Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting

Tomorrow is my birthday.

I'm going to be 28!

Funny part about that is I think I've been saying I'm 28 for like 6 mo's now. LOL

My  husband makes fun of me because I round everything up. I tell everyone we have been together for 12 yrs. When in actuality it won't be 12 yrs until November 2012. My 3 1/2 yr old is now 4, my my almost 1 yr old is 1. My dog who JUST turned 8 has been 8 for at least a year now.

I don't know why I do this. It confuses everyone around me even myself.

I swore our anniversary this fall was going to be 13 yrs, and that tomorrow I would be 29 with 1 yr to go until the big 3-0.

So  to celebrate my NOT 29th birthday tomorrow I will be hosting a Cake and Ice Cream Party. Come link up as many cake and ice cream posts on my blog tomorrow. Share your delish recipes with me and maybe get some extra traffic to your blog as well. It's a win win!

As a cake teaser I am going to share my favorite chocolate peanut butter cupcakes with you all today. I make these every year for Hub's birthday which is on Sept 11th. He will be 27 this year. Not 28.

The chocolate cake is super moist and topped with the BEST frosting on the planet everyone will snatch these right up. 

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting
(Recipe adapted from my Caden's Cake)

Ingredients:

 2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 a cup of dark coco powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp of salt
2 eggs
1 cup of buttermilk
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
2/3 of a cup of boiling water

Directions:

 Preheat oven to 350.

Line cupcake pans with cupcake liners.  Recipe yields about 24 cupcakes. Set aside

In the bowl of your electric mixer stir together your dry ingredients. Add in milk, oil, eggs, vanilla and beat on medium/low speed for 2 minutes.
Stir in boiling water by hand.

Pour into pans and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.

For the frosting:

2 sticks of room temperature butter (1 cup)
1 cup of cream peanut butter
2-4 cups of confectioners sugar
2 tbs of half and half (optional)

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and peanut butter until creamy. On medium/low speed add in powder sugar until you get your desired creamy/stiffness I only use 2 cups. If too stiff  add half and half until it is smooth.

Frost cooled cakes.