Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cupcakes

Sweet and salty anything and I am in! Do you love sweet and salty too? Chocolate and peanut butter? Both are a match made in heaven and I've added them all into this one cupcake!

One of my favorite frostings is chocolate and peanut butter together, and so I made that with a chocolate cake and topped it with a salty pretzel. These cupcakes are so good you'll want to make them this weekend.

Tips for making the best Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cupcakes

• Use a scale! Cake can be challenging sometimes and a scale will take the guesswork out of following the recipe and allow you to focus on your cake making skills. I highly recommend using a scale all the time.

• Make sure your butter is soft. I cannot stress enough that when a recipe calls for soft butter, it should be really soft. That means you should be able to poke it with your finger and it makes an indent. I like to leave butter out on the counter overnight if I know I'm baking something the next day. Butter softens best at room temperature. But, if you must microwave it, then only do 10 seconds at a time per stick, otherwise it may melt parts of the butter.

• Use room temperature eggs, milk, cream, and sour cream. This really helps get a smooth cupcake batter which is really important.

• Scraping down the sides of the bowl is super important when making cupcake batter. This ensures all the batter gets mixed thoroughly and there's no chunks of butter and sugar.

• You can refrigerate the batter overnight, and bake cupcakes off the next day! I love to do this as it always makes my cupcakes rise really well and extra round on top. So, if your cupcakes are coming out flat, try this tip.

• When making the frosting, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. This is super important for light and fluffy frosting. I do this multiple times when making frosting. You'll see darker spots of frosting, this is just frosting that hasn't been mixed thoroughly, so that's an indicator that you need to scrape it down and whip it more.

• You can add more pretzels if you want more saltiness! I thought they looked cute with just one on top, but when I ate them, I wanted more!

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cupcakes

Makes 15

Batter

1 stick (113 grams) organic salted butter, softened

170 grams (3/4 cup) organic cane sugar

1/2 teaspoon organic ground vanilla bean

2 organic large eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup organic milk, room temperature

1/4 cup organic heavy whipping cream, room temperature

1/4 cup organic sour cream, room temperature

127 grams (3/4 cup plus 2 1/2 tablespoons) all natural cake flour

43 grams (1/2 cup) organic Dutch cocoa powder, sifted

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Frosting

1 1/2 sticks (170 grams) organic salted butter, softened

310 grams (2 cups plus 3 tablespoons) organic powdered sugar, sifted

28 grams organic Dutch cocoa powder, sifted

64 grams (1/4 cup) organic peanut butter

3 to 4 tablespoons organic milk

Topping

organic pretzel twists

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

To make the batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cane sugar, and vanilla bean. Mix on low until combined and there are no chunks of butter.

Add the eggs, milk, heavy whipping cream, and sour cream, and mix on low until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again until combined.

Add the cake flour, cocoa, baking powder and sea salt in that order, and mix on low until combined into a smooth batter. Scrape down the sides of bowl as needed.

Line cupcake pans with liners, and fill cupcakes three-quarters full.

Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the cupcake pans.

To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar, cocoa, peanut butter, and milk. Mix on low until combined, then speed mixer up to high for 1 minute or until light and fluffy. Transfer to a piping bag with Ateco tip #864.

Pipe frosting onto each cupcake and stick a pretzel twist on top.

Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Gluten Free - Replace the cake flour with 127 grams (3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon) organic gluten free flour blend.

High Altitude - Bake at 350°F for 17 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Did you make this recipe? Make sure to tag @dessertdorganic on Instagram!