PB for Life - Homemade Peanut Butter Frosting!

After hearing my friends and co-workers talking about Pinterest for months and how much fun they had, I have given in and asked my friend to send me an invite. Now, I must say, I am a Pinterest Addict. I am so addicted to Pinterest, I actually dreamed about it yesterday when I was sleeping. Being someone who loves to cook and bake, I appreciate everything that Pinterest has to offer. I am like a kid in a candy store when I look at the Food & Drinks pinboard, I just want to look at all the pictures of the food & drinks that everyone is pinning and think about which one I can make! As I compiled all these recipes, I came across so many food blogs and got inspired by all these wonderful bloggers and I started to wonder - if I love to bake and cook and always post my dishes on my facebook, I should really start writing a blog about me Baking & Cooking and share with other food lovers! With the love that I have for Peanut Butter, I thought it will only be appropriate and fitting if my blog name is named something after Peanut Butter...So...here we are - "Love 4 PB - My adventures with Peanut Butter, Food, Drinks and Travel". I hope you will enjoy reading my blog!

Back in August 2011, I had a gall bladder removal surgery and I was told that there may be a possibility I may not be able to eat fatty food anymore - that included Peanut Butter. I tried Peanut Butter within the first few months after the surgery and let me tell you, the end result wasn't pretty! I was so devastated to know that I would have to cut peanut butter out of my food group! :( But I ain't giving up just yet and quite frankly, if going to the bathroom is the only thing that I suffer afterwards, it is totally worth the pain! Luckily, I think my digesting system is working fine now and just needed time to adjust since I am one organ short!

If I publicly confess my love for Peanut Butter, my first recipe that I post really has to be Peanut Butter related! (I don't think I have a choice...haha)

Like I said, I love to cook and to bake, but with my busy schedule, I can't really make everything from scratch. I wouldn't compare myself to Sandra Lee from Food Network, but I do make a few short cut sometimes to make my life easier when it comes to cooking or baking if I want something delicious without the hassle and in a shorter period of time during the weekdays! Did I also mention sometimes it's cheaper to buy pre-made packages? With this economy, who doesn't want to keep an extra few bucks in the bank account! You CAN and you don't have to sacrificed for your taste bud.  I know I know, it's cheating, but no one needs to know, especially those who are raving about your food ;-)

I have a sweet tooth, but I hate icing/frosting. My weaknesses are dark chocolate, soft serve ice-cream, warm apple pie and anything involves peanut butter (even frosting!!!!) I passed by The Cheesecake Factory one day and reminded myself how good that peanut butter frosting was last time I ate the Adam's Cheesecake, I was determined to make my own Peanut Butter frosting. So that night, I made Double Dark Chocolate Cupcake with Homemade Peanut Butter Frosting! Everyone including my co-workers and my spouse loved it! And I LOVE IT TOO!

Recipe for Double Dark Chocolate Cupcake with Homemade Peanut Butter Frosting (Makes 20)

For the cupcakes:
1 Box of Dark Chocolate Cake Mix (Any brand, whatever is on sale)
1 cup of Dark Chocolate Chips (Save 20 pieces for decoration)

For the Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar (may add more sugar if you like it sweeter)
1/3 cup Half & Half (may use fat free)

Preheat oven as directed and follow instruction to mix the batter. Fold in dark chocolate chips into batter and bake according to the package.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy with electric mixer/beater. Slowly beat in 1/2 cup of the confectioner's sugar. Mix in the half & half and beat in the remaining confectioners' sugar. If necessary, add a little more half & half until the frosting reaches a good consistency. 

Let the cupcakes cool down for at least for 1 1/2 hour before frosting them and top 1 chocolate chip on top of the cupcake after.

Enjoy this recipe, it's like eating a giant soft dark peanut butter cup! Next time when I make this, I will also add peanut butter chips into the batter as well!

HAPPY BAKING!! :)