Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cupcakes

Name: Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cupcakes
Prep time: 1 h 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h 50 min
Yield: 30
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: PRETZEL CRUST:; 1 1/2 c pretzel crumbs; 1/4 c sugar; 6 Tbsp butter, melted; FILLING:; chocolate chips; 2/3 peanut butter; powdered sugar; CAKE:; 2 c sugar; 1 3/4 c all purpose flour; 3/4 c cocoa powder; 1 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp salt; 2 large eggs; 1 c whole milk; 1/2 c vegetable oil; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 c boiling water; FROSTING:; 1 c butter, softened; 2 c peanut butter; 8 c powdered sugar; 1 tsp vanilla extract; whole milk; TOPPING:; 30 pretzels; 1/2 c chocolate chips; 2 Tbsp butter, melted

By April McIver
@AspieApril

I love chocolate covered pretzels. That combo of sweet, salty and different textures is so good! These cupcakes also add in 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 if you haven't yet!

The pretzel on top does tend to get stale and soggy pretty quick, so I'd wait to add that until right before serving.

Blue Ribbon Recipe

These cupcakes definitely have a few steps, but they are well worth it. When you bite into the cupcake, you get a nice surprise of the creamy filling. I can see these going really fast in your house. The Test Kitchen

Rating:

★★★★★ 3 votes5

Comments:

13 Comments

Serves:

Prep:

1 Hr 30 Min

Cook:

20 Min

Method:

Bake

Ingredients

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PRETZEL CRUST:
1 1/2 c

pretzel crumbs
1/4 c

sugar
6 Tbsp

butter, melted
FILLING:
·

chocolate chips
2/3

peanut butter
·

powdered sugar
CAKE:
2 c

sugar
1 3/4 c

all purpose flour
3/4 c

cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp

baking powder
1 1/2 tsp

baking soda
1 tsp

salt
2 large

eggs
1 c

whole milk
1/2 c

vegetable oil
1 tsp

vanilla extract
1 c

boiling water
FROSTING:
1 c

butter, softened
2 c

peanut butter
8 c

powdered sugar
1 tsp

vanilla extract
·

whole milk
TOPPING:
30

pretzels
1/2 c

chocolate chips
2 Tbsp

butter, melted

How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cupcakes

Step-by-Step

Preheat oven to 350. Line 30 muffin tins with paper liners.
To make crust: Combine pretzel crumbs with sugar and melted butter. Divide among cups and press down with the back of a spoon. Drop a heaping teaspoon of chocolate chips on top of crust and bake 5-10 minutes to melt chocolate.
To 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. Form the peanut butter mixture into small balls and drop one into each muffin cup on top of the crust & chocolate.
For the cake: Sift together all dry ingredients and set aside.
In a mixing bowl combine eggs, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla. Beat just until combined.
Add dry ingredients, mixing on low for 30 seconds then medium for 2 minutes.
Add boiling water and mix to combine, making a thin batter.
Divide batter between muffin pans - depending how large your pans are and how much crust/peanut butter filling you have there may be extra batter. If so, make a couple 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.
For Frosting: Combine all ingredients in 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.
For topping: Melt chocolate chips and butter together until smooth and glossy.
To 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 ziplock bag and snipped off a tiny corner to drizzle it over.