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What is happening?? Has it really been over a MONTH since my last peanut butter recipe?!??
So shameful.
Let’s just make up for that disgrace with an over-the-top, yet completely simple cupcake. Or a brownie. Or a brownie cupcake. Whatever.
These cupcakes are da bomb. They really are! They’re easy, took me less than 45 minutes start to finish, and combine my faaaaavorite flavor combo on earth.
The cupcake itself is so fudgy and rich, that I could almost just eat it plain. But, I knew these fudgy brownie cupcakes were the perfect canvas for peanut butter. A crapload of peanut butter frosting. And sprinkles. Duh.
So this frosting. OMG this frosting. Be still my little heart. I originally planned to top these fudgy brownie cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, but let’s be serious. I immediately reached for the peanut butter jar after the cupcakes cooled. It’s a simple frosting recipe, really. And my secret ingredient is the heavy cream.
Trust me on this. Heavy cream, while bad for the thighs, is a frosting’s dream come true. It creates the smoothest, fluffiest frosting on earth. Plus, it makes the frosting sooooo easy to pipe or slather on the cupcake.
And yes. It is impossible not to take a taste and lick the frosting bowl…
sidenote: I used a Wilton 1M piping tip to frost these. Feel free to just swirl the frosting on with a knife or use another piping tip. I love the 1M though… it creates pretty swirls like a soft serve ice cream cone!
Fudge Brownie Cupcakes
makes 10-12 cupcakes
adapted from Yammie’s Noshery
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper cups.
Melt butter in the microwave in a large microwave safe bowl. Mix in the sugar until smooth and microwave for about 1 minute. Stir the mixture until smooth again. Whisk in the vanilla and eggs. In a separate bowl, mix together the salt, baking powder, cocoa powder, and flour. Slowly add to the wet ingredients and stir until completely combined.
Fill the muffin tins about 2/3 full. Bake in the prepared muffin tin for about 8-10 minutes (mine took a little under 9 minutes). Allow to cool completely before frosting and decorating with sprinkles.
Peanut Butter Frosting
makes enough to frost 10-12 cupcakes
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened to room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (or an electric handheld mixer), add the peanut butter, confectioners sugar, butter, vanilla and salt. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy and smooth. Slowly add the cream and beat on very high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. Spread on cooled cupakes and top with sprinkles (optional).
*You could easily use boxed brownie mix as a shortcut, but you would need to adjust the frosting accordingly since the peanut butter frosting recipe below only makes enough for 10-12 cupcakes.
*Depending on how full you fill the muffin tins, you could get anywhere from 8-12 cupcakes. I filled mine about 2/3 full.
© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012 photos
PS: Peanut Butter fiend? Yeah, me too… 
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{ 69 comments… read them below or add one }
they look incredible and great job on the piping and sprinkles action…beautiful!
I rarely pipe things b/c so much of the goodness is wasted inside a pastry bag…lol
Averie @ Averie Cooks recently posted..Thursday Things
Averie! ha I completely agree. I hesistate with piping icing… SO much wasted frosting. I only do it every so often.
Cupcake perfection!! Your blog is amazing.
Val! you’re so sweet, thank you
hee hee…over the top shenanigans! It’s no wonder that I heart you and your blog so much! These brownies are perfect…and of course sprinkles. It wouldn’t be you without sprinkles:-)
Jocelyn @BruCrew Life recently posted..White Chocolate Goo Goo Cluster Brownies
haha i know…. i’m a sprinkle fanatic
YUM! You can never go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate, these look wonderful!
*Swoon* They look amazing!
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust recently posted..Nutter Butter Truffle Brownies
The PB is back in town baby! I was thinking to myself before I saw that you used cream that the frosting looked so amazingly ‘creamy’ so you definitely acomplished that! Great work!
Lisa {Sweet 2 Eat Baking} recently posted..Coconut Ice
yep, cream is the secret weapon
I am totally a peanut butter fiend, so this post was DANGEROUS for me! Ahhhhh. This all looks over-the-top gorgeous. My first time on your blog–love it! Beautiful pictures. I’ll definitely be back!
Zsofi recently posted..Banana Nutella Swirl Cake
Thank you SO much! ANd I was practically drooling posting all of those peanut butter recipe pictures.
We are so meant to be friends. I just made something very very similar. I will have to post them real soon
These look fantastic and I think I would have to double the frosting to make up for the amount I would eat straight from the bowl! yummy!
