Surprise-Inside Chocolate Peanut Butter Owl Cupcakes

Oct 26, 2014 in baking for kids, chocolate, cupcakes, dessert, fall, halloween, kid-friendly, party ideas, peanut butter, cupcake recipe. Read the original on: Amee's Savory Dish

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In case you didnâ€™t see these cuties grace the cover of Family Circleâ€™s November issue, I had to make and share these little hoots! Â I mean, how easy and fun are these guys?!! Â My daughter picked up the magazine while we were checking out at the grocery store and said â€œMom, you HAVE to make these for Halloween!â€ Â I came up with a tasty â€œsurprise insideâ€ version. Â Iâ€™m a little obsessed with stuffing cupcakes lately. My kids donâ€™t complain, they love finding a surprise when they take that first bite. I donâ€™t bake often, so when I do, itâ€™s a real treat in this house. I want to make it worthy of a splurge! These cupcakes are simple to make and feel free to get creative when stuffing your baked treats, there are many delicious chocolates that would work perfectly here. Â These cupcakes are stuffed with a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup and slathered in Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting. Â They are so simple to put together, youâ€™ll have plenty of time to bake your cake from scratch.

Hereâ€™s what youâ€™ll need for decorating:

Surprise-Inside Chocolate Peanut Butter Owl Cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes(recipe adapted from Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake):

2 cups sugar
1Â¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Â¾ cup cocoa powder
1Â½ tsp baking powder
1Â½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
Â½ cup grapeseed oil
2 tsp good quality vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
30 snack-size chocolate peanut butter cups

For the Frosting:

1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, room temperature
â…” cup cocoa powder
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted, plus additional if needed
â…“ cup whole milk, plus a little more if needed
2 tsp good quality vanilla extract
3-4 tbsp creamy peanut butter

For the owls:

1 bag double stuff Oreos
1 large bag M&M's candy pieces, you'll only need the red and brown ones
small tube white decorating icing

Instructions

To make the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line muffin tins with 30 paper baking cups and set aside
Whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa,baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl
Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla
Beat on medium speed in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer for 2 minutes
Stir in boiling water (don't panic...batter will look thin)
Pour a few tbsp of batter into each cupcake liner, place peanut butter cups on top and gently press down (you want the peanut butter cup close to the bottom of the cupcake, but not all the way down to the liner)
Top off with remaining batter until each liner is almost full (a little more than â…”)
Bake 22-25 minutes, until tops spring back and cakes are done
Cool completely while you prepare the frosting

To make the Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting:

Using a whisk attachment, whip butter and cocoa until smooth and blended
Alternately add milk and confectioners' sugar until all is incorporated
Add vanilla and peanut butter and whip until smooth

To assemble:

Frost your cooled cupcakes using a smooth knife
Open the Oreos to separate by gently twisting the cookie
Using a very sharp knife, in a sawing motion, slice the plain cookie in half, the half with the icing will be the eyes
Using a little squirt of decorator's icing, attach the brown M&M's to the white iced part of the cookie
Then place the cookies on top of the frosted cupcake
Place the red M&M sideways in between the eyes for the beak
Now dab a little decorator's frosting on the back of the two halved cookie portions and place on top of the eyes

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Enjoy your delicious treats!