Dark Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cupcakes

First game of the season is a win. It was a perfect day for football, and I have some great tan lines to show for it. Since J’s guys played so great I thought I would try something new and make frosting from scratch. I’m so glad that I did because it turned out great! I could have eaten it by the spoonful, but that would mean more time at the gym.

Since I just got a gym membership, I’ve been having to reorganize my schedule to include a few days a week there. I really have no excuses to not go, since the place is right across the street from where I work. It’s seriously a minute walk from parking lot to parking lot. Last week J challenged me to go 4 times in one week. Challenged is just a sweet way of saying that we made a bet, and I was too stubborn to lose that bet. I’m not a big fan of exercise, but I was surprised at how easy it was for me to go and work out for 40+ minutes and then be done. And I felt great! So now my goal is to go 3-4 times a week…..and eat less cupcakes.

Who doesn’t love chocolate and peanut butter? And if you don’t, then you’re just weird. These were so easy to make. I’m a big fan of simple recipes when I’m baking for a lot of people. The less time I spend mixing and filling cupcake liners the better. I also like recipes where there are no more than 10 ingredients. I made 48 cupcakes this week, so we don’t need to complicate desserts.

Dark Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cupcakes

For cupcakes:

• Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1¼ cup water
• ½ cup oil
• Optional: peanut butter cups

For Frosting:

• 1 stick butter (softened)
• ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 Tbs. Whipping cream
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Make the cupcakes as directed on back of the box. If you want to include a peanut butter cup inside the cupcake for a surprise, add them to the cupcake after filling the liners with batter. Bake and let cool.

To make the frosting, start by creaming together the butter and peanut butter. Add 1 Tbs of the whipping cream, vanilla, and salt and cream again. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Add in the last of the whipping cream and whip until fluffy.

I made a double batch of everything and had plenty of frosting left over! Enjoy!