Peanut butter lovers, rejoice! Autumn is here and I couldn’t be happier. This season is my favorite—crisp air, colorful trees and cozy moments with friends and family. The holidays, warm drinks, comforting scents and festive music all make fall feel magical. While peanut butter isn’t the classic fall flavor, the warm tones of these cupcakes scream autumn to me. Really, any reason to make a peanut butter cupcake works for me.
If you adore peanut butter, I promise these may become your favorite cupcakes ever. Not long ago my top pick was the chocolate “Hostess Cupcakes Reinvented,” but these have now topped that list. Why I do this to myself while trying to lose weight before a wedding is another story, but the results are worth it.
Last year I unintentionally started a workplace tradition. We usually bring cakes in for birthdays from a local bakery, but I often found the cake dry and the frosting uninspiring. One Thursday in early 2016 I baked 24 red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting to share on Friday. The response was instant: coworkers loved them and “Cupcake Friday” was born. Since then I try to bring treats most Fridays. The tradition grew so popular I now make 50+ cupcakes to share across departments. It’s a fun way to test recipes and get honest feedback.
These peanut butter cupcakes were a bit of an experiment—people either love or dislike peanut butter strongly. I put them out at 9:15 a.m. and by 10:30 a.m. all 48 had disappeared. Colleagues I barely knew were asking for more. If you’re debating whether to make them, this should reassure you: unless someone truly dislikes peanut butter, they won’t be disappointed.
What makes this recipe special is that the cake itself is peanut butter flavored, not just the frosting. It’s a peanut-forward cupcake with a chocolate-peanut butter filling inside. The result is rich, moist and irresistibly peanut buttery. If you try them, I hope you love them as much as I do.
Triple Peanut Butter Cupcakes (w/ Peanut Butter “Nutella” Filling)
| Serves | 24 |
| Prep time | 15 minutes |
| Cook time | 15 minutes |
| Total time | 30 minutes |
| Meal type | Dessert |
Ingredients
Cupcake
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup refined softened coconut oil (unrefined will give a coconut flavor)
- 1 cup smooth peanut butter (Jif preferred)
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Filling
- 1 cup smooth peanut butter (Jif preferred)
- 3 tablespoons salted butter, softened
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup Special Dark cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Milk Chocolate Frosting
- 1 stick softened salted butter
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder (add more for a richer chocolate)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
- 20 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (gold wrappers)
Directions
| Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). | |
| Cake | |
| Whisk all dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside. | |
| In a mixing bowl, beat peanut butter, coconut oil and brown sugar for 1–2 minutes until creamy. Mix in the eggs and vanilla until just combined. | |
| Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. | |
| Portion batter into a prepared cupcake pan using roughly 1/3 cup per cupcake. Bake about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the highest part comes out clean. Cool on a rack. | |
| While cupcakes cool, prepare the filling and frosting. | |
| Peanut Butter “Nutella” Filling | |
| Combine the peanut butter and softened butter in a bowl, mixing until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla. | |
| Stir in powdered sugar gradually (about 1/2 cup at a time) until the mixture is smooth. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large filling tip and set aside. | |
| Milk Chocolate Frosting | |
| Cream the softened butter until smooth. Add half the powdered sugar and mix until thick. Add a splash of cream and combine. | |
| Add the remaining powdered sugar and the cocoa powder, then pour in the remaining cream and vanilla. Mix until silky smooth. Transfer to a piping bag with your preferred tip. | |
| Filling & Frosting the Cupcakes | |
| Insert the filling tip into each cupcake, squeeze to fill while lifting the tip out slowly. Frost the cupcakes as desired—classic swirls with a large star tip work well. | |
| Peanut Butter Cup Topping | |
| Unwrap the mini Reese’s cups and remove the chocolate tops, keeping mostly the peanut butter centers. Chop the centers into small pieces. | |
| Top each frosted cupcake with chopped peanut butter cup pieces and serve. | |