Peanut butter cupcakes are packed with peanut butter flavor, filled with a creamy fudge dip, and topped with a soft and delicious peanut butter frosting.
Mother’s Day is fast approaching and the closer it gets the more aware I am of just how far away I now live from my mom. I made the big move to Michigan about a week before my mom’s birthday. I really wanted to celebrate with her beforehand so I asked her what kind of cupcakes she wanted me to make. I was a little surprised by her peanut butter cupcake with peanut butter frosting request. But I really wanted to make them for her using my grandma’s peanut butter cake recipe.
And then moving day rolled around and I hadn’t even come close to whipping up a batch. Whomp whomp. So even though I’m 700 miles away and can’t actually share them with her for Mother’s Day I decided to finally make this recipe in honor of my mom! It’s been forever and a day since I’ve had this cake and it’s pretty dense but with the perfect peanut butter flavor. It would probably make a really good muffin actually. But when my roommate informed me that you can’t put frosting on a muffin I had to make it a cupcake instead 😉
It’s a super simple recipe that yields a thick batter. This is a sheet cake recipe that I turned into some cupcakes so I ended up using my medium cookie scoop because there are 4 tsp of baking powder in these babies {yeah, 4} so I wasn’t sure how much they were going to rise. Surprisingly not that much so I was left with 36 cupcakes on the smaller side. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing to have that many cupcakes in the house!
Because they’re so dense I wanted to invite another flavor to the party but I wasn’t sure what. Jelly? Marshmallow fluff? Chocolate? Lucky for this girl I live with another blogger so we put our heads together I begged her to make her delicious fudge dip so that I could fill my cupcakes with it! And she was like chocolate? Yes, please! Which is why we get along so well.
So I filled these peanut buttery babies with her amaaaaaaazing fudge dip and then topped it with this delicious peanut butter frosting.. And then I realized. When you stuff chocolate inside of a peanut butter vessel it’s basically like eating a peanut butter cup inside out. So, DUH! That’s what I dubbed these. Inside out peanut butter cup cupcakes. And you’re welcome.
What special treat are you planning on making mom for Mother’s Day?

Inside Out Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup peanut butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup milk
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 3 cups flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
For the Frosting:
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1 tsp milk
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup butter, softened
For the Filling:
- 5 Tbs + 1 tsp milk
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 4 Tbs butter, melted, 1/2 a stick
- ½ tsp vanilla
Instructions
For the Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream together butter, sugar, and peanut butter until creamy.
- Sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda and add it alternately with the milk and vanilla, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
- Line muffin tin with cupcake liners and fill ½ full using a medium cookie scoop.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Once cupcakes are cool use an apple corer or a paring knife and remove the center of the cupcakes, careful not to go all the way through to the cupcake liner.
- Fill to the top with the fudge dip.
For the Filling:
- Combine the melted butter and cocoa powder and mix until lumps are gone.
- Add the powdered sugar in ½ cup increments and blend well each time.
- Add in milk and ½ tsp vanilla and beat on medium speed until combined.
For the Frosting:
- Cream together butter and peanut butter until smooth.
- Add powdered sugar by the ½ cup and beat until thoroughly combined each time.
- Add tsp of milk and mix well. Add as much or as little milk as you want until frosting reaches desired consistency.
Erin
Friday 15th of May 2015
This looks so good! It reminds me of a recipe my mom used to make when I was a child. I'm going to have to give it a try!
Meaghan
Friday 15th of May 2015
This was my grandma's recipe so I have fond memories of it, too :) I hope you love it!
~Meaghan
Nicole @little blog on the homestead
Monday 11th of May 2015
They turned out SSOOO good, seriously people you have to make these, or come eat the leftovers so that I don't eat them all ;-)
Meaghan
Monday 11th of May 2015
Bahahaha! They'll keep for a long time in the fridge/freezer ;)
~Meaghan
Angela McKinney
Monday 11th of May 2015
Those look so good! I love the fudge in the middle. Thanks for sharing at #HomeMattersParty
Meaghan
Monday 11th of May 2015
The fudge might be the best part. But don't tell Nicole I said that ;)
~Meaghan
Heather @ Divas Run for bling
Saturday 9th of May 2015
Oh my goodness these look super yummy. I love how these have the filling!
Meaghan
Monday 11th of May 2015
The filling is SO yummy! And really delicious on pretty much anything!
~Meaghan
Cookie
Saturday 9th of May 2015
This is awesome!! I was also surprised at my mother's dessert request this year, but she loves peanut butter so much I think I might include these as a bonus ;) Thanks for posting such a yummy and creative recipe! :)
Meaghan
Monday 11th of May 2015
Momma knows best because these turned out delicious!
~Meaghan