Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes... Oh Yeah they are good!

Who doesn't like a yummy moist cupcake, perfectly iced with a huge glob of freshly made frosting?  This summer, my kids and I came up with an awesome recipe for soft and spongy cupcakes that are lower in fat and sugar and still taste AMAZING!!!

Here is what you will need to make my Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes...

 

Ingredients:

1 box of Ultra Moist (low sugar) Devils Food cake mix

2 Vegetarian Egg

2 cups of Almond Milk or Coconut Milk (instead of whole milk or cream)

2 tablespoons of Country Crock spread OR I cant Believe Its Not Butter (instead of real butter or oil)

1 cup of peanut butter (the more natural the better. I used sugar free Skippy this time cause it's what I had handy)

Directions:

Prepare the batch of batter to the specifications on the back of the box of mix.  BUT you need to substitute the regular milk for almond or coconut, substitute the oil for the shed spread.

Instead of using 1 egg, I used 2 for extra protein AND it helps to make the batter fluffier making it a softer finished product.

When mixing the batter, i like using something that adds air to the mix. I use a simple hand held stick mixer but try to leave it a little lumpy. (Trust me, there is a great reason for this - its helps the cake to stay moist).

Once the batter is ready, spoon it into a cupcake tin that has been sprayed down with PAM or another fat free low calorie cooking spray.  Now it's time to spoon in the peanut butter into the center of each raw cupcake.  Put about a tablespoon in each one and then you are ready to bake!

Again, refer back to the box for cooking time and temperature on this one.

Once the cupcakes are baked, make sure that you let them cool down before you frost them.

For the frosting, I make my vanilla creme icing using truvia (or a similar sugar substitute), low fat cream cheese, vanilla extract and a couple tablespoons of almond milk. Here are the measurements...

1 cup of Truvia

1 8oz container of low fat or fat free cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons of Almond Milk

Start by putting the cream cheese into your stand mixer, and slowly add the cup of truvia.  When it has been completely mixed in, add your vanilla and your almond milk. Mix on high till it forms a stiff creamy peak.

I messy frosted mine and added a few sugar free peanut butter cup chunks over the top to finish them off. I have to admit that these are some of the best cupcakes I have ever had. The chocolate cake is soft and moist, the peanut butter inside gives it that smoothness you crave in a peanut butter cup, and the vanilla cream icing really tops it off with perfect fluffy sweetness :-) 

Bon apetit!