It sounds egotistical to say that I know my cupcakes taste good, but it’s true. And it hasn’t just been me telling everyone– I’ve had several people rave about my cupcakes! I guess there’s no shame in being good at something and knowing it. 🙂

But, I can now say that I’m a prize-winning baker… it’s legit. Kind of. The artwork prize is from Leslie McCarthy (Please, please, please check out her website for more artwork!)

The weekly ladies Bible study group was holding a ‘snack’ competition. And these little guys won “Best Sweet Snack.”

(And my kitty sure thinks I’m a winner! She’s been a fan of my buttercream for years! Besides, every time the camera comes out my little girl has to ham it up. It’s just like having a child, I’m sure of it!)

While the last weeks have been filled with more adventurous cupcakes- those with less traditional flavors, like apple cider and margarita- I decided to go back to the basics and stick with what I do best. The original. The signature.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting.

I begin with a chocolate cupcake recipe. Second to the fudgy beet cupcakes, this chocolate cupcake recipe featuring Greek yogurt is a favorite.

Even though I HATE yogurt, you can’t even taste it in this recipe. Trust me. I HATE yogurt, like I said. 😉
You’ll want to begin with 1 container of a good vanilla Greek yogurt. I used Yoplait, because that’s what I had coupons for. The 5.3oz size is all you really need.

You’ll also need your basic cupcake ingredients: sugar, egg, flour, milk (buttermilk in this case), water, baking soda, vanilla… But there’s one twist!

I used a combination of white and brown sugar. It’s unusual to have brown sugar in a cupcake recipe, but I find that it really helps balance the Greek yogurt which can be a bit sour-tasting (hence the reason I don’t like it). The added sweetness helps fool you into not even noticing that there is no oil or butter in this recipe. At least that’s what I tell myself.

I won’t try to fool you into believing that this is all healthy. I DID use my peanut butter frosting, which negates any healthy properties of the low-fat cupcakes. Or, maybe you can justify having your frosting because the cupcakes aren’t as fatty. You can always use a whipped frosting, or marshmallow frosting is you’d prefer. I just love the taste of peanut butter and chocolate.

You’ll whisk the dry ingredients with the yogurt and sugars, Mix in an egg,some cocoa, and buttermilk Finish off with some boiling water and you have a beautiful batter.

The outcome is a traditional looking chocolate cupcake. Nothing extremely spectacular to look at, but it is mighty tasty.

It certainly needs frosting though!

I wanted to decorate them in a cute fall theme, so I tinted some of my peanut butter frosting a darker brown color and piped on trees using a size 2 Wilton tip. I covered the top in festive mini leaf sprinkles.
To do this, you’ll want to flatten the top of your frosting. I piped on a bit of frosting, then used a spatula dipped in warm water to smooth out the top, as so:

These particular ones didn’t get completely flat, but flat enough for the trees.

I loved just sprinkling them on top then turning the cupcake over to remove the rest of the sprinkles that didn’t fit. I wanted it to look like the leaves were falling off the trees, so the trees don’t need to be covered heavily with the sprinkles.

Everyone thought the trees were a cute idea, but I knew I had some frosting lovers as my audience. So, SWIRLS! 

These still look absolutely cute. But it’s basically a 1:1 ratio of cupcake to frosting, which isn’t a problem in my house!

Chocolate Greek Yogurt Cupcakes
Ingredients:

1 (5.3oz) container of Vanilla Greek Yogurt
1/2 cup of white sugar
1/2 cup of brown sugar (I used light brown)
1 egg
1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used a heaping 1/2 cup)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 buttermilk (I used dry buttermilk -found in the baking aisle- and mixed it with skim milk instead of water)
1 tsp vanilla (I never measure it, but since the yogurt is vanilla flavored, I didn’t use as much)
1/2 boiling water

Directions:

1-If using liquid buttermilk, measure into a measuring cup, add vanilla, and set aside. If using the dry buttermilk, combine the powder with the dry ingredients and measure out 1/2 cup of milk or water and set aside.
2-Combine sugars, egg, and yogurt in a large mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until well combined.
3-Combine dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl and whisk together.
4-On medium speed, slowly alternate the dry and wet (buttermilk) ingredients into the bowl with the sugar/yogurt mixture. Begin and end with the dry mix and make sure it is incorporated before adding more.
5-Gently add boiling water on a low mixing speed.
6- Fill a lined cupcake pan 3/4 of the way full for mini cupcakes, 2/3 for standard cupcakes.
7- Bake at 350 for 10 minutes for the minis and 15-17 minutes for the standard or until a toothpick inserted in the middle removes clean. The cupcakes will have a moist/shiny top, so don’t let appearances fool you. These can be completely cooked but appear wet on the top.

**Note: I don’t have a recipe available for my peanut butter frosting (top secret!) but you can find many recipes online that are tasty.