It's uncharacteristic of me to rank something #1 immediately, but I know for sure in a moment when something surpasses all others. I made these cupcakes quite spontaneously after school yesterday to surprise my dad as an early birthday gift, since he's leaving town tomorrow. Cupcakes are easy to make, they're quick, cute, convenient, and make great gifts. I never expected them to taste THIS good. My brother taste-tested one and actually asked for another (I told him 'no' because we had to bring them to my dad). My MOM even told me they were delicious and requested I make them again...SOON (she's my harshest critic, by the way).
When it comes to cakes and cupcakes, there are two kinds of people in this world. Cake people, and Icing People. The Cake people (me) will usually leave dollops of icing on the side of their plate or scrape it off entirely and gladly eat the cake itself. The Icing people are the people who eat the icing by the spoonful! This cupcake, self-frosting, means that the icing gets baked with the cupcake so it looks like its swirled inside the batter and incorporated, but as soon as you take a bite, you get the chocolatey-peanut butter frosting still really gooey, smooth, and icing-like! It's like the baddest cupcake in the world had a love child with the yummiest frosting.
Maybe it's because I'm a die-hard fan of anything with peanut butter + chocolate, but I'm almost certain my opinion isn't biased. These are seriously amazing. A moist peanut butter base with swirls of sweet chocolate-peanut butter FROSTING. Go make yourself a batch. Right now. You can thank me later!
Did I mention they're vegan? I swear on my life NO ONE will be able to tell.
Self-Frosting Peanut Butter "Cup"cakes makes 12 cupcakes
From the cookbook My Sweet Vegan, Hannah Kaminsky
Frosting:
- 2/3 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)
- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp soy milk (I used almond milk, you can use dairy)
Cupcake:
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup soy milk (or other milk)
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp ground flax seeds*
- 1/4 cup water*
- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1/2 cup apple sauce
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
*flax seeds and water are replacements for eggs. You can try using 1 egg to replace (not vegan) and tell me how it works? :)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 12 cupcake tins with paper liners.
Using a stand mixer (or food processor) mix/blend frosting ingredients until smooth. The consistency should be like Nutella. Set aside.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk flax seeds and water, set aside. In another bowl (stand mixer) mix soy milk with vinegar and let stand until frothy. Beat in sugars. Beat in flax mixture. Add peanut butter, applesauce, and vanilla extract and mix until incorporated. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture until smooth. Using a standard ice cream scoop (1/4 cup measure), scoop batter evenly into 12 cupcake tins. Add about 2 tbsp of peanut butter-chocolate frosting on top and swirl into batter using a toothpick.
Bake for 22-25 minutes. Let cool for about 10 minutes before cooling completely on a rack. To test doneness, you can check by inserting a toothpick (not into the icing part) to see if it comes out clean from the cake (the icing will always stay gooey!) Enjoy!!
(Oh and try not to eat the batter or frosting BEFORE it goes in the oven? You'll be in serious trouble once you start....) ;)
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