Chocolate - Fluffernutter Cupcakes

I might be half-American and LOVE our food, there are certain American food habits I never learned, up till now. For example, I ate my first Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich just one year ago. Today I experienced the magical combination of Marshmallow Fluff & Peanut Butter aka Fluffernutter for the first time! Better late than never, right? Lucie at Bilingual Butter wrote about her Chocolate – Fluffernutter Cupcakes and their crowd-pleasing abilities. I couldn’t wait to try them - and today, I did. I wish I could put into words what went through my mind when I tasted the mixed peanut butter & marshmallow fluff… it was quite a memorable experience, to say the least! These cupcakes are P-H-E-N-O-M-E-N-A-L! Rating: of course 5 out of 5.

Chocolate Cupcakes recipe: adapted from 'Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes' by Trophy Cupcakes, via MarthaStewart.com

Ingredients: Makes 24 cupcakes
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water

Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.
- Sift 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix ingredients together on low speed.
- In a large bowl, mix together eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl and continue mixing on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Add boiling water and stir to combine (with a spoon, not a mixer! it will splash around your kitchen); set cake batter aside.
- Fill each muffin cup three-quarters full with cake batter.
- Return to oven and bake, rotating pans halfway through baking, until tops are firm and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.
- Transfer muffin tins to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely.

Fluffernutter Frosting: via Bilingual Butter.

Ingredients:
- ½ cup marshmallow fluff
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ⅓ cup butter, softened
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar (I reduced this amount to ½ cup)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Instructions:
- Combine fluff, peanut butter, butter, salt, and vanilla with a mixer on low speed.
-Add confectioners' sugar, beat until blended, and add enough milk to reach desired consistency.


The chocolate batter contains 1 cup of boiling water, so the cupcakes are sure to be super-moist!

Naked cupcakes, cooling.
Last time I made this chocolate cake recipe, I made 9 cupcakes and ate 8 of them!!

I ♥ Fluffernutter Frosting

They're soooooo good! While the cake is moist and chocolaty; the frosting is light and creamy. Too bad I'm on a 'high protein - low carb' diet this week, else I would have eaten seconds ... and thirds!

These belong in my 'Top 5 Cupcake Hall of Fame'!