Dark Chocolate Cupcakes, Peanut Butter Filling, Cream Cheese Icing... Enough said ;)

I made these for my dad's and my friend's Birthday a few weeks ago (If you would like to see the post where I talk about that click here) and everyone loved them! They are probably my favorite cupcakes that I have ever made :)

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk*

*If you don't have buttermilk, add 2 Tbsp of Lemon Juice to 1/2 a cup of milk and let sit for  five minutes

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line a 12-cup cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
• Melt the Butter and Chocolate together in the microwave. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between each time. Stir until smooth and set aside to cool.
• In a medium sized bowl, toss the Cocoa Powder, Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, and Salt together until thoroughly combined and set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk the Eggs, Sugar, Brown Sugar, and Vanilla together until smooth. 
• Add the cooled Butter/Chocolate to the Eggs/Butter/Sugar and whisk until smooth. Add half of the Flour mixture and Buttermilk a little at a time and mix. Repeat until everything is added. Stir until just combined, DO NOT overmix! 
• Divide the batter between the cupcake liners. Bake for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Peanut Butter Filling

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons of Butter

1 cup of Peanut Butter

1 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar

2 teaspoons of Vanilla

Directions:

• Combine the Peanut Butter, Vanilla, and Butter using a hand mixer.
• Begin adding Powdered Sugar a little at a time until it reaches a thick consistency, kind of like Peanut Butter Fudge. you may use more or less Powdered Sugar than called for in the recipe.
• Once the Cupcakes are cool use a knife to cut out the center of the cupcake. Once you have the middle out, cut off the edge and set aside.
• Take a Tablespoon (more or less) of the filling into the center of the cupcake. Grab the edge piece you sat aside and place on top of the filling, covering it up.

Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature

16oz of cream cheese (2 packages), room temperature

4 - 6 cups of powdered sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Directions...

• Cream together the Cream Cheese, Butter, and Vanilla using a hand mixer. Mix until there are no lumps left and is completely combined.
• Begin adding the Powdered Sugar little by little until it reaches the right consistency. Once again, more or less powdered sugar may be used depending on your preference, taste as you go. ;)
• Frost the cupcakes!
• I sprinkled mine with chocolate sprinkles after they were frosted, I thought it looked pretty :)

I think they turned out pretty well! If I do say so myself ;)