chocolate peanut butter pretzel cupcakes
I love chocolate-covered pretzels. That combo of sweet, salty, and different textures is so good! These cupcakes also add peanut butter which makes everything chocolate better. They're some effort to make, but so good! This recipe is inspired by Kellie's S'Mores Cupcakes and by Shawn's Peanut Butter Frosting to Die For - which are both incredible, and you should try them if you haven't yet! The pretzel on top does tend to get stale and soggy pretty quickly, so I'd wait to add that until right before serving.
Blue Ribbon Recipe
These chocolate cupcakes have a lot going on. They definitely have a few steps but are not hard to make. If you are a chocolate and peanut butter lover, you will love these. We loved the contrast in flavors. Sweet peanut butter, rich chocolate, and salty pretzels are a fabulous combination. The best part of these chocolate peanut butter pretzel cupcakes is when you bite into them there is a delicious sweet peanut butter filling.
Ingredients
- PRETZEL CRUST:
- 1 1/2 cups pretzel crumbs
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon chocolate chips, per cupcake
- FILLING:
- 2/3 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- CAKE:
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
- FROSTING:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups peanut butter
- 5-6 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoon whole milk
- TOPPING:
- 30 - pretzels
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
How To Make chocolate peanut butter pretzel cupcakes
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Step 1Preheat oven to 350. Line 30 muffin tins with paper liners. -
Step 2To make crust: Combine pretzel crumbs with sugar and melted butter.
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Step 3Divide among cups and press down with the back of a spoon. Drop a heaping teaspoon of chocolate chips on top of the crust and bake 5-10 minutes to melt the chocolate.
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Step 4To make filling: Scoop peanut butter into a small bowl. Add powdered sugar until the peanut butter has a doughy consistency, as little powdered sugar as you can to make it able to work with. It'll still be a bit sticky.
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Step 5Form the peanut butter mixture into small balls and drop one into each muffin cup on top of the crust & chocolate.
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Step 6For the cake: Sift together all dry ingredients and set aside.
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Step 7In a mixing bowl combine eggs, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Beat just until combined.
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Step 8Add dry ingredients, mixing on low for 30 seconds, then medium for 2 minutes.
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Step 9Add boiling water and mix to combine making a thin batter.
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Step 10Divide batter between muffin pans - depending on how large your pans are and how much crust/peanut butter filling you have there may be extra batter. If so, make a couple of plain chocolate cupcakes out of it. :) Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack.
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Step 11For Frosting: Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat on medium until well combined. Then whip on high until fluffy. Add milk or more powdered sugar as needed to adjust the consistency.
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Step 12For topping: Melt chocolate chips and butter together until smooth and glossy.
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Step 13To assemble the tops: I used tip 1M to swirl the peanut butter frosting on, pressed a pretzel on top, then put the chocolate/butter mix into a Ziploc bag and snipped off a tiny corner and drizzled chocolate over.
- Last Step: Don't forget to share! Post a picture of your finished recipe here and on your favorite social network. Don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes!
