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gluten-free peanut butter chocolate cupcakes from frannycakes

Gluten-free Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Just for one moment imagine you have met someone incredibly interesting. And that someone happens to be handsome. Fairly funny. A giant nerd who loves sic-fi and web related nerdery. He wears google glass and loves open-source software. Now imagine he can recite Shakespeare and quoted the first sentence of Pride & Prejudice when you were discussing your favorite books.

Don’t forget to imagine him as charming. The sort of charming that disarms you. Makes you want to hang on his every word. He tells you stories about a past filled with the types of risks you wish you took.

Oh, and then he kisses you. A real foot-popping kiss. An earnest, sweet kiss. The kind you both want to call all your girlfriends to discuss but want to keep it to yourself just a little bit longer.

Yes, imagine all that (although, if you would rather a surfer dude with a love of detective novels, feel free to replace my dream dude for yours in this little fantasy).

gluten-free double chocolate cupcakes from frannycakes

But as a cupcake. (Yes, I totally went there. And, no, I am not ashamed).

It is no secret that I have a life-long love affair with baked goods, so it should come as no surprise that I might have fallen in love with these particular cakes. Because unlike the boy, there is something real to the relationship. There is more than boyish charm and nerdy good looks. There is cake.

gluten-free peanut butter chocolate cupcakes from frannycakes

More precisely, there is moist chocolate cake, velvety chocolate buttercream, surprise peanut butter centers. This is a serious cupcake. Appropriate for any situation in which a cupcake needs to love you back. Like the time when the aforementioned boy decides you are not the girl of his dream, you know it’s ok because you have this cupcake.

A magic gluten-free cupcake that loves you.

gluten-free double chocolate peanut butter cupcakes from frannycakes

Gluten-free Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Author: Mary Fran Wiley
Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 25 mins
Total time: 1 hour 25 mins
Serves: 30
This is a recipe for winning at life or at least for winning at dessert (or a bake sale or office party).
Ingredients
  • For the cupcakes
  • 63 grams (1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons) cocoa
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 235 grams (2¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons) GF AP flour*
  • 1 teasponn xanthan gum**
  • 300 grams (1½ cups) granulated sugar
  • 15 grams (1 tablespoon) baking powder
  • 5 grams (3/4 teaspoon) salt
  • 227 grams (2 sticks) butter, softened.
  • Filling
  • 170 grams (1 1/2 cups) confectioners’ sugar
  • 135 grams (1/2 cup) creamy peanut butter
  • 26 grams (2 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • For the Frosting
  • 8 large egg whites (30g each–total 225g, or 1 cup)
  • 400 grams (2 cups) granulated sugar
  • 560 grams (5 sticks) of unsalted butter, softened but cool, cut into cubes
  • 30 ml (2 tablespoons) pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 400 grams (about 2 cups of discs) high quality chocolate
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Bake the cupcakes
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare the cupcake tins with papers & grease the tops.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the boiling water and cocoa til smooth. Let sit for a couple minutes to come to room temperature.
  3. In a second bowl, lightly beat together the eggs, ¼ of the cocoa mixture and the vanilla.
  4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and stir on low to combine.
  5. Add butter and the remaining cocoa mixture and mix on low speed until all ingredients are moistened. Increase speed to medium for a minute and a half to develop structure.
  6. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the cocoa & egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for about 30 seconds after each addition.
  7. Use a scoop and fill the tins ½-2/3 full. You should end up with exactly 30 cupcakes.
  8. Bake for 20-25 minutes. If you are baking with multiple pans in the oven at once, rotate them halfway into baking.
  9. The cake should spring back when lightly pressed, or a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.
  10. Cool in the pans for about 5 minutes, and then move to a cooling rack until completely cool.
Make the filling
  1. While the cupcakes are baking, make the filling.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, beat together the sugar, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla at medium speed. The dough should end up slightly crumbly.
  3. Roll the dough into 30 balls, about 1 teaspoon each. Set aside.
For the frosting
  1. While the cakes cool, make the frosting.
  2. Combine the egg whites and sugar in a small pot until they reach 140 degrees fahrenheit.
  3. Transfer to a clean stand mixer bowl. Using the whisk attachment, beat until light and fluffy (soft peaks).
  4. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter one chunk at a time until it is all combined.
  5. Melt the chocolate in the microwave on half power, heating it first for 30 seconds, and then in 15 second intervals after that, always stirring after each burst of heat. Once melted, let the chocolate cool so that it is still melted but just warm, not hot – you don’t want it hot so that it melts the butter, and then add it to your frosting, beating and scraping down the sides so you have a velvety and evenly mixed buttercream.
Assemble the cakes
  1. Remove the centers from the cupcakes using a cupcake corer, melon baller or pairing knife.
  2. Place one peanut butter ball in each cake. Top with the tops of the centers so there is cake on top of the peanut butter. You just want the top 1/4 inch or so of the removed center.
  3. Pipe a generous swirl of buttercream on each cupcake.
Notes
*I test all recipes using Cup4Cup Gluten-Free All-Purpose flour and it is by far my favorite. If you cannot find it where you live, Jules Nearly Normal flour is a close second. [br]**Omit if your blend contains xanthan gum, guar gum or expandex.
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gluten-free lemon raspberry cupcakes

