Icing on the cake

Back in February I put together some peanut butter inspired cupcakes for the hubby's birthday.  I incorporated a box of Girls Scouts Peanut Butter Dreams candies, a box of German Chocolate Cake, and a tub of vanilla butter cream frosting.  But it's what I added to the frosting that made it a huge hit.  Since February requests have come in for more of these little gems and no one believes they are so simple to make.  Being that I just made another batch (the Girl Scout candy/nut orders just came in), I figured I'd share my semi-homemade recipe with you:

Cupcakes (Makes 24)

1 Box German Chocolate Cake Mix (brand doesn't matter, I used Betty Crocker)

3 Large Eggs

1 1/3 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 box Girl Scouts Peanut Butter Dreams candies

Mix together items for the batter and begin spooning into cupcake pans.  Utilize any cupcake wrapper of your choosing when prepping out the pans.  Only fill about half way, then put a peanut butter candy in and top with another spoonful of batter.  Your cupcake pans should look to be about 2/3 full. 

Follow instructions on the box for baking temp and times based on altitude and pan selection.  I have dark pans, so I bake at a reduced temp for a longer period of time (325 for about 23 minutes.)

Peanut Butter Icing 

1 jar of vanilla butter cream frosting  (I used Betty Crocker's whipped version)

1/3 cup peanut butter (I used Skippy Natural)

Quart size ziplock back

*Optional: Nestle Cocoa Powder & Mesh strainer

Whip together peanut butter and frosting using a hand held mixer.  Spoon icing into quart size bag.  Snip off one corner with scissors.  Voila! You have a pastry bag.  Use this to dispense the peanut butter frosting on your cupcakes once they have cooled.  If you so desire, sprinkle a little cocoa powder via mesh strainer onto frosting for dusted decorative look.  Believe it or not, the hardest part is the dusting.  Several of my first tries resulted in way too much cocoa, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

It's really that easy folks.  Enjoy!