Single-Serving Peanut Butter Chocolate Cakes

I just spent the past hour looking at an incredibly thorough 56-picture slideshow of Reese Witherspoon’s sartorial history.

Before that, I indulged myself by reading the New York Times Magazine and its riveting Ellen Barkin profile for a half hour.

And after leisurely clicking through the Reese Witherspoon slideshow, I researched potential citrus tree and blueberry bush candidates for the backyard.

At no point this afternoon did I ever consider sitting down to write this post on single-serving peanut butter chocolate cakes made in a muffin tin.

Mind you, this is a recipe I made more than a month ago in lieu of fixing a busted sink stopper, (finally) taking the heaviest winter coats to the attic for their seasonal nap, and putting a looming writing deadline to bed.

But chocolate and peanut butter are a more freakishly perfect match than Brad and Angelina, a more powerful combination than The Smith Family and a sweeter duo than Russell Brand and Katy Perry (what? I’m really rooting for those two crazy kids to make it work).

And so the procrastination cakes belatedly take center stage.

Even though I procrastinated on writing up the recipe and post for these peanut butter chocolate cakes, there’s really nothing that complicated about making them.

They bake in a muffin tin, so you can have a single serving cake without worrying about keeping leftovers around.

And the recipe requires so few ingredients and comes together so easily, there’s really no excuse not to toss these off in an afternoon and still finish all your projects by deadline.

And just one cake will totally make you more creative and mellow–or fend off the wooziness of pesky low blood sugar, at the very least.

Based on the molten chocolate cake brought richly to the public consciousness by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, the recipe’s frankly nothing less than an instant classic.

And it’s much less expensive and time-inducing than replicating Reese Witherspoon’s entire wardrobe for your own closet.

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Single-Serving Peanut Butter Chocolate Cakes

Yield: 6 cakes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Additional Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 33 minutes

Single serving peanut butter chocolate cakes are made in a muffin tin for small-batch indulgence, but are rich(and almost instant) dessert classics.

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Ingredients

• baking spray
• 1/4 cup (64 grams) creamy peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons (14 grams) confectioner's sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 ounces (113 grams) chopped semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and generously spritz 6 wells of a muffin tin with baking spray.
2. Beat the peanut butter and confectioner's sugar together in a small bowl with a silicone spatula until smooth and creamy.
3. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat, then stir in the chocolate until fully melted and smooth. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
4. In a medium bowl, beat the sugar and eggs with an electric hand mixer until pale and frothy, about 2 minutes.
5. Fold in the flour and then the melted chocolate.
6. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the batter into each greased muffin tin well.
7. Add about 2 teaspoons peanut butter to each, dividing evenly.
8. Spread 1 tablespoon batter into each, covering the peanut butter.
9. Bake for 7-8 minutes or until the tops are puffed and just slightly cracked.
10. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes.
11. Run an offset spatula around each cake to loosen it from the pan, then gently remove.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 283Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 82mgSodium: 35mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 2gSugar: 21gProtein: 4g

The nutritional information above is computer-generated and only an estimate.

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