At 6PM last night, cupcakes were the furthest thing from my mind.
Until I saw that bowl of batter.
After a food-and-wine filled weekend, all I wanted was a simple, one-course meal without three forks and two spoons. Staying near the airport for an early flight, I dragged myself to the nearest restaurant and sank into a booth.
I ordered, I ate, and I even declined dessert—nothing could match the vanilla bean panna cotta I’d enjoyed twice that weekend. Then I reached for my wallet.
All I found in my purse were lip glosses, a few hairbrush tumbleweeds, makeup remover wipes and hundreds of unorganized receipts. No wallet.
I was alone in a city I didn’t know, my plate was clean, my server looked about twelve, and there was no cash or card in sight. Not ideal. I panicked—just a little—and asked to see the dessert menu.
It wasn’t that I didn’t believe my wallet was at the hotel—I knew exactly where it was, perched on a tacky orange leather couch in the room I’d been dropped at by mistake. The driver had left me to haul my luggage four blocks to the correct hotel. You know the kind of night.
I asked my server to hold a couple of desserts while I ran to the hotel to fetch my wallet. He looked skeptical, but I promised he could check me and my purse, take the desserts—whatever—and that I would return with a generous tip.
He stared. I bolted.
I sprinted to the hotel, demagnetized my key for the seventh time that weekend, swapped it for a working one, grabbed my wallet, and flew back to the restaurant. The relief on his face when I paid was worth the sprint. I left with two large containers of takeout desserts and returned to my hotel, hopeful.
Opening the boxes revealed two sad, defrosted slices that tasted like they’d been pulled from a freezer and left to suffer next to frozen chicken fingers. After a weekend of sublime desserts, these fake, flash-frozen sweets made me want to cry.
That’s my little travel disaster. It has nothing to do with these fluffernutter cupcakes, which I made after a seven-course dinner last Friday. Big meals tend to spark my creativity, and I’d forgotten how much I love these cupcakes until I saw the batter photo. I may have eaten more batter than actual cake—something that happens more often than I’d like to admit.
Fluffernutter Cupcakes
Yield: makes about 12 cupcakes
Ingredients:
Peanut Butter Cupcakes with a Marshmallow Swirl
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/2 cup peanut butter morsels
- 2/3 cup marshmallow fluff
Peanut Butter Frosting
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons milk, if needed
Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff
- 3 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
Peanut Butter Cupcakes with a Marshmallow Swirl
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cream butter and peanut butter together in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth. Add sugar and eggs and beat until fluffy. Mix in vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add half of the dry mix to the batter and stir until just combined, then add the milk. Add the remaining dry ingredients and fold in peanut butter morsels and marshmallow fluff.
Spoon batter into cupcake tins, filling about two-thirds full. Bake 15–18 minutes at 350°F. Cool completely before frosting. Note: marshmallow fluff can firm up, so these are best made and eaten the same day.
Peanut Butter Frosting
Cream butter and peanut butter together. Add vanilla, then with the mixer on low add powdered sugar. Increase speed to medium-high and beat 2–3 minutes until combined, scraping the bowl as needed. If too thick, add milk 1 teaspoon at a time. Fill a pastry bag or spoon the frosting into the center of each cupcake.
Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting
Cream butter until smooth. Add marshmallow fluff and beat 2–3 minutes, then add vanilla. With the mixer on low, add powdered sugar one cup at a time until incorporated. Beat on medium-high 2–3 minutes. Adjust texture with more sugar or a tablespoon of milk at a time. Frost cupcakes and drizzle with melted peanut butter if desired.
[adapted from my peanut butter cupcakes]
All images and text ©How Sweet Eats.
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It should be illegal for me to buy marshmallow fluff. Seriously.