Monday, May 25, 2009

a nutty birthday treat!

Today is a special guy's birthday... he turned 9 and loves peanuts and chocolate. I have to say - he's got great taste (since that combo is probably one of my favourites too)!

I decided to create a little birthday treat - so my nutella and peanut butter came out of the fridge and were put to use in this recipe. A handful of peanuts add a nice crunch to top these babies off...

Happy Birthday Manu!

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

ingredients:
1/2 c. butter, room temperature
1/2 c. plus 2 tbsp brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
3/4 c. plus 1 tbsp self-rising flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 c. nutella

Preheat your oven to 375 F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners - set aside.

In a large bowl, and with your hand mixer, beat the butter until it's fluffy. Add in the brown sugar and beat well. Add in the eggs, one at a time, combining after each one, then beat in the milk, flour and cocoa powder. Start off with the mixer on low so that all the flour doesn't fly everywhere :0) then speed it up until everything is well combined and smooth.

Using your ice cream scoop (or a spoon) put a scoop of the batter into each muffin liner. Smooth it down a little with a teaspoon and then add a tsp of nutella on top of each cupcake. Now top each of them with the remainder of the cupcake batter.

Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool on a wire rack.

If you wanted to add some mashed banana to the cupcake batter these could be over the top delish. Or add a tsp of espresso powder to turn these into double chocolate espresso cupcakes... all of these combos work well with these basics - simple recipes for you to twist however your tastebuds dictate... I know I'm looking forward to making them again - with a slight twist (of course)!


Now to make a super simple frosting...

Peanut Butter Frosting
ingredients:
2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. butter, room temperature
3/4 c. peanut butter
1/3 c. milk
1 tsp vanilla
handful of peanuts, to top

In a large bowl beat everything together until smooth.

Top each cupcake with the frosting - and then top the frosting with peanuts. If you have any left over frosting (I sure did) - put in a plastic container and freeze. Defrost the next time you need some.

Probably one of the best cupcakes I've ever had...

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