I was almost thinking of typign that in the recipe! Double the frosting to make sure you have enough for spooning into your mouth
these look incredible! the combination of fudge and peanut butter is one of the best combinations in baking. i especially love pb frosting because it’s so luxurious and rich. these look absolutely heavenly, Sally! I wish I were the one who took that bite up there!
Julie @ Table for Two recently posted..Throwback Thursday: Miami
I was surprised how creamy the pb frosting was! and yes the combo of fudge + peanut butter… can save the world.
Fudge Brownies AND Peanut Butter! MUST try this!
Krissy’s Creations recently posted..Homemade Corn Dogs
Thank you Krissy!
Sally, you make the most incredibly mouthwatering little baked treats! These beautiful brownie cupcakes are no exception! Great recipe. Have a happy weekend!
That means a lot coming from you, Georgia! Thank you
You know how much I love the pb and chocolate combo – these are gorgeous! I’d do anything in the world for one right now. . . or two. Where do you live again? Tee-hee. Have a great weekend! xoxo
Reeni recently posted..Roasted Lemon Parmesan Broccoli
These look irresistible! What’s not to love about chocolate and peanut butter.
Barbara @ Barbara Bakes recently posted..Cherry Chocolate Focaccia #BreakingBread
These cupcakes look AMAZING! I love the fact that you say the cupcakes are more fudgy than most in texture. They sound perfect!!
Jacqueline recently posted..Snacker Day Saturday: 5/19
Jacqueline- these cupcakes are SO fudgy. Not fluffy like most cupcakes! That’s why I love ‘em
Brownie cupcakes? I am there! These look so good. And I love the PB frosting!
Cassie recently posted..Milk Bar Monday – Cornflake-Chocolate Chip-Marshallow Cookies
I could eat the pb frosting for breakfast (on my toast), for lunch (with jam on some soft bread), and for dinner (with a spoon). It’s SO good!
These cupcakes look incredible! Just the right about of frosting, too.
I agree! Finding the perfect caupek to frosting ratio is just as important as the recipe itself!
Hi Sally! I featured these at Sweet Saturdays today! Come on by and grab a button {or link}… Thanks so much for linking up last week!
Have a great day!
-Sophie
Sophie recently posted..Sweet Saturdays {#6}
Sophie! That’s so wonderful to hear! Thank you so much, I am honored.
Made them…sorry to say cupcakes/brownies were a little dry and I only got 9…but…that frosting? AMAZING!! Rich but pure heaven. I love peanut butter too so keep the recipes coming!! Thanks for sharing.
Sorry to hear that! The brownie cupcakes were SO fudgy when I made them. The recipe yields 10, filling the cups about 2/3 full – I had to scrape the bowl to get the last one. Glad you liked the frosting!
This is the best peanut butter frosting I’ve ever had!!!! (And I’ve been on a quest to find the perfect pb frosting!) I’ll have to try it with the cupcakes next time
Thanks!!
Kim – I am IN LOVE with this pb frosting. I kinda want to make it again and put it in between chocolate chip cookies for a chocolate chip cookie sandwich.
Glad you like it girl! 
OMG that’s what I did with it!!!!!!! lol! It was AWESOME! That and I ate it by the spoonful… Heehee
We are twins then Kim!
Made these the other day, and I must say the peanut frosting is delicious! Some said it was too strong, but I think I’m like you Sally and have a soft spot for anything peanut butter especially this frosting!
Will be making these again.
Glad to hear it! Pb is def my weakness
I made these the other day in mini cupcake cases and instead of sprinkles, used walnuts. They were absolutely amazing and the icing well what can I say, I love peanut butter and there was actually heaps of icing left over, even after I piped a generous amount onto my mini cupcakes!! I’m just about to attempt this recipe using a gluten free baking mix, oil instead of butter and goats milk instead of cream…hope it comes out as amazing as my first bach.
Emily – your walnut peanut butter fudgy cupcakes sounds incredible! I think I may have to try that next time because I just bought a huge bag of chopped walnuts from the store! Let me know how the gluten free version comes out!
The gluten free version of these cupcakes came out great, infact they were alot more gooey and fudgy than my previous batch. The icing was a little runnyer but had an amazing gloss and the whole think stuck to your mouth as you ate it which is one of the best things about peanut butter!
VERY good to know Emily!! Thanks for trying it out and reporting back! That icing actually sounds incredible.
