Devil’s Food Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a standard 12 cup muffin pan with papers.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. In the bowl of your mixer, beat the granulated sugar, brown sugar and butter on medium-high speed until the mix is light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and the vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour mix in 3 additions, alternating with the water and the buttermilk. Beat on low speed until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Then continue to beat on medium-high speed until no traces of flour remain, about another 30 seconds. Do not overbeat.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each about three-fourths full. Bake until a toothpick in the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 5 minutes before transferring the cupcakes to the wire rack to cool for another hour before frosting.

Frosting:

In the bowl of your electric mixer, on medium-low speed, beat the butter, sugar, peanut butter, and cream together until combined and smooth; about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of bowl as needed. Use right away. I garnished these with chopped, honey roasted peanuts!