Reese's Peanut Buttercup Cupcakes

I don't normally use packaged cake mixes but I gave this recipe a try and it turned out to be the richest and most moist chocolate cupcakes I've ever had or made. This recipe consists of a chocolate cupcake with a peanut butter filling, and a chocolate peanut butter frosting decorated with chocolate and a Reese's cup. 

Ingredients: 
1  package devil’s food cake mix 

1 (3.4 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon instant espresso granules dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water (or coffee)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

2. With a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla and espresso( Coffee will work too) water mixture. Beat for about two minutes on medium speed until well combined.

3. Using an ice cream scoop, distribute the batter between 24 muffin liners.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched. Allow cupcakes to cool inside muffin tins for about 10 minutes.

5. Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.

Filling Courtesy of Bobby Flay:

For the filling:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

Make the peanut butter filling: Beat the butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until blended. Reduce the speed to low and gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar. Increase the speed to high and beat for 3 to 5 minutes, until smooth and fluffy. Spoon the filling into a pastry bag fitted with a medium plain tip. Insert the tip into the top of each cooled cupcake and squeeze approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons filling into each cupcake. I cored the cupcakes out with an apple corer!! 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/peanut-butter-cream-filled-devils-food-cupcakes-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

For the Frosting I used:

1 cup peanut butter, 1/3rd cup cocoa, 1 cup confectioners sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 5 tsp milk, 2 sticks of butter, 1 tbsp nutmeg and 1 tbsp cinnamon. Beat with a mixer, gradually adding in ingredients then you just put it in a ziplock or pastry bag to pipe. After the icing's on the cupcake just decorate it with melted chocolate chips and a reese's cup.

Barbies Mint Chocolate Truffles (Pic coming later)

"An easy mint truffle that uses mint oreos and Andes Mints!! Great for the Christmas season.... be careful they go fast!!"

Servings 48

Ingredients:

• 1 box of Mint Oreos

• 3 boxes of Andes Mint Chocolates

• 1 package of cream cheese

• Wax Paper

• Toothpicks

Directions: 

Take 36 mint Oreos and crush them up in a medium size bowl. Once crushed add the package of cream cheese and mix. (I use my hands and "kneed" them together until perfectly combined. Take wax paper and lay it on counter or working area. Roll Oreo cream cheese mixture into balls (Mine make between 32-48 depending on size of balls). Once rolled I like to place them in the freezer to make them firm. While balls are "firming" undo the Andes Mint Chocolates and place them in a microwave safe dish. Set chocolates in Microwave and microwave on DEFROST until melted. While Chocolate is in microwave melting remove balls from freezer and stick a toothpick(optional, can dip however you like) in each one . Once Chocolate is melted remove from microwave and begin dipping Oreo balls. Once balls are covered in the chocolate set them on wax paper and remove the toothpick, cover toothpick holes with chocolate. Refrigerate. Enjoy!!

How I got my passion for baking!

I grew up like most traditional families in the south, very conservative. I have 2 sisters and 2 brothers. The girls in my family were responsible for cooking and cleaning while the boys in my family really didn't do much. So when I hit my teen years I went hardcore Liberal, I was a strong feminist. I let my sister do all of the cooking and basically refused to learn when I came of age to be taught. However, when I was 15 my Mawmaw got very sick and none of the other girls were there to learn how to bake for the parties (I'm the youngest girl), so it was thrown on me. The second I put my hands into the dough I fell in love, I just wanted to bake all of the time. I spent that whole summer (other than 2 weeks spent at band camp) learning how to bake cakes, pies, cookies, etc... too this day I still cannot get enough of it!!