Note: Peanut Butter Pie Cupcakes are from an older recipe that I created and only tested once. I liked it enough to post it, but if you are looking for a well-tested cupcake recipe, this is not it. That doesn't mean it's not good. I love the cake and the frosting, but may experiment with different peanut butter fillings.
Here's another reason I like the BIG cupcake wrappers. They hold more filling! In this case, that filling is peanut butter pie, so I'm calling them Peanut Butter Pie Cupcakes.
I got the idea for these after reading a reference to peanut butter pie and thinking I'll never be able to make it because the only person around here who really likes peanut butter is me. There was no way I could share a half eaten peanut butter pie with Todd's office friends or the neighbors, so I decided to try scaling down just the filling of a peanut butter pie and stuffing it into large chocolate cupcakes. It worked.
Peanut Butter Pie Filling
The only issue I had was finding the right peanut butter pie, which is why the cupcake in the photo has what appears to be two different fillings. The first one, which I scooped out, was Paula Deen's peanut butter pie. It was good, but a little too thick and not quite sweet enough. With a little more sugar, that pie would probably have made a great filling. I wanted something a little bit lighter and tested the highest ranking peanut butter pie on allrecipes.com. It's fluffier texture worked well with the rich and creamy frosting.
What I did find, and maybe because this particular peanut butter pie is meant to be frozen and thawed, was that the cupcakes were best after a good chill in the refrigerator. Mine tasted best on Day 2.
Recipe
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour or 170 grams White Lily (170 grams)
- ⅔ cup unsweetened natural style cocoa
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup packed brown sugar
- ⅔ granulated sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk or milk soured with a half tablespoon of vinegar
Filling
- 2 oz cream cheese softened
- 6 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-4 tablespoons milk
- 1 to 1 ½ cups Cool Whip
Chocolate Frosting
- 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter softened
- 2 tablespoon of sour cream room temperature
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar sift or aerate before using
- ¾ natural style cocoa powder
- 1 tiny pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 to 6 tablespoons of cream or half & half
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line 12 cupcake cups with jumbo (3 ½ inch) paper liners (e.g. Reynolds Foil Lined Baking Cups or ones with 1 ¾ inch high sides). You can also use smaller cups and make more than 12.
- Mix the dry ingredients (flour through sugar) together in a mixing bowl. Add the butter, oil, eggs and vanilla and stir until mixed, then gradually add the buttermilk. Stir well, then beat with an electric mixer for 1 minute or just until blended.
- Divide batter evenly among cupcake cups and bake for 25 minutes at 325 or until cakes are set. Let cool completely. Note: Smaller cupcakes will take less time.
- To make the filling, beat together all ingredients (starting with 3 tablespoons of milk and adding more only if needed) except for whipped topping. Fold in the whipped topping. Also, don't forget to taste and adjust milk/peanut butter/sugar to make sure YOU like it.
- Cut a big hole in each cupcake and reserve cuttings. Fill holes with peanut butter filling. Crumble some of the reserved cuttings over hole to cover peanut butter. Put in the refrigerator to chill.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the butter, sour cream sugar, cocoa, salt and 2 tablespoons of the cream as well as you can, then beat with a hand-held mixer until pasty and thick. Continue adding remaining cream until you get a nice, smooth, spreading consistency. Put the icing in a piping bag fitted with a large star tip or in a heavy duty freeze bag of which you will snip off the tip. Pipe a big star or dot over the hole where you buried the pie filling.
cupcake with filling says
great filling and frosting. it shapes almost like a cone.....
stephanie says
What a good idea! Peanut butter pie would be my number one choice! I wonder about a Kahlua/Bailey's Mudslide version or Banana cream/Vanilla version! Thank you for the ideas and recipe.
Anna says
I'm sure it would be fine. I'd start with 1/3 cup of heavy cream and sweeten it with a tablespoon of powdered sugar. Whip it after measuring.
Cynna says
They look delicious! Could I substitute real whipped cream for Cool Whip (which I can't eat)?
Caralyn @ glutenfreehappytummy says
oh my gosh...want!! this is my dream cupcake!
Anna says
Thanks Hillary! That's so sweet of you to say. And good luck with the cupcakes. I am starting to like them more now that I've discovered how much better they are filled. I've also found that people don't really notice if you use a scratch vs. doctored cake mix recipe (in most cases) so long as the frosting is really good. Filling them with something, even if it's just prepared instant pudding, makes cupcakes even more interesting. My favorite ones right now are actually large cupcakes made with doctored yellow cake mix, filled with vanilla pudding and topped with homemade chocolate frosting.
Hillary says
Wow! These look amazing!
I have to tell you, Anna--- your awesome recipes have made me a very popular gal at my small group and volunteer meetings! I have made several of your pies, cakes, and cookies and they are always a big hit. I have to admit, however, that I've always been a little intimidated by cupcakes and therefore reluctant to try my hand at making them. This recipe may change all that, though!
Thank you for all that you do! 🙂
Sue says
These look so good. My daughter's boyfriend would love these despite what that article inferred.
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says
This looks beyond amazing. I never thought a peanut butter pie could be incorporated into a cupcake!
Anna says
Gloria, I might try to duplicate the look next time by putting a spoonful of straight peanut butter into the hole before I put the filling in.
Gloria says
Beautifully executed even with the scooped out filling. It looks like a lining for the filling. Yum!
Anna says
Thanks Lisa! They're pretty easy, too. Now I'm trying to find other good frozen pies that would make good fillings.
Lisa Huff @ Snappy Gourmet says
Oh Anna, these look incredible!!!!