The three best cures for anything

There is an Irish proverb that says “A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything.”

My ancestors got that mostly right.

Sure, there is nothing like curling up in your bed, wrapped in a comforter with squishy pillows to make you feel better. Bed is a great place to recover from colds, surgeries and broken hearts.
bed

As for laughter, it is a scientific fact that laughter is good for you and might even cure what ails you. There is nothing like a good, belly-punching laugh. You know the kind. You get them when you are talking to your girl friends about that night in college. You get them from I Love Lucy. And they make you feel better. Each and every time.

But they forgot something very important.

Cupcakes.

How could they forget cupcakes? Cupcakes cure a good deal of things.

Three Gluten-Free Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes

They are effective treatment for the times you get dumped because you bought a pair of designer shoes. They can also be used to help ease the regrets you have for kissing someone you shouldn’t have. Conversely, they are an excellent way for you to take time and over-analyze your interactions with that guy you like.

After surgery, cupcakes are an essential part of the recovery process.

They work wonders for friendships. (I bribe people to be my friends with cupcakes. It’s a thing. And I’m ok with it.)

Gluten Free Lemon Cupcakes on a wire rack

Sometimes, cupcakes can even be a force for good and help end childhood hunger.

These particular cupcakes were made for for the Chicago Blogger Bake Sale hosted by My Daily Find Chicago and the 900 Shops on Michigan Avenue. Proceeds from the event went to benefit No Kid Hungry as part of the Great American Bake Sale campaign.

Blogger Bake Sale 2013

 These are some serious gluten-free cupcakes. A lemon vanilla bean cupcake filled with raspberry jam and topped with a lemon merengue buttercream. They manage to be light and decadent at the same time, a balance that is hard to find in cupcakes.

gluten-free lemon raspberry cupcakes

Gluten-Free Lemon Cupcakes

Recipe Type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Author: Mary Fran Wiley
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Total time: 1 hour
Serves: 36
These cupcakes are a little bit sturdier than some white cakes, but that is because you need to make sure they don’t fall apart when you remove the centers.
Ingredients
  • For the cakes
  • 1½ cups (360 ml) milk at room temperature
  • 7 large (210 grams) egg whites (pasteurized are fine), at room temperature
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1½ teaspoons vanilla bean paste OR 1 vanilla bean scraped OR 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1½ teaspoons lemon extract
  • 460 grams ( 3¼ cups) gluten free all purpose flour*
  • 2 teaspoons xantham gum**
  • 450 grams (2¼ cups) granulated sugar
  • 7 grams (1 teaspoon) salt
  • 1½ sticks (170 grams) butter, at room temperature and cut into cubes
  • 85 grams (6 tablespoons) vegetable shortening
  • Zest from 1 lemon finely minced
  • To assemble
  • 1 recipe Lemon Merengue Buttercream (recipe follows)
  • approximately 1 cup raspberry jam
Instructions
Make the cakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 3 cupcake tins with papers, grease the tops of the pans and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together ½ cup of the mil, the egg whites, egg and vanilla
  3. extract.
  4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients including the sugar on low speed for 30 seconds.
  5. Add butter & shortening and mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the remaining milk and stir untill just moistened. Increase the speed to medium and mix for a
  6. minute and a half.
  7. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg/milk/extract mixture in 3
  8. groups, scraping down the sides before each addition.
  9. Gently stir in the lemon zest.
  10. Using a large ice cream scoop, divide the batter evenly among the cupcake papers,
  11. making sure that none of them are more than ⅔ full (or you could have a little bit of
  12. a mess).
  13. Bake 2 cupcake trays at a time for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the
  14. center comes out clean.
  15. Cool cupcakes on a wire rack.
Assembly
  1. While the cupcakes bake, make a recipe of Lemon Merengue Buttercream.
  2. Remove the centers from the cupcakes using a cupcake corer or a paring knife, making sure you don’t go all the way to the bottom of the cupcake.
  3. Fill the wells with raspberry jam. I find that it is neatest when you use a pastry bag and a large, plain tip.
  4. You can replace the tops on the jam wells if you only fil them 2/3 full.
  5. Pipe the buttercream on top.
Notes
*I use [url href=”http://www.cup4cup.com/”]Cup4Cup gluten-free flour[/url] in almost all of my recipes. I find that it gives me the most consistent results. You can also use Jules’ Nearly Normal flour, Better Batter or the King Arthur gluten-free flour (this one requires the xantham gum). Baking mixes or bean flour based mixes will not work. **If your mix contains xantham gum, guar gum or expandex, leave this out.
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3.2.1337
Lemon Buttercream

Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Mary Fran Wiley
Cook time: 45 mins
Total time: 45 mins
Ingredients
  • 8 large egg whites (30g each–total 225g, or 1 cup)**
  • 400 grams (2 cups) granulated sugar
  • The peel of 1 lemon
  • 560 grams (5 sticks) of unsalted butter, softened but cool, cut into cubes
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons lemon extract
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • Yellow Gel Coloring
Instructions
  1. Combine the egg whites, sugar and lemon peel in a small pot until they reach 140 degrees fahrenheit.
  2. Strain your sugar syrup into a clean stand mixer bowl, you want to make sure that the lemon peel doesn’t make it into the bowl. Using the whisk attachment, beat until light and fluffy (soft peaks) and the temperature is neutral – the bowl should not be warm to the touch.
  3. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter one chunk at a time until it is all combined.
  4. It might look like it is starting to curdle, don’t panic! It should all smooth out by the time you add the last bit of butter. If it is getting too loose, you can pop it in the fridge for 5 minutes to help it set up.
  5. Add small amounts of yellow gel coloring until the buttercream is the color you desire.
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3.2.1337

 

gluten free chocolate chip cookie sandwiches

Birthdays deserve special treats

gluten free chocolate chip cookie sandwiches

Birthdays really do deserve special treats.

Not boring, normal things.

Not something that you make to cheer yourself up when you are feeling blue. (Don’t tell me you never baked to make yourself feel better).

Birthdays deserve a little extra something.

A chocolate chip cookie might be a classic, but it is not what birthdays are made of.

It was almost a challenge. I promised my friend Matt a treat for his birthday. But it couldn’t be a normal treat, he already has had gluten-free birthday cake doughnuts and a red velvet cake.

But, he asked for chocolate chip cookies.

I couldn’t just bake cookies. That is too simple. Too easy. Not a big enough challenge. Not enough opportunity to impress people with ma skillz. (No, that is not a typo. I am trying to be cool. How is it working?)

more cookie sandwiches

Cookie sandwiches on the other hand are a much more exciting treat. Almost like an ice cream sandwich that doesn’t melt. Brilliant for when you have to commute with these bad boys to the city.

These were quite the hit with Matt & his coworkers. (And the extras were a hit with mine). So next time you need to impress someone who asks for just a chocolate chip cookie, this could be your answer.

