Chubby Hubby Cupcakes

Ever heard of chubby hubby ice-cream? apparently it's made by Ben and Jerry's. I have never had the honor of trying it. But after finding these cupcakes on Annie's Eats, I was thoroughly intrigued. This cupcakes combines a malted vanilla cupcake with salted pretzels and dark chocolate ganache and oh we can't forget the smooth peanut butter frosting, now can we?!. Did I get your attention yet?
describing it to you is already playing tricks on my mind. Even though I made these cupcakes i was not able to try one, due to the enormous amount of points these babies conceal. It's not helping my midnight cravings at all...
So I guess I will leave you with the mouth watering description of chocolate/pretzel/peanut butter....your welcome!
Have an awesome night! I'm going to go and sit in a corner and cry with my water and grapes...cheers ;-)

This is a very rich and loaded cupcake. A malted vanilla cupcake is filled with dark chocolate ganache and a couple pretzel M&M's (use the pretzel M&M's instead of crushed pretzels because they keep their crunchiness) then this decadent dessert is frosted with a creamy but not overpowering peanut butter frosting and topped off with a chocolate drizzled mini pretzel.

• The malted vanilla can be found at Publix in the tea and coffee aisle. I used the carnation vanilla malt powder. 
• Use a couple of pretzel M&M's in the filling, they keep their crunch longer. 

chubby Hubby Cupcakes

Makes about 30 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 3 cups cake flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1½ cups sugar
• 1 cups malted milk powder (I used carnation malted milk powder from Publix)
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1¼ cups buttermilk, at room temperature

For the filling:

• 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1½ cups pretzels M&M (about two-three per cupcake)

For the frosting:

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 4½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• Pinch of  salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp. heavy cream

To garnish: 

• Mini pretzels drizzled with melted chocolate

Directions

To make cupcakes:

•  preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
•  In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to blend and set aside. 
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Gradually add in the sugar, about ¼ cup at a time, mixing for 1 minute after each addition. Blend in the malted milk powder. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl and mixing well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing each addition just until incorporated.
• Divide the batter between the prepared liners. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

To make  ganache: 

• place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Add the cream to a saucepan and bring to a simmer (or warm in the microwave). Remove from the heat and pour the hot cream over the chocolate; let stand 1-2 minutes. Whisk together until a smooth ganache forms. Whisk in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time until completely incorporated. Let stand at room temperature, whisking occasionally, until slightly thickened.

To fill the cupcakes:

• Use the cone method to fill the cupcakes part way with ganache. Top off each ganache center with some of the chopped pretzel pieces (or a few pretzel M&Ms). (You don’t need to replace the cake tops for these cupcakes but you can if you would like.)

To make the frosting:

• Combine the butter and peanut butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth. Mix in the confectioners’ sugar and salt. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the vanilla and cream just until incorporated. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and whip until light and very fluffy, about 4 minutes. 
• Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip. Pipe a swirl of frosting on top of each cupcake. Garnish with a chocolate drizzled pretzel.

Recipe adapted from Annie's eats