Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcakes

It is Sunday again, which means I get to make dessert!! (: I had seen Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcakes when browsing pinterest and knew I had to give them a try. The only problem is the recipe called for brownie mix and corn syrup.  So, I decided to take the concept and create my own recipe!
Extremely rich and super chocolatey, definitely a fun and very sweet Sunday dessert!

Yields: 16 cupcakes

Ingredients

Brownie Batter:

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1-1/2 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp instant coffee
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 16 miniature peanut butter cups

Icing:

• 1/2 c creamy unsweetened All-natural Peanut Butter(or you can use regular creamy peanut butter)
• 1/4 c butter, softened
• 2 c powdered sugar, sifted
• 3 tbsp milk
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla
• 1/8 tsp salt

Ganache:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp butter(softened)
• 1 cup simi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 tsp instant coffee
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Topping:

• 12-14 miniature peanut butter cups

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cups in each of 12 regular-size muffin cups. Remove foil and cups from candy pieces. Set aside.
2. Prepare brownie batter: Melt butter in sauce. Add remaining brownie ingredients with exception to the peanut butter cups.  Fill each muffin cup up about 1/2 full with batter. Place 1 unwrapped candy piece, upside down, on top of batter in each cup. Lightly tap piece down into batter.
   -Bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cup comes out almost clean. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan. Place on wire rack; cool completely.
3. Make icing by placing peanut butter and butter into medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and creamy; scrape bowl. Add powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and salt. Beat on low speed 1 minute; scrape bowl. Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Pipe about 2 tablespoons of icing on each cupcake leaving the edge un-iced.
4. Prepare ganache: in a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the heavy cream and butter until it just comes to a boil.  Place chocolate, espresso, and vanilla in a heat safe bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and allow it to sit for about 5 minutes. Whisk the cream and chocolate until smooth and thoroughly combined.  Do not let the glaze sit for too long or it will harden up before you spoon it over the frosting. drizzle the glaze on the tops of the frosted cupcakes, allowing it to drip down the sides a little bit(you may not want use all the ganache as I only used about 1/2 of the recipe).
5. Top each cupcake with a peanut butter cup.
6. Enjoy!!