Peanut Butter and NIPS Cupcake

If you haven't read the latest issue of Katha Magazine, then go check it out now! I made a cupcake recipe for the Childhood and Nostalgia issue. If you are Filipino, then I'm sure you know what NIPS are. They're candy colored milk chocolate that's similar to M&M's. They remind me of my childhood because when I was younger NIPS were always included in birthday party loot bags. For this recipe, I used the peanut butter frosting and topped the cupcakes with NIPS.

This recipe, by the way, makes 12 cupcakes

Cupcake Recipe 1 cup butter 1 cup white sugar 4 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract ½ cup milk 2 cups flour ½ tbsp baking powder ½ tsp salt

Preheat the oven at 350 F. Line the muffin pans with cupcake liners and set them aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and together with sugar until smooth. Be sure to use an electric mixer to make the batter light and fluffy. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly pour the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients, then add milk. Once everything is well blended, use an ice cream scooper to transfer the batter to the cupcake liners.
Bake the cupcakes for 15 minutes or until when a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean. I know by this time you’re excited to frost. But cool the cupcakes on a cooling rack first before frosting!
Now while that’s cooling, let’s make the peanut butter frosting!
Peanut Butter Frosting ½ cup butter, softened 2 cups powdered sugar 4 heaping spoons of creamy peanut butter 3 tbsp soy milk, or regular milk

First make sure everything is at room temperature. You can use an electric mixer for this but a fork works just as fine. Add the powdered sugar and softened butter in a bowl and mix them together until it’s smooth. Then add the peanut butter one spoon at a time. Gradually add in the milk until the frosting is creamy.

For the topping, just sprinkle 1-2 packs of NIPS on to your frosted cupcakes to make them look happy and colorful!