Vegan Peanut Butter Cupcakes

These vegan peanut butter cupcakes are one of the most decadent desserts. Starting with a peanut butter cupcake filled with chocolate ganache topped with a delicious peanut butter cup frosting, this will make any peanut butter lover in your life happy. 

Now I know the BEST gets thrown around a lot in the blogging world, and I believe everyone feels like theirs is the best.

But these have been claimed as the BEST cupcake ever, any genre of vegan cupcake, that I have made.

Not just the best vegan peanut butter cupcakes, like the best cupcake of their life. That says a lot.

Obviously, if you don't love peanut butter and chocolate- this will not be the best cupcake of your life. 

But if you are a peanut butter chocolate lover, then rest assured, you may need to give away half the batch to save yourself.

What makes these peanut butter cupcakes so good?

Well, you start with a super light and delicious peanut butter cupcake, in which you add cut-up chunks of peanut butter cups.

Then you make a chocolate ganache, which will be injected into the cupcake; yeah, these babies are filled.

You top them with a fantastic peanut butter frosting, which again you throw some chunks of peanut butter cups into and top with a piece of a peanut butter cup.

That's a lot to take in.

But the combination yields one delicious, decadent dessert.

 I have made this recipe for many occasions, and people LOVE them. 

If you want to impress someone, bring these.

More about the vegan cupcakes recipe…

This is not a quick recipe, however.

You can make it much quicker if you buy peanut butter cups. 

Justins dark chocolate peanut butter cups (affiliate link) are vegan, but I opted to make my own for this recipe (cheaper and just as delicious).

If you choose to make your own Vegan Peanut Butter cup, it does add some time to it.

If you have never filled cupcakes before- which you have to to make this recipe a shining star.

This is what I use a feeding tube injector( affiliate link). That seems odd, but these work best for injecting cupcakes and knowing how much you put in.

Before injecting the cupcakes, you want to make sure they cool down. Otherwise, you'll have a melty puddle in them.

The frosting for these vegan peanut butter cupcakes is super easy to whip up.

It's a thick frosting; I used a cookie scoop for uniform size and then just patted it out and placed it on top of the cupcake.

I don't think you could pipe this stuff; it's too thick but so dreamy.

You don't have to top this with a piece of peanut butter cup, but it just makes it look complete.

Have I convinced you to give these vegan peanut butter cupcakes a try yet??

I should probably note that even though these are vegan peanut butter cupcake recipes, I guarantee you that whoever you make these for will NEVER EVER guess that they are vegan.

What ingredients do you need for these vegan peanut butter chocolate cupcakes?

Check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full recipe. This is a big list but all simple ingredients.

• brown sugar
• flax eggs (2 TB flax plus 4 TB water)
• oil, neutral
• peanut butter
• non-dairy milk
• vanilla extract
• all purpose flour
• baking soda
• cream of tarter
• salt
• vegan peanut butter cups, chopped up

Ganache

• vegan chocolate chips
• plant milk (almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, whichever you love)
• oil

Peanut Butter Frosting

• vegan butter, room temperature
• creamy peanut butter
• powdered sugar- up to 1 cup more if needed
• vegan milk
• vanilla extract
• vegan peanut butter cups, chopped, more if you want

Topping

• Vegan peanut butter cups, cut into 4's for topping the cupcakes.

How do you make these vegan chocolate peanut butter cupcakes?

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Either line a muffin tin with cupcake liners or grease and flour the muffin pan.

Make your flax egg and set it aside.

Get a large bowl, either with your stand mixer or hand mixer mix the brown sugar, peanut butter, and oil. Mix this until it's fluffy.

Now add the flax eggs and the vanilla, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Mix.

Add your flour and dairy-free milk alternately until they are mixed in.

Now mix in your chopped peanut butter cups. 

Fill your muffin cups with your cupcake batter; I use a big cookie scoop to make sure they are even. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. 

Start checking for a clean toothpick at 15 minutes. 

You don't want to overbake them.

 Let them sit for about 5 minutes in the cupcake pans, then place them on a cooling rack.

Make the vegan ganache;

While your cupcakes are cooling, you can make the ganache. 

Place all the ingredients into a small glass bowl and microwave for 30 seconds; stir, stir, stir, and do another 30 seconds. At that point, it should be ready after a lot of stirring. 

If you are still having a lot of solid chunks, then microwave at 50% power at 15-second intervals; you don't want your chocolate the seize up. 

Stir until no solid chunks, it may be a bit grainy, but that's okay.

 Put in the fridge until your cupcakes are cool enough to fill. 

Vegan peanut butter frosting;

While waiting, you can make your delicious peanut butter frosting. 

Take a clean mixing bowl, and mix your peanut butter and butter until creamed.

Add the rest of the ingredients, but add the powdered sugar one cup at a time on low speed ( so you don't have a powder sugar dusting in your kitchen). 

Once all is mixed, add your chopped peanut butter cups. Set aside.

