Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cupcakes, what can be better?

Unless your like me and hate peanut butter, lol!

Yes I hate peanut butter!  I know, I am strange!  But its for this reason that Peanut Butter-Chocoalte Twist Cupcakes are one of my favorites to make, because finally, me and my sweet-tooth have found a recipe I won't eat.  It means I won't lick the bowl for the left-over batter.  I won't taste-test the cupcakes.  I won't even eat the icing.  Which means its a guilt free cupcake for me to make.  

What makes this even better is that it is one of my most requested cupcakes.   Every time I make these cupcakes the compliments come pouring in. 

Like most of my recipes, I cannot take credit for this delicious concoction.   I originally found the recipe in the 2011 Better Homes & Gardens Cupcake magazine.  I only got this magazine back in March and  I have already made these cupcakes several times.

So here is this delicious cupcake recipe:

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Twist Cupcakes Recipe

Some tips when preparing them...

Melting Chocolate - Unless you have a double boiler, mini chocolate chips are the best for melting quickly.  You can microwave them in a glass bowl, but don't do it for more then 30 seconds at a time and stir after each time, otherwise they will burn.   I wouldn't bother messing up a double boiler for this.  The chocolate chips do just fine.  

Swirling the Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cupcakes - The directions say, "Fill prepared muffin cups by alternate spoonfuls, filling each cup about two-thirds full.   Use a butter knife or skewer to swirl batter in each cup." However with this batter, when you start to swirl, you really end up mixing it together, which just makes a less chocolatey solid cupcake. Your better bet is to keep alternating very small spoonfuls of batter until the cup is full, then leave it be.You can try swirling it slightly with a toothpick, but I wouldn't do anything more then that, when they bake, they will basically swirl themselves.   

When frosting - prepare a pastry bag with a round tip (or a star if you prefer).   You will want to carefully use a spoon or a spatula (I think a long cake spatula works better) to add the frosting.  You need to keep the peanut butter frosting on one side of the bag and the chocolate peanut butter frosting on the other side of the bag.  This is tricky.   Whichever flavor you put in first will probably sink to the bottom, so you might have to release some frosting from the bag before you start.   The tricky part is when you need to refill the bag, try to keep the frosting on the same side.  If you don't think you can keep a clean line, start with a fresh bag.

Finishing the cupcake - You can finish it plain or  add a half of a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup and some shaved chocolate for a really great look.   Since Peanut Butter Cups are one of the few candies I can have in my house and not eat, I bought dark and milk chocolate cups and did half with each.  Next time I might try the Mini Reeses Pieces on top for a variety.