Finally, Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes! (and baking pan grease)

 

I have been wanting to try this idea out forever. I tried it Easter weekend with minis but my cupcakes wouldn't come out of the pan (yes, there was a reason I didn't use cupcake liners!).

I also found a recipe for baking pan grease somewhere in the comments of some blog or yahoo answers page. I am SO sorry I don't remember which or I would give credit where it's due. It is said to be something commonly used in bakeries, though I have never worked in a bakery (or food service at all for that matter) so I wouldn't know.

Baking Pan Grease
1 cup shortening
1 cup oil ( I used Canola)
1 cup flour

I threw them all in a bowl and blended with my mixer on high til smooth. I put mine in a Tupperware container and put it in the fridge. I don't know if that is necessary though. To use just brush on with a pastry brush.

 

 

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

This is the same recipe I used last time. This time I made full sized cupcakes and used the above baking pan grease and they popped right out!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes from In the Kitchen with KP. I got about 36 cupcakes. They were a little flat but they were sturdy and moist, which was perfect for this project.

The batter is thick and delicious. If you eat too much of it then I cant guarantee how many cupcakes you will get out of the recipe. It is seriously good batter.

 

Thick batter makes it easier to get into the tins, yay! Make sure you DON'T use any liners!

(I forgot to take a picture of them straight out of the oven)

I looked up a ton of different peanut butter cream filling recipes and borrowed from all of them. Here is what I came up with:

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Filling

1 cup creamy peanut butter
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar (approximately)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or pure vanilla extract)
2 tablespoons-ish milk

Cream together the first 3 ingredients until smooth and beat in the powdered sugar. Get it nice and fluffy and a little on the stiff side (Sorry! I rarely actually measure these types of things). Mix the vanilla and enough milk to get it to your desired filling consistency. I had about half a recipe left over after filling mine, it's going in the fridge. I always like having frosting and fillings on hand! It would make a delicious brownie topping!

Once your cupcakes are cool, pop the centers out of them with a fork and fill them. I stabbed a fork halfway through them to form a circle and pried them out (boy, I make it sound like work).

 

If you have a melon baller, feel free to use one, I just don't have one. Also, for neater cupcakes, you can always pipe the filling in. Once filled, I put the tops back on. I did find that I needed to shave off about half the cake attached to the top in order for the top to fit back on decently. Take one guess where the middles went.

Melt about 3/4 of a package of almond bark (about 10 ounces). I microwaved mine in a wide mouthed glass measuring cup (2 cup size). Dip the cupcakes about 3/4 of the way in. I was going to go all the way to the rim but I realized for the sake of slightly cleaner fingers (while making them and eating them), I should leave a little room to hold the cupcake.

 

 

All that's left is to frost and enjoy!

 

 

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

 

This one is seriously a little all over the place because I didn't want to go to the store and I wanted it deliciously chocolatey.

 

3/4 cup evaporated milk

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup butter, softened

4-5 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or pure vanilla extract)

2-3 tablespoons of milk

In a small saucepan, heat the evap milk over low heat and add in the chocolate chips. Stir until melted and combined. In a medium bowl, add cocoa powder and melted chocolate. Beat on medium with a hand mixer until smooth. At this point I added 2 cups of powdered sugar and mixed again. When it was smooth and I was sure it wouldn't melt the butter I tossed that in there too and continued mixing. I added in the vanilla and the rest of the powdered sugar. Add in a few tablespoons of milk until it's a nice piping consistency. Fill up a bag and frost. I used a 1M tip. Here are the rest of the pics!

 

  

 

 

 

 Enjoy. These are rich, delicious and definitely worth the work.