Last let's assemble the vegan cupcakes;

 Once you have cooled cupcakes, you can start filling them. 

I use a feeding tube syringe. There is a link further up in this post, and it is THE best for filling; I have tried so many different things.

 But if you don't have one- you could use a piping bag and pipe them into your cupcakes.

If you don't have piping bags, you'll have to get creative- a zip lock bag would work, with a corner cut out, but it will get messy (this is not my recommended way, but you have to do what you have to do).

I fill the cupcakes with about 1.5 MLS, don't overfill because your cupcake will explode. *By exploding, I mean that it will start breaking open.

Once they are all filled- you can top them with frosting.

I use a medium cookie scoop and scoop a ball out, flatten it in my hand, and add it to the top of the cupcakes. This frosting is a thick mixture and can't be piped on.

Top with a little peanut butter cup, and enjoy your hard work!

How do you serve this peanut butter cupcake recipe?

This is best served at room temperature. They are perfect for a party or anything you want to impress people with.

How do you store leftover cupcakes?

I like to store them in an airtight container. I typically use cupcake cases. These can be stored on the counter for up to 4 days.

Can you freeze cupcakes?

Yes, these freeze great. Do a flash freeze by placing them either in the cupcake tin or on a cookie sheet in the freezer and freeze for about 2 hours until frozen through.

Then place the frozen cupcakes in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.

Let defrost on the counter before enjoying.

Want some other vegan cupcake recipes?

• Vegan Hostess Cupcakes
• Easy Vegan Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes
• Quick Vegan Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

The BEST Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

These are the ultimate vegan cupcakes. A peanut butter cupcake, the middle filled with a chocolate ganache, and topped with a peanut butter frosting.

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 19 minutes minutes

Cool/Filling time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 24 minutes minutes

Servings: 24 cupcakes

Calories: 512kcal

Author: Courtney Hunter

Ingredients

Peanut butter cupcakes

• ▢ 2 cups brown sugar
• ▢ 2 flax eggs 2 TB flax plus 4 TB water
• ▢ ½ cup oil neutral
• ▢ 1 cup peanut butter
• ▢ 1.5 cups plant milk
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 2.5 cups all purpose flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 2 teaspoon cream of tarter
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 8 peanut butter cups chopped up

Ganache

• ▢ 2 cups chocolate chips
• ▢ ⅓ cup plant milk
• ▢ 1 TB oil

Peanut Butter Frosting

• ▢ 1 stick or 113 grams vegan butter room temperature (earth balance)
• ▢ 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• ▢ 3 cups powdered sugar- up to 1 cup more if needed
• ▢ ¼ cup plant milk
• ▢ 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 8 peanut butter cups chopped, more if you want

Topping

• ▢ 6 whole peanut butter cups cut into 4's for topping the cupcakes.

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 350. Either line a muffin tin with cupcake liners or grease and flour the tin.
• Make your flax egg and set it aside.
• In a mixing bowl, either with your stand mixer or hand mixer. Mix the brown sugar, peanut butter, and oil. Mix this until it's fluffy.
• Now add the flax eggs and the vanilla, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Mix.
• Add your flour and milk alternately until they are both all mixed in. Now mix in your chopped peanut butter cups. Fill your muffin tin; I use a big scoop to make sure they are even. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Start checking for a clean toothpick at 15 minutes. You don't want to overbake them. Let them sit for about 5 minutes in the muffin tin, then place them on a cooling rack.
• While your cupcakes are cooking, you can make the Ganache. Place all the ingredients into a glass bowl and microwave for 30 seconds, stir, stir, stir, do another 30 seconds, and at that point, it should be ready after a lot of stirring. If you still have a lot of solid chunks, then microwave at 50% power at 15-second intervals; you don't want your chocolate to seize up. Stir until no solid pieces, it may be a bit grainy, but that's okay. Put in the fridge until your cupcakes are cool enough to fill. 
• While waiting, you can make your frosting. Take a clean mixing bowl, and mix your peanut butter and butter until creamed. Add the rest of the ingredients, but add the powdered sugar one cup at a time on low speed ( so you don't have a powder sugar dusting in your kitchen). Once all is mixed, add your chopped peanut butter cups. Set aside.
• Once your cupcakes are cooled, you can start filling them. I use this, and it is THE best for filling; I have tried many different things. But if you don't have one- you could use a piping bag and pipe them into your cupcakes. If you don't have piping bags, you'll have to get creative- a zip lock bag would work, with a corner cut out, but it will get messy (this is not my recommended way, but you have to do what you have to do). I fill the cupcakes with about 1.5 MLS, don't overfill because your cupcake will explode. Once they are all filled- you can top them with frosting.
• I use a medium cookie scoop and scoop a ball out, flatten it in my hand, and add it to the top of the cupcakes. Top with a little peanut butter cup, and enjoy your hard work!

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 512kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 18g | Sodium: 296mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 37g

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