Who doesn’t love a good Snickers. Chocolate, creamy peanut nougat, and caramel. What’s not to love?? Who doesn’t love a good chocolate cupcake. If a Snickers and cupcake had a baby this would be it. A perfect marriage. Talk about a bun in the oven. Is there anything else to say? This recipe is wordy enough, so I’ll just stop right there. Enjoy.

Suzie

Snickers Cupcakes

Peanut Praline

1/2 Cup granulated sugar

2 Tbsp. water

1/4 Cup salted “party” peanuts

1. Prepare a rimmed sheet pan with either a Silpat silicone liner or grease lightly. In a small saucepan combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil over high heat until medium-dark amber in color. Turn off the heat, remove from burner and stir in peanuts, pour out onto prepared sheet pan, let cool completely and place in a plastic ziplock bag and bash with a meat mallet to grind into fine powder. Set aside for peanut praline buttercream filling.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

8 egg whites

2 Cups granulated sugar

6 sticks (3 Cups) unsalted butter

2 tsp. vanilla

*Peanut Praline (from above)

* 4 oz. Bittersweet chocolate bar, chopped fine, melted and cooled

1. In the mixer bowl of a stand mixer place the egg whites and sugar and place over a saucepan of simmering water.

2. Heat the egg white mixture while whisking until the temperature is about 160 degrees and/or the mixture is very warm to finger touch and can no longer feel any sugar crystals between your fingers.

3. With the whisk attachment; place the bowl on the stand mixer and whip until you have a stiff meringue and the bottom of the bowl is barely warm. Add the butter one tablespoon at a time until all of the butter is incorporated; mix on high speed. Add the vanilla and whip until smooth.

4. Divide buttercream–

To make Peanut Praline Buttercream Filling: Take about 2 Cups of buttercream and stir in 1/2 Cup of the * peanut praline. Set aside for filling cupcakes.

To make Chocolate Buttercream: Take the rest of the buttercream and beat in the cooled, melted bittersweet chocolate until smooth. Use this to frost cupcakes.

Devils Food Cupcakes

makes ~ 24 cupcakes

3/4 Cup unsalted butter, room temp

2  1/4 Cup Sugar

3 eggs, room temp

1  1/2 tsp. vanilla

2  1/4 all-purpose flour

3/4 Cup Extra dark cocoa powder (such as Hershey’s special dark, or regular cocoa powder)

1  1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 Cup buttermilk, room temp

3/4 Cup  coffee, room temp

1/3 Cup Purchased caramel sauce, mixed with pinch of salt (For drizzling cupcakes)

1. Preheat oven to 375° degrees.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light &  fluffy; about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined; stopping to scrape down bowl in between each addition. Add vanilla, stir to combine. In a small bowl, combine dry ingredients and whisk to combine; set aside. Combine buttermilk and coffee together in a liquid measuring cup; set aside. Add dry ingredients alternatively with buttermilk coffee mixture ending with flour mixture, beating after each addition.

3. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake at 375° degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Don’t be tempted to overfill as they rise quite a bit! Let cakes cool on a wire rack in pans for 10 minutes then remove to wire rack to let cool the rest of the way completely.

Cupcake Assembly-

Make a hole in the cupcake using apple corer, fill with Peanut Praline Buttercream. Frost with swirl of Chocolate Buttercream. Drizzle with salted caramel topping. Top with small slice of snickers candy bar.