Batter Mix

• Use a cupcake batter mix straight from the box or adapt your favorite recipe for this sweet treat. Choose whatever flavor you would like to accompany the peanut butter. Prepare the batter according to the recipe or the package's instructions. Fill a prepared muffin tray with the batter, filling each cup halfway. Ensure that you are preparing the peanut butter at the same time as the batter, or soon after, as leaving the batter for extended periods of time at room temperature can mess with the chemistry of the leaveners, causing flat cupcakes.

Peanut Butter Preparation

• Standard peanut butter, the most common types found at supermarkets, contain stabilizers to keep the peanuts from separating from the oil. The additives, however, do not stop them from becoming slightly gooey in the oven. To prevent this, prepare the peanut butter by mixing one part egg and one part sugar to every three parts peanut butter. Blend thoroughly until a thick paste has formed. Place one rounded tablespoon of peanut butter in the middle of large cupcake cups and a rounded teaspoon in the middle of small cupcake cups. Fill with the remaining batter until the peanut butter mixture is covered.

Baking

• Place the prepared tray into an oven set to the temperature called for in the recipe. Cook for the recipe's allotted time. The peanut butter mixture cooks faster than the surrounding batter. When checking for whether the cupcakes are finished, insert a toothpick into the batter portion of the small cakes, removing the cupcakes from the oven only when the toothpick comes out clean with no crumbs sticking to it.

Considerations

• Add richness and flavor to the peanut butter by adding an equal amount of cream cheese as peanut butter. Create a marbled swirl in the mixture by not fully mixing them together. Another way to add texture to the filling is by mixing chocolate chips into the peanut butter before scooping it into the middle of the batter.