Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

A few weeks ago, I finally broke in my new KitchenAid mixer by baking Kyle some peanut-butter cup-filled chocolate cupcakes topped with peanut butter buttercream.

I also tried my hand at macarons and homemade pop tarts for the first time. Though tasty, they were far less successful than the cupcakes. Read on for a step-by-step guide to make the most amazing chocolate peanut butter cupcakes you've ever had!

Step 1: Snag yourself a kick-ass boyfriend to buy you a pink (or color of your choice) KitchenAid stand mixer. Take a picture during the creaming process.

Step 2: Scrape down the sides of the bowl and gently incorporate outlying batter. Did some of it "accidentally" get on your finger? That's okay, just lick it off--no one will know. Unless you blog about it, of course.

Step 3: Top the batter with a miniature peanut butter cup. You'll have some left over, which is good because you'll probably want to do a taste test, ya know, to make sure they're up to snuff. Throw these suckers in the oven.

Step 4: After they cool and have been topped with your peanut butter buttercream, get RILL silly and dunk 'em in chocolate. Stare in amazement at the masterpiece you've created.

Step 5: I mean, it should be obvious what comes next, really.

Are these, or are these not, amazeballs 2012?! Sensing your overwhelming urge to make some, here's the chocolate cupcake recipe I used. 

Peanut Butter Buttercream

2 sticks of butter, room temperature

1 box of confectioner's sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup creamy peanut butter (feel free to add more or less to taste)

Cream the butter with a cup of sugar at a time. Once the sugar is fully incorporated, add vanilla and peanut butter. Top cupcakes with buttercream. If dunking in chocolate, refrigerate for at least 15 minutes (don't rush this--the frosting must be chilled for the chocolate coating to harden).

Homemade Chocolate Shell

1 16 oz. bag of milk chocolate chips

1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil

Melt chocolate chips. Add vegetable oil and stir. Allow to cool for a few minutes before dunking chilled cupcakes.

Poll Time: Which Cupcake Should I Bake First?

In the past 5 weeks, I've lost 8 pounds. Obviously, I lost nearly a stone eating nothing but cupcakes.

Ha! I wish! No, I lost 8 pounds on a steady diet of ice cube run off and large gusts of wind. But dammit, I look good! If you'd like to know why I'm on an all-deprivation-all-the-time diet, just check this out.

Anyway, now that I'm taking a brief hiatus from my diet, it's time for me to get some use out of my birthday present...you remember this mixer, right?

Right. So the thing is, I was planning to make something that my boyfriend would like. After all, he is the one who bought it for me (ladies: get yourself a sugar daddy...it lit'rally is everything it's cracked up to be). 

The thing is, he really likes chocolate and peanut butter. Don't get me wrong, it's a classic combo, but given that I've done it before, I was really hoping to make something different and a little more challenging (i.e., impressive).

I thought about making caramel filled chocolate cupcakes topped with peanut butter icing dipped in chocolate ganache...at least that would be a bit more exciting, right? Something a la this:

Photo via Something Shiny

I've been dying to make a Snickerdoodle cupcake, though. Snickerdoodles are my favorite cookie after all. It's cinnamon and sugar--bananas!!

Photo via Telly's Tasty Tidbits

And then there was this white chocolate raspberry concotion. I mean, don't EVEN get me started...

So I need your help, my lovely readers. Look, I've even built a poll for you!!! It was a LOT of work!!! Tell me what flavor you think I should christen my mixer with. I can't promise you I'll make the one that wins, but I will seriously consider it. And by seriously consider, I mean do whatever I want anyway. Hugs!