Birthdays deserve special treats
#ratingval# from #reviews# reviews
Print
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Mary Fran Wiley
Prep time: 60 mins
Cook time: 45 mins
Total time: 1 hour 45 mins
Serves: 24
What is better than chocolate chip cookies? Chocolate chip sandwich cookies. Like an ice cream sandwich that doesn’t melt. It is brilliant. They do take a couple hours from start to finish, but you can make the frosting while the cookies bake – as long as you let the cookies cool completely before piping on the frosting.
Ingredients
  • 1 recipe [url href=”http://frannycakes.com/recipes/gluten-free-chocolate-chip-cookies-a-classic-treat/”]Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies[/url] using tablespoon sized scoops
  • 4 large egg whites (30g each–total 120g, or 1/2 cup)*
  • 200 grams (1 cups) granulated sugar
  • 280 grams (2.5 sticks) of unsalted butter, softened but cool, cut into cubes
  • 15 ml (1 tablespoon) pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 150 grams (about 3/4 cups of discs) high quality chocolate
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Instructions
  1. Bake the cookies, using tablespoon sized drops of cookie dough.
  2. While the cupcakes are baking, make the frosting. If this process intimidates you, Sweet Apolita made a pretty sweet tutorial.
  3. Combine the egg whites and sugar in a small pot until they reach 140 degrees fahrenheit.
  4. Transfer to a clean stand mixer bowl. Using the whisk attachment, beat until light and fluffy (soft peaks).
  5. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter one chunk at a time until it is all combined.
  6. Remove half of the frosting and set aside. Melt the chocolate in the micorwave on half power, heating it first for 30 seconds, and then in 15 second intervals after that, always stirring after each burst of heat. Let the chocolate cool a wee bit – you don’t want it hot so that it melts the butter, and then add it to half your frosting.
  7. Set this frosting aside. Add the vanilla bean paste to the reserved half of the frosting.
  8. When the cookies are completely cool, pipe frosting onto half of the cookies, topping with a similarly shaped partner cookie.
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gluten free raspberry filled chocolate cupcakes

Remarkable life. Whiz-bang cupcakes.

I’ve spent a lot of time doing what is expected.

Playing it safe.

Being nice.

I always thought that I was nice. And that I should be nice. I thought that it was exactly right. Recently, someone told me that they didnt think nice was the right word to describe me. Someone else said that I was better when I wasn’t being nice.

So.

I am going to not be nice. Since that isn’t the right word anyway. And since it is kind of a dirty word, let’s not use it any more.

Nice. Passionate. Caring. Full of heart. Those are better words.

They describe the person I am. The person I want to be. The journey I am on.

I am going to make mistakes. Say things I shouldn’t. Do things that I might think better of later.

I am going to keep listening to the silly pop music that makes me happy. I am owning my Spice Girls ringtone (oh yes, I totally rock that). So, call me. Maybe?

I am going to use my heart more than my head. I want to see where it is going to take me.
your feet will bring you to where your heart is... positive 13

I am going to stop and smell the flowers, particularly when they are left in the bathroom in a public place.

I want to do things. See things. Make things. Change things.

I am going to do as much as I can. Some things I should, some I shouldn’t.

I don’t want a small life. In any way. I want to be epic. (Kind of like my summer has been).

I am going to keep making cupcakes. The kind with real sugar, and butter and eggs. I’ve said it before, cupcakes are therapy. And don’t you forget it. And I am going to keep feeding them to others so that I can maintain my girlish figure.

Speaking of that girlish figure, I am going to keep swimming when I can. Walk when it is possible and not beat myself up over the size of my pants.

I am going to be silly and splurge on crazy shoes (YOLO!). Be it shoes with red bottoms because, frankly, if you don’t buy them today, tomorrow you will have a much more practical use for that money or shoes with 5″ heels because that seems sensible. I am going to make no apologies for getting something that makes me happy.

I am going to go on dates with boys. I might end up kissing a few frogs (the world tells me this is going to happen). Maybe I’ll get a prince (the world says I should dream about this moment). Maybe I already did. Maybe I messed that up. Maybe I didn’t.

Maybe one day, my hair will be pink. And maybe I’ll get a tattoo.

I am going to live. Live passionately & fully. Be optimistic. Be a dreamer. Make no apologies for anything. Be me.

I will always be the optimist. Positive #18

What I am most definitely not going to do is be nice. I am not going to apologize for being me. I am not going to do something just to make someone feel better. I am not going to cave or change just to make someone happy. I’ve done that plenty. It isn’t who I really am, or even who I want to be.

Here’s to being more than nice. Here’s to living more than just a nice life. Here’s to good things.

