Really? How can chocolate and peanut butter ever go wrong?

I do a lot of shopping in bulk, so I always have peanut butter and chocolate on hand, and every single family member eats the combo so you’ll find a lot of recipes mixing the best of both worlds on here.
These were particularly fun though. I just used a basic chocolate cupcake recipe, and went with an Ina Garten frosting. I had some leftover toffee chips so those went on top. Ta-Da! No muss, no fuss and awesome sweets.

Since I am too cheap to buy specialty items, my frosting was done using a Ziploc bag with a hole cut in the corner. I know, Martha Stewart would have a stroke if she knew that. Whatev. They looked cute enough for my family.

Feel free to ignore the Yeungling in the back. I, uh, used that for Bratwurst. Moving on, nothing to see here, folks.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cupcakes (allrecipes.com)

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk; beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.
3. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Frost with your favorite frosting when cool.

Whipped Peanut Butter Frosting (Ina Garten)

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

All bitten foods courtesy of my 12-year-old. She has the biggest mouth in the house and is forced to bite on demand.

Seriously, could these be any cuter? My oldest daughter is taking a culinary class in high school. Her assignment for homework was a yellow cake. Hello boring. Who eats plain yellow cake?? We decided to spruce it up a bit (by we I mean I took over, whatever).

I found this recipe by searching yellow cake on Tastespotting.com and came up with the Doehle Bread blog.  Howdy, gorgeous cupcakes.

We got an A.

CAKE:
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
24 Hershey Kisses

FROSTING:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup marshmallow cream
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
up to 1/4 cup milk

GARNISH:
1/2 c. hot fudge ice cream topping
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers. In a small bowl, combine the flours. In a separate bowl, combine milk and vanilla. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.

Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Drop one unwrapped Hershey kiss into each cupcake tin, pressing down slightly so only the tip peeks out. Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Combine butter and marshmallow cream in a mixer until well combined. Add sugar and vanilla. The mixture will probably be really stiff. If it is, add milk a little at a time until it’s spreadable but still thick. If it gets runny, just add more powdered sugar.

Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing. When cool, frost with marshmallow icing. Decorate with graham cracker crumbs, chocolate drizzle.