Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes, vegan

These chocolate peanut butter cupcakes are almost too good to be true. They're rich, decadent, and also happen to be healthy.

It's been a long time coming, but we finally have a peanut butter recipe on the blog! And, let me tell you, these chocolate peanut butter cupcakes are GOOD. My official taste tester (aka David) gave them a 10/10.

These aren't any ordinary cupcakes though. They have a "secret" ingredient in them that may shock you. It makes these chocolate peanut butter cupcakes super rich and moist, which is my preference when it comes to cupcakes.

These chocolate peanut butter cupcakes are:

Decadent

Moist

Rich

Addictive

Healthy-ish

And, easy to make!

What is the secret ingredient in these cupcakes?

Drum roll, please... it's sweet potato! When sweet potato is pureed, it acts as a binder. If you're familiar with vegan baking, you may have used apple sauce or pumpkin puree before. For this recipe, we're using a good old sweet potato (or two)!

This is a great way to use up any sad sweet potatoes you have lying around. Or, a fantastic way to sneak in some extra veggies into your kid's diets. Trust me, they will never know there is sweet potato in this! I told David after he had a cupcake, and I had never seen him so surprised... except maybe when his sister and niece surprised him for his birthday last year!

How to add sweet potato to baked goods:

Adding sweet potatoes to baked goods may seem intimidating, but it's really not. You just puree the sweet potato in a blender and add into the mixture, like you would with apple sauce.

There are, however, some best practices when baking with sweet potatoes:

• Always remove the skin - you don't want leathery bites in your cupcakes, right!?
• Puree well - make sure you let the blender go for a minute so there aren't any sweet potato chunks.
• Roast the potatoes - for this recipe, we want to dry roast the sweet potatoes (vs boiling) without any oil. If you boil the sweet potatoes, they may have too much water in them.
• Results may vary - since we're dealing with produce (vs a packaged product), no two sweet potatoes are going to taste the same. Some might be sweeter than others. Not to worry though, you'll be adding a sweet peanut butter frosting afterwards!

For this recipe, I tried using both white and orange sweet potatoes. Both worked well!

Frequently Asked Questions

I'm making these cupcakes for kids. Can I omit the instant coffee?

You're going to need some liquid for the recipe, but you can just use water, a decaf coffee, or a plant-based milk instead.

Does any type of sweet potato work?

In theory, any type of sweet potato should work, although the sweetness may differ depending on the type.

Can I make these into mini cupcakes?

Absolutely. Just make sure to adjust baking time accordingly.

How should I store these cupcakes?

These cupcakes should be kept in a sealed container in the refrigerator and are good for up to 1 week.

Are you also a chocolate lover? You'll want to try:

Easy + Healthy Nutella

Chocolate Cookie Dough Cups

Black Bean Brownies w/ Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Skillet Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookie