Reese's Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream Icing

Reese's Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting. 

You read that right.

Let me just say this....I hate using cake mixes. I really, really hate it. I feel like a loser. I feel pathetic. I feel like I can't do anything good when I use box mixes. Scratch is where it's at. There's something special about sifting flour, separating eggs, and using baking powder.  So when I saw this recipe, I immediately had a love/hate relationship with it. The pictures looked so good...but there was a box in the recipe. I could only imagine peanut butter buttercream....but there was a box in the recipe. Luckily, I forgot about the box and focused on the product. Smart decision, I must say. Now let's get to it.

For the cake....

-1 pkg. Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake Mix

-1 pkg. Instant Chocolate Pudding

-1 cup sour cream

-1 cup vegetable oil

-4 eggs

-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

-Miniature Reese's Cups

Step 1: One step cake. 

Mix it alllll together. Not everything in the picture. The picture also includes the icing ingredients. Just mix together the above listed ingredients (except the Reese's) at one time and the cake batter is done. Literally that simple. 

Step 2: Cupcake time!

Line two muffin pans with cupcake liners and measure about 3 Tablespoons of batter into each.  Press miniature Reese cup into the center of each cupcake, but do not press in all the way. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick will come out clean. Remember when doing the toothpick trick to not poke directly into the center since the Reese cup is there. The center of the cupcake will look fallen even if completely baked due to the tiny chocolate morsel of amazing-ness hidden inside. 

Now for the icing...

-1 cup peanut butter

-1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

-2 Tablespoons vanilla extract

-2 lbs. powdered sugar

-3 or 4 Tablespoons low-fat milk, depending on desired thickness

Step 1: Icing base

Cream together the butter and peanut butter until smooth. 

Step 2: Finish it up!

Mix in vanilla and alternate powdered sugar and milk until you reach your desired thickness. So good. So good. 

Step 3: Decorate and make 'em pretty!

Fairly self-descriptive. Another great idea to decorate these with is to add the newest Reese's, the really tiny, adorable mini Reese's on top of the piped icing. I was going to do that, but couldn't find them in the store. I'm sure they were there, but I didn't think about getting them until I was in the checkout line. Leaving my sister there, the mad dash to try to find them was highly unsuccessful. Oh well, they were delicious anyway. 

But seriously....who could turn this down? Okay, Sara would have to turn it down, but only because she's allergic to peanuts. My prayers are with her.