Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Peanut Butter Cupcakes are soft, tender, and loaded with peanut butter flavor. They are A perfect treat for peanut butter lovers!

Creamy peanut butter frosting makes these cupcakes irresistible. Peanut butter cupcakes are fluffy and delicious! For more peanut butter goodness try Peanut Butter Cup Cookies, Peanut Butter Chews, and Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies.

A PB Lover’s Dream

This recipe will thrill peanut butter lovers everywhere. Peanut butter cupcakes with peanut butter frosting is a peanut butter lovers dream! Made from scratch with simple ingredients you already have in your pantry, these cupcakes are easy and scrumptious!

One challenge with baking with peanut butter is that it tends to make baked goods dry. I made several tweaks to this recipe to avoid that. I used oil instead of butter, brown sugar instead of regular sugar, and used cake flour.

When the cupcakes are done, they will have crinkly tops. They don’t raise up much, they stay flat (unless you overfill the liners). Perfect for adding frosting!

How to make Peanut butter cupcakes

DRY INGREDIENTS. In a small bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

WET INGREDIENTS. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the oil, peanut butter, and brown sugar till smooth. Add the eggs, buttermilk,  and vanilla and whisk till well blended.

COMBINE. Stir in the dry ingredients just till combined. Don’t over-mix.

BAKE. Spoon batter into paper lined muffin pans, filling just over half full. Bake at 350° for about 15 minutes or till a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cupcakes completely, then frost.

The Peanut Butter Frosting

The creamy peanut butter frosting makes these cupcakes purely decadent. Honestly, I could have just eaten the frosting by the spoonful. It is so good! Just mix together 5 ingredients to make this amazing frosting:

• creamy peanut butter
• butter
• powdered sugar
• vanilla
• milk (or heavy whipping cream)

Note: Make sure that you use regular processed creamy peanut butter such as Jif. The natural peanut butter has a different consistency that will alter the texture of the cupcakes.

variations + storage

Make your own buttermilk: Add 2 tbsp lemon juice OR vinegar to the bottom of a measuring cup. Add milk until you reach 1 cup. Allow the mixture to sit for 8-10 minutes before using. 

Make your own cake flour by measuring out a cup of flour, removing a tablespoon, and replacing it with a tablespoon of cornstarch. That’s what I did.

If you love peanut butter these are your treat. To make peanut butter overload cupcakes there are so many additions you can use:

• Diced peanut butter cups to the top
• Sprinkle on peanut butter chips
• Add regular or mini Reeses Pieces
• Chopped peanuts

The peanut butter cupcake pairs well with other frostings such as:

• Chocolate buttercream
• Vanilla buttercream
• Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcakes can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container.

To make them further ahead of time store the frosting and cupcakes in separate containers. 

• STORE frosting in the fridge for up to two weeks or FREEZE for up to 3 months.
• STORE cupcakes at room temperature for 1-2 days or FREEZE for up to 3 months.

Leftover cupcakes can be STORED in a container for 3-4 days or FREEZE up to 3 months.

For more cupcake recipes, check out:

• Banana Cupcakes 
• Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
• Vanilla Cupcakes with Berry Buttercream Frosting
• Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes
• Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes