vegan dark chocolate peanut butter swirl cupcakes

I think we can all agree that chocolate and peanut butter are one of the most perfect combinations ever! These Vegan Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes combine the two in a sweet, decadent, delicious treat.

Happy SATURDAY, friends! I am so excited to be sharing these stunning Vegan Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes with y'all today. I don't usually post on the weekend, but when a blogger friend throws an event, well... it's a worthy exception. My friend Erin blogs over at The Spiffy Cookie, and the is the absolute queeeeen of anything chocolate & peanut butter related. She has an ongoing #PBChocSat series, where every Saturday during football season, she shares a new chocolate + PB creation. She invited us to join her for the first weekend of the season and of course I had to say yes!

I personally love chocolate and peanut butter together, and this event was the perfect excuse to whip up a recipe using this winning combo. I decided to go for the classic and always-loved chocolate cupcake! I then jazzed it up with peanut butter mixed into the batter, and crowned it with the prettiest bicolor swirl. The finishing touch had to be (vegan) peanut butter cups! I used Justin's dark chocolate peanut butter cups.

Happy #PBchocSat!

Thank you to Erin from The Spiffy Cookie for organizing this event!
Satisfy your peanut butter and chocolate cravings by checking out all the recipes we made:

• Buckeye Trail Mix by The Spiffy Cookie
• A #PBChocSat Twofer: Dangerous Cupcakes and Homemade Snickers by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Buckeye Crunch Popcorn by Palatable Pastime
• Vegan Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes by The Baking Fairy
• Muddy Buddy Rice Krispie Treats by Kate's Recipe Box
• Peanut Butter and Chocolate Strudel by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Peanut Butter and Chocolate Shortbread Bars by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Bundt Cake by The Redhead Baker
• Peanut Butter and Chocolate Nice Cream by Cooking With Carlee
• Keto Peanut Butter Cups by Our Good Life
• Classic Peanut Butter Chocolate-Filled Cookies by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice

Tips for success:

• Creamy peanut butter is a MUST in these cupcakes! You can use either regular or natural... I only had natural PB in the house and it worked just fine!
• Be sure to use white vinegar only when making the cupcake batter. I have subbed apple cider vinegar before, only to have the cupcakes explode out of the pan! I think ACV has a higher acidity point so it reacts with the baking soda differently. Learn from my mistakes. LOL.
• The swirled frosting may look hard, but it's really not! There are two ways you can do this (and you can find them both on my Instagram in my stories!)
  • Method 1: the 2-in-1 piping bag method. For this, you will fill one piping bag with the chocolate frosting, and one with the peanut butter frosting. You then put your decorating tip in a THIRD bag, snip off the tips of the chocolate + PB bags, and place both of the frosting bags INSIDE the third bag. This way, when you are decorating, you are getting half the frosting from each color. Here is a video from Wilton showing you how to do it!
  • Method 2: the plastic wrap method. For this one, you lay a sheet of plastic wrap on your counter, and then you spoon your frosting on top! Make two columns, one of chocolate frosting and one of PB. Roll it up into a sausage (don't forget the two twirly ends), then drop into your prepared piping bag with decorating tip. Pull one of the twirly bits through the tip, and cut it with scissors. Pull the plastic back up just a little bit, and - ta-da! Now your frosting is coming from your plastic wrap. This one is nice because you can use as many colors as you want. You can see how I did a rainbow effect for these St. Patrick's Day cupcakes. See this video from Food  & Wine on how to do this!

I hope you guys will give these vegan dark chocolate peanut butter swirl cupcakes a try! They are just HEAVENLY! If you love the classic chocolate + PB combo, prepare to fall in love!

Check out some of my past chocolate peanut butter creations!

• Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Puff Pastry Braid
• Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Snack Cake
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Dessert Hummus
• Reese's Stuffed Peanut Butter Skillet Brownie
• Protein Chocolate PB Mug Cake

Print Recipe

3.50 from 2 votes

vegan dark chocolate peanut butter swirl cupcakes

I think we can all agree that chocolate and peanut butter are one of the most perfect combinations ever! These Vegan Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes combine the two in a sweet, decadent, delicious treat.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Course: Cupcakes

Servings: 15

Author: Valentina | The Baking Fairy

Ingredients

• *for the cupcakes*
• 1¼ cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• ½ cup dark cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup nondairy milk
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoon white vinegar
• ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
• *for the peanut butter frosting*
• ¼ cup vegan butter
• ½ cup shortening
• 3 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1-2 tablespoon milk as needed for thinning
• *for the chocolate frosting*
• ¼ cup vegan butter
• ½ cup shortening
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1-2 tablespoon milk as needed for thinning

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350F. Place 15 cupcake liners in 2 muffin pans and set aside.
• To make the cake, whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.
• Add in the nondairy milk and oil, and mix vigorously. Add in the vinegar and vanilla, and mix until well combined. Finally, stir in the peanut butter.
• Divide the cake batter between the prepared cupcake liners, and bake for 17-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs. Set aside to cool completely before filling.
• To make the peanut butter frosting, combine the vegan butter, vegan shortening, and peanut butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat until smooth and creamy, then add in the vanilla.
• Mix in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time until frosting is thick and holds its shape. If it is too thick, add some nondairy milk to smooth it out.
• Repeat the same exact process for the chocolate frosting!
• To frost, see one of the methods of 2-color frosting I mentioned above and frost cupcakes as desired. Top each with a ¼ of a peanut butter cup. Enjoy!!

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