Peanut Butter Brownie Cups

I wanted to make some cupcakes but I didn’t feel like going to the store to get any ingredients, so I started my search for something that I had all the ingredients on hand. Now that seemingly wouldn’t be too hard, as I try to keep lots of ingredients on hand. I really had a hard time finding something to make. I came across this recipe in one of my husband’s cookbooks (a cookbook he had before we were married) and they looked really good.

The recipes in this cookbook all come from food manufacturers and often use premade items, mixes and that sort of thing. I’m not against using mixes, but in this cake I didn’t have a brownie mix in the cupboard. I figured that I could just use a regular from-scratch brownie recipe instead. The only difference is that the box mix made brownies for a 9 x 13 pan and this recipe is for a 9 inch square pan. This recipe made only a dozen brownie cups versus the 24 that the original recipe made.

These were good! The peanut butter filling has the consistency of caramel (in fact, when I first looked at the picture in the cookbook I thought it was caramel). It was nice not to have to work with icing, which made these travel a whole lot easier than regular cupcakes. The brownie cup would be the perfect base for anything, so I could see myself using this as a base for other toppings.

Brownies

8 tablespoons butter, cut in 8 pieces

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2/3 cup flour

Peanut Butter Filling

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup light corn syrup

½ cup peanut butter

Chocolate Glaze

½ cup chocolate chips

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with paper or foil baking cups.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a small bowl in the microwave, 1-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Set aside. In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, eggs, vanilla, baking powder and salt. Stir in the chocolate mixture until blended. Stir in the flour, whisking until no flour streaks remain.

Fill baking cups about ½ full and bake for about 22 minutes or until set. (The centers of the brownie cups may sink a little bit.) Cool completely.

To prepare the peanut butter filling, combine the sugar and corn syrup and heat in the microwave, boiling for one minute. Stir in the peanut butter until incorporated. Top each brownie cup with one teaspoon of peanut butter filling.

For the chocolate glaze, combine all glaze ingredients and microwave until melted (about 1 minute). Top the peanut butter filling with chocolate glaze. Allow to cool before serving.

Recipe adapted from Favorite Brand Name Bake Sale Cookbook. Brownie recipe from America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook