Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Cupcakes

For those of you who are expert puzzle do-ers and possibly fluent in pig latin, you probably caught on to my last hint. And no, you didn't understand it wrong---Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Cupcakes are REAL. Yeah, I know. NOM. My coworker Charlie showed me the recipe at work Sunday morning and I was determined to make them. As everyone knows, it's Shark Week, and what goes better with Shark Week than Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Cupcakes? Nothing. Soooo, here was my contribution to Shark Week Dinner 2011 edition!

Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Cupcakes 
Homemade Fudge Sauce (making this first will allow it to cool as you make the cupcake batter) 
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup cocoa
2 tablespoons flour
pinch of salt
1 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
Hot Fudge Cupcakes
1 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/4 cup homemade fudge sauce
Peanut Butter Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter softened
2/3 cup peanut butter
2.5-3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk
pinch of salt


Step 1: Homemade Fudge Sauce
-Combine sugar, cocoa, salt, and flour in a pot.
-Bring water to a boil. Gradually add hot boiling water to sugar/cocoa mixture.
-*Continuously* stir until mixture thickens.
-Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.
-Leave in pot and let cool as you make the cupcake batter! :)
Step 2: Hot Fudge Cupcakes
- Preheat oven 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
-In a bowl, whisk egg and brown sugar until smooth.
-Add milk, whipping cream, butter, and vanilla--mix until combined.
-Stir in sour cream.
-In a separate bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. When well combined, add to wet mixture. Mix until batter is smooth.
-Prepare a cupcake pan with liners and using a 1/4 cup measure, add batter to each cup. Swirl in fudge sauce at the top of each cupcake.
-Bake for 15-18 minutes. Let cool before frosting.
Step 3: Peanut Butter Frosting
-Cream butter and peanut butter together in a large bowl.
-Gradually add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla.Mix until frosting is smooth.
-If too thick, add more milk; if too thin, add more sugar.
-When cupcakes are cooled, poke a small hole in the center using a knife. Using a pastry bag (or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off if you're cheap like me :P), slowly fill the cupcake with the peanut butter frosting
-Once filled, frost the top of the cupcakes and drizzle with the remaining hot fudge sauce. :)

Shark week, oooh-ha-ha!---->(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krdFR5a6a5o)

Plans for my next cupcake adventure?! Mixing Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Cupcakes and Cookie Dough cupcakes! Awwwww yeahhh :) Rich hot fudge chocolate batter from these cupcakes with the dough from my favorite cookie recipe screams winning all over. I don't have a twitter, but if I did I'd say something along the lines of #soooopumped...but I don't. So I guess I'm just really excited! :)

"You must be imaginative, strong-hearted. You must try things that may not work, and you must not let anyone define your limits because of where you come from. Your only limit is your soul. What I say is true - anyone can cook... but only the fearless can be great." -Chef Gusteau

Cookie Dough Cupcakes :)

I'm realizing that the further I get into this blog, the more and more it turns into a food blog--specifically a baking blog. Not exactly a bad thing...nor is it really surprising. Anyways, I've been finding myself with a lot of free alone time these past couple weeks which has been amazing. It has given me time to think, relax, and most importantly concoct some pretty delicious things in my little kitchen :)  Last Friday, for instance,  I perfected a recipe that I tried for the first time a few months ago; cookie dough cupcakes. Originally I had followed the directions for these cupcakes and used box mixes for both the cake batter and cookie batter. It almost killed me but I didn't have the time or ingredients to do either :'( They were good, but not right. SO, I made them again for a tailgating party with my coworkers (my first Brewers game!) and they turned out much better :)

^^^^there's cookie dough inside there^^^^ :O

Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Step 1: Cookie Dough
*Make this in advance! Waiting the hour for the dough to freeze can be rough!

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

-Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and sea salt; set aside.

-Mix the softened butter and sugars in a large bowl until smooth.

-Add the egg and the vanilla extract and mix until smooth.

-Mix in the flour mixture, just blended.

-Fold in the chocolate chips; mixing just enough to evenly combine. 
-Form the dough into tablespoon-sized balls. Place onto a baking sheet, and freeze until solid (about an hour).

Step 2: Basic Yellow Cake
*Perfect for a double layer round cake too :)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 1/3 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
-Line cupcake pan with paper baking cups.
-In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, mixing well.
-In a small bowl mix together the milk and vegetable oil. Add the milk and vegetable oil mixture as well as the softened butter and vanilla to the dry flour mixture.
-Add the eggs and continue mixing until well blended.
-Pour into prepared cupcake pans, filling each about 2/3 of the way full. Place a frozen cookie dough ball on top and press it down slightly into the batter.
-Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted (not in the center--avoid stabbing the cookie dough) comes out clean.
-Let cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then place on wire racks and cool completely...or eat immediately ;)

I made another amazing batch of cupcake last night, but I'm exhausted and have to be up early tomorrow (eeek, today? :/) for a shift. Buuut here's a hint; eanutpay utterbay othay udgefay upcakescay. Riddle me that.
"The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude." -Julia Child