sour cream, and vanilla extract together in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients, milk, and peanuts and whisk or beat together until completely combined. Avoid overmixing. Batter will be slightly thick.
- Pour/spoon the batter into the liners, filling only 2/3 full to avoid baking over the sides. Bake for 21-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops of the cupcakes spring back when gently touched. For around 35 mini cupcakes, bake for about 11-13 minutes, same oven temperature. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
- With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, and milk. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then add the peanut butter, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes until combined. Add 1/4 cup more confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin or another 1-2 Tablespoons of cream/milk if frosting is too thick. Taste. Add extra peanut butter or a pinch of salt if desired.
- Frost cooled cupcakes. I piped a basic tall swirl using Ateco 849 piping tip.. Garnish with peanut butter cup, if desired.
- Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I recommend a cupcake carrier for storing and transporting decorated cupcakes.
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