Peanut Butter Cupcakes

I was originally inspired to try a peanut butter cake after seeing a peanut butter & banana cupcake combination. That would probably be worth trying too, but I had chocolate ready to use up, so I went that direction this time.

I wasn't sure if these would have strong enough peanut butter flavor -- there's not that much peanut butter. The peanut oil helps bump up the flavor, and it does come through (though I might still like it stronger). I filled these with a little dark chocolate pudding, frosted them with a chocolate French buttercream, and rolled the edges in chopped peanuts.

Ingredients
½ C creamy peanut butter
1 C sugar (I use brown)
1 t vanilla
2 eggs
3 T peanut oil
¼ C applesauce
1½ C flour
2 t baking powder
¾ t baking soda
½ t salt
1 C buttermilk

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°.

Cream sugar and peanut butter. Add vanilla and eggs, mixing until light and fluffy. Stir in oil and applesauce.

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add alternately with buttermilk until well combined.

Divide batter evenly in 24 muffin cups; do not overfill! Bake 15-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.