Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
These dark chocolate cupcakes are loaded with rich chocolate flavor, and topped with a light and creamy peanut butter frosting. If you are a chocolate/peanut butter fan, these are your jam!
I have a secret that I’m about to blab. It’s about me. And it’s a doozie. It’s going to rock your world…
I don’t really like cake…
Shhh…
Can you believe it? It’s the truth. Hard to fathom, with all those cakes that I decorate.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I will eat cake. But it pretty much ranks at the very, very bottom of the dessert hierarchy for me. Given options, I would choose pretty much anything over cake. Now, if you’re talking cheesecakes, flourless chocolate cakes, coffee cakes, crumb cakes, and things of that nature, well then that’s a whole different ballgame. But regular cake? Like birthday cake-cake? Meh. It’s just never really been my cup of tea.
But what I do love is frosting. And phenomenal frosting can absolutely make my day. Peanut butter or cream cheese frosting? It may as well just be Christmas. As a result, I love cupcakes because I can pile them sky-high with dreamy frosting and enjoy each and every bite. These dark chocolate cupcakes are a dream come true for anyone who is a cake or frosting lover – they are truly the best of both worlds.
These cupcakes are insanely rich and moist, and are made using the same type of method used for making brownies – melted chocolate is added to a whisked mixture of eggs and sugar, and then flour is stirred in.
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The resulting batter almost resembled a mousse; both thick and light. It creates incredibly moist cupcakes that also have a light and fluffy texture.
And the frosting. Oh the frosting. Bestill my heart.
I have been using this recipe for a couple of years now (how has it never made it on here before?!), mostly as a filling for chocolate cakes. But on top of cupcakes? Where I purposefully try to create a 2:1 frosting to cupcake ratio? AH-MAZING.
I cannot make this without taking spoonful after spoonful out of the bowl before decorating. It’s seriously irresistible.
Sometimes I’m tempted to make it to just have. Smeared on toast? Used as a dipping vessel for bananas or apples? So many possibilities. The “secret ingredient” in this frosting, just as in the Easy Vanilla Bean Buttercream, is the heavy cream. It creates a smooth and fluffy frosting that is easy to slather or pipe on.
If you are a fellow chocolate/peanut butter-aholic, you will love, love, LOVE these cupcakes. Put them on your baking list NOW!
Can’t Get Enough? More Favorite Chocolate/Peanut Butter Recipes:
- No Bake Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Cookies
- Marshmallow Crunch Brownie Bars
- Peanut Butter Cup Overload Cake
- Salted Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Buckeye Brownies
- Peanut Butter-Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips
One year ago: Sweet and Sour Chicken
Two years ago: Fresh Strawberry Tart
Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
- 2 ounces (56.7 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- ½ cup (43 g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- ¾ cup (93.75 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon (0.75 teaspoon) baking powder
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) table salt
- ½ cup (115 ml) sour cream
For the Peanut Butter Frosting
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
- 1 cup (258 g) creamy peanut butter
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¾ teaspoon (0.75 teaspoon) vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) kosher salt
- ⅓ cup (79.33 ml) heavy cream
Instructions
- Make the Cupcakes: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat to 350 degrees F. (If you are using a non-stick muffin pan, heat the oven to 325 degrees F.) Line standard-size muffin pan with baking cup liners.
- Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in medium heatproof bowl. Set bowl over saucepan containing barely simmering water; heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted and whisk until smooth and combined. (Alternately, you can microwave the mixture at 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds until completely melted.) Set aside to cool until just warm to the touch.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs combine; add sugar, vanilla, and salt and whisk until fully incorporated. Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Sift one-third of flour mixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until combined; whisk in sour cream until combined, then sift remaining flour mixture over and whisk until batter is homogeneous and thick.
- Divide the batter evenly among muffin pan cups. Bake until skewer inserted into center of cupcakes comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.
- Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove the cupcakes and set on wire rack to cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes.
- Make the Peanut Butter Frosting: Place the powdered sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.
- Assemble the Cupcakes: Frost the cupcakes with an offset spatula, or with a decorating tip (I used a Wilton 1M tip). Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Notes
- Since first making these cupcakes, this chocolate cupcake recipe has become my favorite. Feel free to use either!
- If you do not have sour cream, you can substitute plain yogurt or buttermilk.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
[photos by Whitney Wright]
Have made these a number of times -they’re superb!!
Is this enough peanut butter frosting recipe enough to frost a 13 x9 cake ?
Hi Gloria, Yes!
Made these today … the cupcake part, not the frosting. I’m making “my” birthday cupcake and wanted a perfect chocolate cupcake for the day (this is). Thank you! I’m filling it with some homemade strawberry jam that I made yesterday, topping with a very thin spread of chocolate ganache, and then piling high with a strawberry cream cheese buttercream that is to die for (the strawberry flavor comes from freeze dried strawberries turned into a powder). And for fun, I’m going to top with a chocolate dipped strawberry.
going all out. I’m worth it. :-D Happy Birthday To ME!!
Hi, could you please share your strawberry cream cheese buttercream recipe with me? It sounds divine I would love to make it for my birthday coming up soon I would appreciate it so much.
