Aunt Lynnie made these when I was very pregnant with Alyssa and then sent me home with a bag of them. They were DELICIOUS and as I was gorging my pregnant self on them, for some reason I got it in my head that these would be the perfect thing to make when I went into labor so that folks would have something to munch on while they waited for the baby to be born. Yep, I was planning to just whip up a batch of these between labor pains, I guess.I know... don't ask me what I was thinking. I remember Deni telling me that before she had her babies she'd stock up her freezer with casseroles. Well I knew I'd never be able to pull that off. No, I couldn't supply my family with a stockpile of warm nutritious meals, but darn it, I could supply a few cupcakes for my kid's birthday.
I bought the ingredients to keep on hand but somehow the whole labor and delivery thing just keeps taking me by surprise. The night I went into labor I forgot all about baking cupcakes... which is probably a good thing. Darin was awfully patient with all my excuses for not leaving the house that night but I'm not sure how she would have reacted if I'd said I had to whip up a batch of cupcakes.
So there you have it, I couldn't deliver the cupcakes, but I delivered something even better. (Now how's that for a corny line... not to mention an obvious excuse to include a picture of my cute kid?)
1 (18 1/2-ounce) package chewy fudge brownie mix (recommended: Duncan Hines)
1 (12-ounce) package peanut butter chips or 24 miniature peanut butter cups
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 regular muffin cups with paper cupcake liners. Prepare the brownie mix according to package directions for cake-like brownies. Fill the cups half full with brownie batter. Place about 1 tablespoon peanut butter chips in the center of the batter, or press 1 peanut butter cup into the batter in each muffin cup until the batter meets the top edge of the peanut butter cup.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the cupcakes are set.
When they can be handled safely, remove them from the muffin tins and let cool completely on wire racks. Store in an airtight container.
(Recipe contributed by Dione. Alyssa, also contributed by Dione, seen above at 5 months old.)
1 comment:
OK, now I AM ANNOYED. We could have made Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcakes instead of all those extremely STUPID things you did to postpone going to the hospital???? Your apparent theory being "as long as I don't go to the hospital, the baby won't come"...The whole freaking time I'm feeling like that young girl in “Gone With The Wind” who says "I Don't Know Nuthin' Bout Birthin' No Babies, Miss Scarlett.”
I should be boiling water, but I don't know what to use it for when it’s ready--laundry?
But NOOOOOOOO. I have to be the Big Sister. I have to remain CALM. I have to suggest in a Loving, Calm-Yet-Diplomatic Fashion that perhaps you GET YOUR BUTT IN GEAR and Get In My Car), all the while remembering to smile at Dione while I say this so as to appear reassuring) because if I have to deliver that baby on the side of the Interstate, I am Going to Be HIGHLY AGITATED.
Instead of when we COULD have been making brownies (which I would have “enthusiastically bought into, instead, by the way), I am patiently (WHILE SECRETLY HIGHLY AGITATED) suggesting that THE PANTS YOU HAVE ON ARE FINE. And, ummm, Hon, “THE SHOES YOU HAVE ON ARE FINE. Very Cute, totally cute shoes. Can we LEAVE NOW?”
That’s it! Kid #3…we’re having a Sisters’ Reunion at the delivery—we’ll just do it at your house so we can make Scott breakfast. Denise is baking Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcakes once hard labor commences; and I’m sucking the kid out with your doc’s vacuum, cuz left to your own devices, you just take your sweet time.
P.S. Alyssa, you were TOTALLY worth the wait. Three of my most precious memories are watching the birth of Kelsea, Amanda, and you. I am totally blessed as an aunt, and those births are forever ingrained into my mind as treasured memories. Being the Delivering Mother is just so much more stressful and Involved…it’s sooooo much more fun watching adorable nieces slide into the world! Party On: Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcakes for everyone!
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