Surprise Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes are moist dark chocolate cupcakes filled with a surprise and topped with silky peanut butter buttercream!
Last night we celebrated my mom’s birthday, and I was put in charge of dessert. She wanted Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes, her favorite, now, of course, I couldn’t make just a simple Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes, I needed to make it more fun than that. It was the perfect opportunity to try out the surprise cake technique I’ve been seeing all over Pinterest, only in a cupcake.
Chocolate and Peanut Butter are on of my favorite cake/cupcake flavor combos, though isn’t it everyone’s? There’s just something about a moist chocolate cake topped with silky peanut butter buttercream. Did I mention that Reese’s cup on top? Yeah, that makes it pretty good too!
Oh, but the surprise, yeah, that’s the best part! I cored out the cupcakes and filled them with mini Reese’s Pieces.
Awesome, right?
The Reese’s Pieces surprise was a lot of fun, and it would have been an actual surprise if Matt hadn’t told everyone. The Reese’s Pieces added great texture and I’ll never make Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes without them again!
SO GOOD!
Plus that creamy peanut butter frosting is pretty damn good too!
So what are you waiting for? Whip up a batch, grab a gallon of milk, and enjoy!
- 1 Box Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
- 3.9 oz. Package Jell-O Instant Chocolate Pudding
- 4 Eggs
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- 3/4 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
- 1 1/2 cup Mini Chocolate Chips
- 1 bag Mini Reese's Pieces
- 24 bag Mini Reese's Cups
- 1 cup 2 sticks Unsalted Butter (Room temp)
- 1 cup Peanut Butter
- 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 3-4 cups Confectioners' Sugar
- 4-5 tbsp Heavy Cream
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Preheat oven to 375 F.
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Line cupcake pan.
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Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer and beat until combined.
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Fill cupcake liners 1/2 - 3/4 full.
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Reduce heat to 350 F.
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Bake for 18-22 minutes until toothpick comes clean.
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Remove from oven and move cupcakes to cooling racks to finish cooling.
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Use a cupcake corer to core the cupcakes, fill the holes with mini Reese's Pieces.
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Cream Butter using a paddle attachment.
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Add vanilla and peanut butter and beat until well mixed.
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Add confectioners' sugar a cup at a time, alternating with heavy cream.
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Whip on medium high speed for 2-3 minutes until frosting is light and fluffy.
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Pipe frosting onto cupcakes.
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Top each cupcake with a Reese's cup.
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For added wow, Use a small frosting tip to frost the Reese's cup!
Jenna @ A Savory Feast says
Oh my goodness, the “mini cupcake” on top is so cute! I love peanut butter and chocolate together, so these are a must make!
[email protected] says
I know, isn’t it adorable! My husband told me I was ridiculous but I couldn’t get over the cuteness!
Christine @ One TIPsy Chick says
These cupcakes look amazing and I love the mini peanut butter cup on top!
Pure Grace Farms says
You have a beautiful way with pictures. Lovely!
Danita @ O Taste and See says
Those are beautiful! Great pictures, too. Thanks for sharing and Happy Birthday to your mom
Jamie H says
I love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate– SO delicious!
Debi @ Life Currents says
So adorable! I love that you put frosting on the pnut butter cup! Yum!
Katie Pierce says
Could these be any more darling?! I don’t think I have ever baked with sour cream before, but it sounds like it would work well here.
[email protected] says
Sour Cream is amazing when it comes to cakes! You don’t taste it but it makes them so moist!
April says
I make a similar recipe, but I like how you used sour cream in yours. They look so delicious.
[email protected] says
The sour cream makes such a difference! You can’t taste it but it makes them extremely moist!
Angela says
The picture caught my eye because they look perfect! Just thinking I’m going to try this but put the Reese’s Pieces in before they bake. I would think the batter would just cover them. Anyone else try this?
[email protected] says
You could definitely try them that way, I’m sure it would be like adding them to cookie dough.
Steph @ Crafting in the Rain says
That double decker is the cutest! And I’ll bet they’re divine!
Rebecca says
Thanks, Steph! They’re one of my most requested recipes!
[email protected] says
That recipe looks divine and omg I am dyin’ over how cute they turned out. That frosted Recees cup! 🙂
laura londergan says
dude! these look AMAZING! And your pics are amazng – awesome shots – some of the best I’ve seen you do! Love it!
Rebecca says
Thanks, Laura! I love these shots too… if only that were scratch and sniff/eat!
Lisa at Mabey She Made It says
These look divine!
Mrs Major Hoff says
No words. No words to describe all the fabulous-ness of this post. I must.have.this.now
Jay says
Hi! I was wondering if adding the mini choc chips and reeses pieces to the cake batter melts them during the baking process? I’m always nervous of something “hard” being inside when you’re not expecting it. Making these tonight for a dear gf!
Rebecca says
It doesn’t melt the chocolate chips in a way that makes them gooey, but it does soften them up so it won’t be like hard bits in the cake. The reese’s pieces are the same texture as straight out of the package since they are put inside the cupcakes after baking.
Ashley says
When I baked these up (I was so excited for them!) and let them cool, they fell in the middle. They still were like a molten lava cake more than a cupcake. I baked them for 20 mins and the toothpick came out clean. Could it be that they needed more baking time?
Rebecca says
Hi Ashley, I’m sorry to hear that these didn’t turn out for you. The base cupcakes recipe is the one I make most often of all my recipes and I’ve never had this issue. It’s weird that the toothpick came clean yet they were molten on the inside. Usually, 18-22 minutes should bake them perfectly.