Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

If you've read my previous blog entries, you're aware of my not-so-secret love affair with chocolate and peanut butter. Last week, I was thinking about what to make for my son's birthday and suddenly it popped into my head, vegan chocolate peanut butter cup cupcakes.

As in chocolate peanut butter cups baked right into the cupcake. It took longer than your average cupcake to make, but it was well worth it. The vegan peanut butter cups were homemade, but you could buy them already made by Sjaak's or Allison's Gourmet if it suits your fancy.

The peanut butter cups were made using this recipe from a friend's vegan family blog. I used a peanut butter cup mold and filled it with the absolutely delicious filling.

Vegan Peanut Butter Cups

1 jar natural peanut butter

1 package of graham crackers (there are usually 3 packages per box, the Keebler original are vegan)

2 cups of powdered sugar

1 stick of softened Earth Balance Buttery Sticks margarine (not melted)

1 1/2 Boxes of Baker's Semi-Sweet chocolate

Start by melting three-quarters of the chocolate on the stove using a double broiler. I heat a small amount of water in a larger sauce pan, and melt the chocolate in a smaller pan nested in the larger one. DO NOT let water get into your chocolate, as it will seize up the chocolate. Once it is melted well, take it off of the burner and add the remaining chocolate. This tempers the chocolate, so it dries with a nice shiny finish. 

Crush the graham crackers into crumbs in a food processor or in between two pieces of wax paper, rolled over with a rolling pin. Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, softened margarine, and powdered sugar. Depending on the thickness, you may need to kneed it with your hands. 

Using a peanut butter cup mold, coat the mold to create the cup for the filling. Put it into the freezer a couple minutes. take it out once it is hardened, and fill with the peanut butter filling. Coat the top of the coat with a layer of chocolate then put in freezer a couple minutes again. Remove when it is completely hard and shake out of mold. 

Lately I've been using the crazy cake recipe that originates back to WWI, and I did for these as well. It made just over a couple dozen cupcakes. As always, I altered the recipe, but only a couple minor changes.

Crazy Cake

3 cups unbleached flour

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 heaping cup cocoa

1 Tbsp. white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla

 3/4 cup vegetable Oil

 2 cups water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add remaining wet ingredients with dry ones and mix. Do not over mix. Fill cupcake liners halfway full and add peanut butter cup to the center of the cupcake batter. Bake in oven for 11-14 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Be sure to not stab the peanut butter cup when checking with a toothpick, it should be done on the side of it. Once cooled frost with peanut butter frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting

1/2 cup Earth Balance Buttery Sticks

1/4 plus 1 Tbsp. vegetable shortening

2/3 cup peanut butter

3 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

2-3 Tbsp. soy or almond milk

Cream together the margarine, shortening, and peanut butter. Slowly mix in powdered sugar and soy milk, alternating between the two. Once mixed well, beat for about five minutes until frosting is nice and fluffy. Add more powdered sugar or soy milk to obtained desired texture.

I selected this post to be featured on my blog’s page at Vegan Blogs.