We have some really incredible locally-produced honey here in Tennessee. We pick up a giant jar of raw dark wildflower honey at the Farmers’ Market every few months or so, and use it in everything from tea to salad dressings to baked goods. I swear, once you buy some really good pure honey, you will never go back to the cheap-o store stuff (yes, I’m talking about you, Mr. Bear).
A few weeks back I made a chocolate cake, and the cake recipe I used included honey in the batter. Which I didn’t think much of until we were eating it that night. And you know what? You could actually taste the honey. It was a delicious complement to the richness of the chocolate itself.
So I took that idea (as I often do), and downsized it into cupcake form. Mixed in some roasted peanuts (because as a child who would choose a pb & honey sandwich over a pb&j anyday, I knew they were a perfect match), and topped it off with a subtly sweet and buttery rich honey buttercream. Yum. The honey adds an unexpected note of sweetness and depth of flavor to these cupcakes that you can actually taste in the final cake (surprisingly it does not bake out). Not to mention that since honey is naturally moisture-loving, these are some of the moistest cupcakes you will ever eat. To put it concisely, these cupcakes are all-around scrumptious.
Granted, Taylor has never been a fan of peanut butter and cake in the same bite, and while I had hoped that the ground peanuts would differ from simply adding peanut butter, I still think he would have preferred these sans-peanut. But I am sure he won’t put up a fight when I ask him to help me finish off this batch. I mean, cake is cake, right?
Chocolate Honey Cupcakes with Roasted Peanuts and Honey Vanilla Buttercream
Makes 12 cupcakes.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup soy milk
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup honey
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, finely ground
For Frosting:
- 2 large egg whites
- 3/8 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 cups (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
- Whisk together the soy milk, oil, sugar, honey, and vanilla extract until incorporated. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix in peanuts. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and pour in soy milk mixture. Stir until just smooth (do not overmix).
- Pour into liners, filling each with 3 tablespoons of batter (cups should be no more than 2/3 full). For mini cupcakes, fill each with 1 tablespoon batter. Bake 18-20 minutes (or 10-12 for minis), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
- To make buttercream, combine the sugar, honey, and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, 7-10 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like melted marshmallow cream. Remove from heat and transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer, and whisk on high speed until mixture is completely cooled and stiff peaks form, about 6-10 minutes. Add butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, on low speed, mixing well after each addition. If at any point mixture looks separated or curdled, stop adding butter. Increase speed to high and beat until mixture smooths out again. Reduce speed, and continue adding remaining butter. Beat in vanilla and food coloring (if desired). Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.
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yay!!! \o/
These cupcakes look amazing. I tried your mexican tart recipe for Valentine’s Day, big hit with the hubby. I have a feeling this recipe will be too. Thanks for sharing!
I tweeted it too! http://twitter.com/ClutterCubed/status/10176287450
Thanks for another tempting recipe and beautiful photos!
Nesting mixing bowls and collapsible measuring cups? Sounds like a great way to cut down on kitchen clutter (and look great while doing it!). Count me in!
Oh me me me, pick me! Love those measures! Great cupcake recipe too. thx.
Dying to try these! I might try it first without the peanuts, because I’m curious about maybe recreating the cake you first discovered. Yum!
Measuring would be fun with those cute cups! Thank for the giveaway!
Those measuring cups are so clever – and I really like the bright colors. It looks like I’ll be doing some kitchen shopping … again … :)
These are so pretty and space savers too! I hope I win!
Your cupcakes are so pretty & look delish! Love the colors of the baking supplies you are giving away :)
i tweeted :
http://twitter.com/zarpandit88
i love this! cupcakes looks delicious! :)
Oh my goodness! Another thing to enjoy local honey in. Fantastic!
Those look really good!
Those are some tasty looking cupcakes! I can’t wait to give them a try.
I can’t wait to try out this recipe! I LOVE honey and you are right about local hives…it’s the best!!! Great give-a-way too!
Thanks for the giveaway!!
Hoping to add these goodies to my new kitchen where I will finally have the room to bake your lovely cupcake recipes!
Thanks!
Just shared on FB too — but I don’t know how to send you a link of it :(
Wow — local honey AND a giveaway … thanks for waking up my Monday morning :)
I love local honey! I use it for cough medicine and allergy medicine as well. Talk about making the medicine go down! :) Will definitely have to try these cupcakes.
What a lovely giveaway, and such gorgeous colors! They would look excellent in our kitchen (we had flooding and had to redo our kitchen — we chose retro turquoise formica countertops :))!
Those cupcakes look divine and super tasty!!!! What a great idea to add the honey.
Sweeeet. Retweeted.
I LOVE honey. I will have to try these on for size now…
These cupcakes look amazing! I can’t wait to give them a try.
Peanut butter and chocolate are two of my favorite things! The Chef-n giveaway looks great too! Thanks!
How fun. Love the look of those cupcakes. Mmmm if only I had one right now. Thanks for the giveaway.
hmmm, i never thought about using honey to make cupcakes. i´m going to give it a try. yours look yummy!
Those cupcakes look AMAZING! And thanks for another fabulous giveaway!
I have a foodie friend’s birthday coming up, can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with chocolate…gotta try these!
i love the sweet yellow frosting!
I can’t wait to make these! I also preferred peanut butter and honey sandwiches (and still do).
Mmmmmmmmmmmm, lovely cupcakes! And a great giveaway! :)
I’ve never been much of a honey person. Free stuff, on the other hand…
Sounds like an excellent recipe!
What a fab spring-time recipe!!!
Great give-away. Thanks for thc chance!!
Mmmm honey and peanuts. I have to get over reese’s magic shell on frozen bananas first…
I can’t wait to make these Chocolate Honey Cupcakes! Good thing my fiance doesn’t like honey. Maybe I can horde them for myself…within a reasonable time limit, of course!
Your blog is great and I have enjoyed several recipes published here. I am totally curious about the honey-chocolate flavors in these cupcakes.
Love this blog. You make everything look delicious. So far I have made the Homemade Oreos and they all disappeared in only one day!
I can’t wait to try these!
Wow! I may need to get some nice honey soon.
I’m off to share this post on my FB!!
I would love, love, love the Chef’n kit !!
Thank you!
Tina
YUMMY!!!!
I’ve book marked this for future use! Mmm, looks so delicious.
Adore your blog, most of all because you seem to really enjoy all your culinary adventures. Love from England x