Hi Sally! This is my first comment even though I’ve looked through a lot of your recipes already. I just wanted to say that I LOVE, I LOVE, I LOVE, I LOVE AND WILL ALWAYS LOVE all your peanut butter/chocolate recipes. I made this one just yesterday an it was dayum delicious. Thank you for introducing me to frankly the best combination for sweet treats, like, ever! Please don’t stop coming up with new recipes with this combo
Hi Hansi! What a wonderful note to read – thank you so much for writing.
I love love love PB/Chocolate too! Guess what? I just made a new recipe using both. I posted it today and I think you’re going to LOVE it: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2012/11/01/bite-sized-peanut-butter-pretzel-mm-cookies/
I made these today for my daughters pre-k classes christmas party, an they loved them!! And I am in love with your peanut butter icing!! It is SOOOO good!
Hi Autumn! I’m so happy to hear that because I need a cupcake recipe for a party on Thursday and you’ve reminded me just how good these are! Glad you enjoyed them so much… what a nice mom you are
I was thinking of using a cream cheese icing instead (blasphemy, I know). Would I just replace the one cup of peanut butter with one cup cream cheese? Or does anything else in the recipe need modified?
Here is a fabulous cream cheese recipe for the cupcakes that I highly recommend using. I would halve the frosting recipe though since it makes 3 cups. Thanks Dylan! http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cream-cheese-frosting-ii/
Tried these today! The icing was absolutely perfect!
The cake part was really good too – although I’m not even sure what a good cake consistency is anymore. I’ve had some issues with it not being quite right before – could it be with cooking time? Haha, it’s always hard to tell when cupcakes are done! (If you can’t tell I’m just learning how to cook….) 
Hey Rachel Lynn! The consistency should be more like a brownie. They aren’t like regular cupcakes.
What is the issue you had with the texture?
Haha, yeah that’s what I was going for. I just think I have trouble with anything but cookies as of this point in my learning experience…I’ve got those down! I’ve had issues with cupcakes in general before though in that they’ve turned out too dry or too moist to the point of being really sticky and doughy… not sure if that makes sense.
If you like peanut butter and chocolate, Rachel Lynn, you should check out my peanut butter cupcakes with dark chocolate frosting. The cupcakes are moist, but not overly so. And have gotten great reviews from my readers so far
http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/02/04/peanut-butter-cupcakes-with-dark-chocolate-frosting/
I was looking at those, thanks! I probably will end up doing that some time – I’ve been pretty cupcake happy lately.
Everything I’ve tried from this blog has been awesome so far anyway!
OH. MY. GAWD. I just drooled onto my keyboard. Must make now! Not crossing go, not collecting 200$. Just going straight to my kitchen and making this. Thanks for sharing!
Jenna @ http://www.sensationallyseasonal.com recently posted..Healthy Cheeseburger Muffins
hahaha you’re hysterical. let make now if you make these Jenna!
Hello! I love this recipe and I added melted choc into the mixture and they came out gooey and divine!
Although I had issues with the peanut butter frosting. I didn’t know why mine didn’t turn out as shiny and smooth as yours? Mine started to separate (?) and become like large lumps. Could it be that i over beat the heavy cream?
Hey Sarah! I’ve never had that happen to my peanut butter frosting before. No, you didn’t overbeat the cream. Was your butter melted in the slightest at all? Did you use oily peanut butter?
my butter was kinda soft and i’m not sure of the peanut butter. I used Skippy’s creamy peanut butter. When you beat the cream in, did the mixture become smooth overtime? Because mine became smooth and then it started to separate and turned into lumps.
Perhaps you overmixed it? I’m sorry Sarah! Without being there I can’t tell you exactly what went wrong, especially if you used regular creamy peanut butter or softened (not melted) butter.
Its okay
But i would like to ask how does an oily peanut butter affect the mixture?
the recipe calls for cocoa powder, do i use unsweetened or cn i use dutch-press cocoa powder? thanks!
Hey Megan! Use regular unsweetened. Sorry that wasn’t clear!
Hey. Just wondering, are the inside of the brownies filled with fudge or dry?
They are not filled with fudge or dry, either. They are just like regular brownies.
Has anyone tried these? Is the batter actually brownie like?
Im looking for a recipie for my brothers birthday and he loves brownies, but is not a cake fan at all so i was just wanting to make sure.
Hi Danielle- yes, these are brownies. Baked in the shape of cupcakes.
Ok thank you! i will definantly try them out!
That’s so great that you like everything you’ve tried so far Rachel Lynn! Let me know what you end up baking next!
Too much oil will make the frosting greasy and cause separation.
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