Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
Wonderfully rich and fluffy, these chocolate cupcakes are topped with a creamy peanut butter frosting and crowned with a cute Hershey Kiss acorn!
Prep Time 1 hour hr
Cook Time 18 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr 18 minutes mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
For the “Acorns":
- 2 Tablespoons chocolate melted
- 18 Nutter Butter Bites
- 18 Hershey kisses unwrapped (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
- 18 mini chocolate chips
For the Cupcakes:
- ¾ cup hot water
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup Greek yogurt I used vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
For the Frosting:
- ½ cup butter softened
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3-4 Tablespoons milk or cream
- 2 1/2-3 cups powdered sugar
To make the “Acorns":
Pour melted chocolate in a small ziplock bag, then snip off the corner making a small hole. Pipe a little dollop of chocolate onto a Nutter Butter bite, then press a Hershey kiss on top to adhere. Repeat with the remaining Nutter Butters and Hershey kisses. Chill acorns in the freezer for about 2 minutes until chocolate has set.
Once set, pipe a tiny dollop of melted chocolate onto the Nutter Butter side of the acorn then immediately attach a mini chocolate chip; refrigerate until set.
To make the Cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees, and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. Add the espresso powder to the hot water, and stir until fully dissolved; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and both sugars until well combined. Add the oil and yogurt and continue stirring with a whisk. Batter will be thick so you'll have to add some of the espresso liquid to stir more easily. Add the rest of the espresso liquid and stir until combined. Stir in the egg, followed by the vanilla.
Pour batter into cupcake liners, filling 2/3 of the way. Bake in the oven for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with few crumbs attached. Allow cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the Frosting:
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and peanut butter together until smooth. Add vanilla extract, milk/cream, and 1 cup of the powdered sugar and continue mixing. Gradually add more powdered sugar, stirring between each addition, until you've reached the desired consistency. If frosting becomes too thick, add more milk/cream.
Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes as desired, then top with a Nutter Butter "acorn". Serve and enjoy!