Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzel Crunch Cupcakes

My husband loves anything that combines peanut butter and chocolate so I decided to surprise him yesterday with a special treat.

First of all I have to admit that I'm not really a baker.  I can't cook without a recipe because I need to follow step-by-step directions so when I say these cupcakes turned out to be amazing, it's saying a lot.

First, make your favorite chocolate cake batter.  Again, I have to admit I used a box cake for the cupcakes.  I'm more of an icing snob.  I have to have homemade icing on all my cakes.  I can't stand store bought icing and my mom has spoiled me with all of her fabulous cakes she has made for me my entire life.

I did add a Reece's peanut butter cup to each cupcake before baking them.

Now comes the good part!  I found a great recipe for peanut butter icing on Brown Eyed Baker and adapted it a little using what I had in my refrigerator:

Peanut Butter Icing Recipe:

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup half and half

Add all ingredients except the half and half to your bowl and mix until creamy.  Add half and half and continue mixing until icing is light and fluffy.

To make these cupcakes even better - although I could have stopped here - I decided to add crushed pretzels to the top of each cupcake.

Mmmm!!  These cupcakes were so good.  It was hard to eat just one!