Can you substitute the Dutch cocoa with regular coca powder or like Hershey’s special dark?
Thanks!
Hi Taylor, You could use the Hershey’s Special for this.
I made these for a staff birthday party. Overall, the recipe was great! I made minis; they were done in about 13 minutes. I would advise making double frosting because I nearly ran out and wasn’t particularly generous with each cupcake. They were best after being refrigerated, which helped the frosting to be a little less oily. Next time I’ll top then with fruit- they tend to be a bit rich, so I’m hoping that the fruit will add a little acid balance.
Hi Michelle,
it’s okay, cakes likes you, you have a gift on this even though you did not like but you make great recipes of them..love to hear more of your cooking story…
Delicious frosting!!!!
* I didn’t make the cake, so no review on that : )
So tempting and mouth watering. chocolates and peanut butter are love ,thanks for sharing.
I had to check if I was reading the right blog. You don’t like cake? I’m shocked!
I love chocolate and peanut butter together! These cupcakes are amazing!
I love the cupcakes! It looks delicious and the colors are really inviting. :)
I made these today and they came out great. I loved the frosting and that the cake wasn’t overly sweet. They had a nice texture but were a bit crumbly but not dry. Overall a great recipe I will probably make again.
I made this chocolate cupcake w/ peanut butter frosting for a friend’s Church function and she said they were the first to go and the first tray empty. I felt so proud! Thanks for all these great recipres. They’re the bomb!!
These were horrible. Frosting was good but the cupcakes were horrible
Would whipping cream (35% fat) or cooking cream (35%be a better substitute for heavy cream ?
I would use whipping cream. Enjoy!
Hi, I was wondering if this dough could be used for a small 5” cake and if so what are the proportions and baking time.
Thank you
Do you use unsweetened (raw) peanut butter for this recipe?
Hi Jessica, No, just commercial peanut butter like Skippy. I never use natural peanut butter for baking recipes – I find it too oily.
Hi! I want to make these for a 11 year old’s birthday and was wondering if there was away to dye peanut butter icing? any recommendations anyone? thanks!
I’ve never tried to dye peanut butter frosting, I’m not sure how it would work?
I usually rave about all recipes from your site but this one was a failure. To make sure I didn’t get any measurement wrong I made this recipe 3x, because I couldn’t believe that a brown eyed baker recipe would fail me. Unfortunately all the batches were of an odd almost brownie-like and crumbly… That crumb came loose and fell apart so easily. Definitely not like a fluffy cupcake I was hoping for.
Hello,
I have made these cupcakes several times over the last few years and I always have an issue with them being too dry. I have experimented with baking times and have bought fresh baking ingredients the day I make them even. I can sometimes get them to stay moist for a few hours if I pull them just before they are done (they deflate a little bit and not quite clean toothpicks) but after that they always become very dry. It is a little difficult to always pull them fresh from the oven when I want to take them somewhere so I was wondering if you could help with this issue. Thanks!
Hi Becca, I’m sorry you’re having issues with these turning out dry. Might I suggest these newer chocolate cupcakes, omitting the ganache filling?
https://www.browneyedbaker.com/best-chocolate-cupcakes-recipe/
I have always loved your recipes and this one seems divine! Making it right now and my oh my this smells AWESOME!
it’s actually the sour cream that makes them light and moist. The sour cream’s acidity reacts with the baking powder/soda which create bubbles.Try mixing some white vinegar and baking soda you will see. That’s what the hugely successful bakery Hummingbird in London does. They had the recipe in their first cupcake book but the vinegar element doesn’t appear anymore in the new books….cheeky
I love cake but this was way too dark for me! On the bitter side and not a treat for a sweet tooth. Frosting was creamy and good….not sweet but would compliment a sweeter cake.
The cakes of wonder just went into the oven, and can I say that it was bittersweet (pun intended)?! The batter was so divine that I didn’t want to give it up, but alas, my waistband is ever so tight, and I need save ~1/2 inch for a sampling of the grand frosted finale.
Thank you for the ambrosia of the gods we humans call cupcakes. Your recipes are the BEST!!
These cupcakes are all I ever dreamed a cupcake should be ….absolutely delicious . Now I need to try to convert ithis recipe into a cake ….any suggestions please?
You will need to double the recipe for a 9×13 or 8-inch or 9-inch double layer cake.
Can the peanut butter frosting be frozen?
Hi Elizabeth, I would not recommend it; since it includes cream, I’m not sure how well it would thaw.
I have tried this recipe and it is delicious!! Want to make again for a large family gathering, but am curious, Can this cupcake recipe be doubled??
Hi Leah, Yes, this recipe can be doubled.
You can make this recipe into a beautiful jarred gift! Put the dry ingredients in first and use a piece of decorative wax or parchment paper to separate the coco and chocolate ( i add a tsp of instant coffee for a lil kick). my best friend isnt much of a baker and doesnt like measuring but loved this. happy holidays :)
Hi
I baked these and substitute sour cream with greek yogurt. It comes out dry. I am wondering if it was because of the substitution?
Hi Corine, Yes, absolutely.
Omg loved these too! i used ww pastry flour and added a 1t of instant coffee to the chocolate and that just bumped it up that much more!