Before I get to the cupcakes I know you want, I want to make sure that you know about Leggings Solidarity Day! I am asking everyone I know to wear leggings, tights, shorts, skirts – (mostly leggings though!) in support of invisible illness awareness. (You know, since I have a kind of major one). Also, if you haven’t seen it, the quotes pulled in from above are from a personal design project of mine. Making posters with positive thoughts. If you have any suggestions for positive quotes, email them to me!

gluten free raspberry filled chocolate cupcakes

The Whiz-Bang Cupcakes

(Or cupcakes to make an impression). These cupcakes were epic. Well, that’s what I told Dan they were. He asked for something chocolate and fruity. They took about 6 hours from start to finish (with lots of resting, showering an cleaning mixed in). Dan has had both my cupcakes and Mammacakes’ cupcakes. I had to make them extra special.

Chocolate cupcakes. Filled with a tart raspberry jam. Topped with two kinds of merengue buttercream and finished off with a fresh raspberry. This is what I call winning.

Gluten-free chocolate cupcakes with raspberry and swiss merengue buttercream
#ratingval# from #reviews# reviews
Print
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Mary Fran Wiley
Prep time: 90 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 1 hour 50 mins
Serves: 30
The cake part of the recipe is adapted from Perfect All-American Chocolate Butter Cake from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum.
Ingredients
  • For the cupcakes
  • 63 grams cocoa (1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons)
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 235 grams (2 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons) GF AP flour*
  • 300 grams (1 1/2 cups) granulated sugar
  • 15 grams (1 tablespoon) baking powder
  • 5 grams (3/4 teaspoon) salt
  • 227 grams (12 tablespoons) butter, softened.
  • For the Frosting
  • 8 large egg whites (30g each–total 225g, or 1 cup)**
  • 400 grams (2 cups) granulated sugar
  • 560 grams (5 sticks) of unsalted butter, softened but cool, cut into cubes
  • 30 ml (2 tablespoons) pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 300 grams (about 1 1/2 cups of discs) high quality chocolate
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
  • For Assembly
  • 1/2 pint jar of raspberry jam or preserves
  • 30 fresh raspberries
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare the cupcake tins with papers & grease the tops.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the boiling water and cocoa til smooth. Let sit for a couple minutes to come to room temperature.
  3. In a second bowl, lightly beat together the eggs, 1/4 of the cocoa mixture and the vanilla.
  4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and stir on low to combine.
  5. Add butter and the remaining cocoa mixture and mix on low speed until all ingredients are moistend. Increase speed to medium for a minute and a half to develop structure.
  6. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the cocoa & egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for about 30 seonds after each addition.
  7. Use a scoop and fill the tins 1/2-2/3 full. You should end up with exactly 30 cupcakes.
  8. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The cake should spring back when lightly pressed, or a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.
  9. Cool in the pans for about 5 minutes, and then move to a cooling rack until completely cool.
For the frosting
  1. While the cupcakes are baking, make the frosting. If this process intimidates you, Sweet Apolita made a pretty [url href=”http://sweetapolita.com/2011/04/swiss-meringue-buttercream-demystified/”]sweet tutorial[/url].
  2. Combine the egg whites and sugar in a small pot until they reach 140 degrees fahrenheit.
  3. Transfer to a clean stand mixer bowl. Using the whisk attachment, beat until light and fluffy (soft peaks).
  4. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter one chunk at a time until it is all combined.
  5. Remove half of the frosting and set aside. Melt the chocolate in the micorwave on half power, heating it first for 30 seconds, and then in 15 second intervals after that, always stirring after each burst of heat. Let the chocolate cool a wee bit – you don’t want it hot so that it melts the butter, and then add it to half your frosting.
  6. Set this frosting aside. Add the vanilla bean paste to the reserved half of the frosting.
Assemble
  1. When the cupcakes are cool, remove the cupcake centers (I used a cupcake corer), and pipe in the raspberry filling. Replace the cupcake tops.
  2. Pipe the frosting on the cupcakes – I did half of the cupcakes in chocolate, half in vanilla, but you can get creative and use both on each cupcake if you want.
Notes

*I prefer Cup4Cup as a pre-made blend. Please don’t use a bean based flour.
**You can use the pasteurized whites if you prefer, since you cook the eggs anyways, but it will be slightly less fluffy.

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This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesday on Simply Sugar & Gluten Free.