Mini Peanut Butter Cup Cakes

Two of my favorite flavors in any type of dessert is chocolate and peanut butter. They’re even better when combined. When my grandma sent me this recipe, I knew I had to try it immediately. How cute are individual cakes served in small bowls?

ingredients.

1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 c. flour
3/4 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 c. vegetable oil
3/4 c.buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 c. hot coffee
3/4 c. creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
6 oz dark chocolate cut or broken into 12 pieces equally the same size (or use chocolate chips)

directions.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl sift together granulated sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, oil, buttermilk and vanilla. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Whisk in hot coffee just until incorporated. Set aside.
To make filling, in a separate bowl, mix together peanut butter and powdered sugar until smooth. Roll into 12 balls 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter.
Scoop about 3 1/2 tablespoons of cupcake batter into the bottom of 12 8-ounce canning jars. Place a peanut butter ball in the center of each jar and cover with an additional 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter. Wipe any batter from outside of jar or around its rim.
Place jars 2 inches apart on a large baking sheet with sides. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until tops spring back when touched. Remove from oven, immediately place dark chocolate on top of each hot cupcake and allow to melt. Carefully spread the chocolate to cover the surface of the cake with the back of a spoon. Let cakes cool and serve at room temperature, with spoons.

I found these cakes difficult to bake. It could be because I used two different size cups to get the job done. The bigger cups I undercooked and the cakes sunk in in the middle during the cooling process. The smaller cups were cooked to perfection but turned out a bit dry when I dug my spoon in. Also, the peanut butter sunk all the way to the bottom, which wasn’t a big deal, but kind of annoyed me as the picture of the cakes made it look like the peanut butter was close to the top (or at least right in the middle).

I did like the taste of the undercooked cakes and over the course of the week ate all five of them.

Recipe rating:  1/2