Vanilla Bean Cupcakes With YUMMIEST Frosting EVER

So, before beginning this post, may I just say...

WHY can we NEVER make it to church on time?!??!

Ok, glad to have gotten that out of my system.  And now having said that, I guess one reason we were late today is because I wanted to get a cute picture of these cupcakes and was rushing around, and now as you can see... pretty lousy pictures.  Don't judge, I was in a hurry.  Hope the top picture didn't blind you!  :)

So, let's get to these cupcakes!

I have become a big fan of Annie's Eats website and her Butterfinger Cupcake came highly recommended by a friend so I really wanted to try it out!  Lucky me, I had a reason to try these for some friends at church!  So, after reading the recipe, it says you can make these with either a banana cupcake base or a vanilla base.  I opted for vanilla, even though I've got about a half dozen brown, seriously ripe, bananas sitting on my counter just waiting to be used.  No, let's not use them, that would be silly.  Go on a mad hunt for a vanilla bean instead.  That would be the logical choice, right?  Oh good grief.  So, cutting the bean and scraping the little beans out will have to be another post, because I definitely did NOT master that yesterday.  Good thing I bought two, so I could try again.   All that said, I was pretty impressed with these cupcakes!  But, we haven't gotten to the BEST part yet... the FROSTING.  You wanna talk about some rich, yummy, decadent frosting.   

O.M.Goodness.  De-lish.  

If you love cream cheese frosting or peanut butter frosting, this is a must try.  You will NOT be disappointed!  It's a yummy, creamy mix of cream cheese, peanut butter, vanilla, butter, powdered sugar, and wait for it...  Cool-Whip.  So stinkin' yummy!  My kids are not exactly cream cheese frosting lovers, so I rarely make it, but this frosting is a keeper.

Top these cupcakes with crumbled Butterfingers and you've got one dangerous cupcake on your hands!

Here's the recipe from Annie's Eats:

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

Ingredients:
3 cups cake flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1¼ cups buttermilk, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.  Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt.  Whisk together and set aside.  Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the bowl of the mixer with the butter and discard the pod (or reserve for another use.)  Beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and creamy in color.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for one more minute.
Add the sugar to the butter mixture, ¼ cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition.  Mix in the eggs one at a time until incorporated.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition.  Combine the buttermilk and the vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup.  With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until incorporated.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.
Divide the batter between the prepared paper liners, filling each about 2/3 of the way full (you will likely have batter left over after filling 24 wells.)  Bake 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.  Replace paper liners and bake remaining batter if desired.  Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.
Yield: approximately 30 cupcakes

Before you frost the cupcakes, cut a fun size Butterfinger in half and place on top of the cooled cupcake, then pipe your frosting on top.  Makes for a fun surprise!  :)

For the frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
½ cup creamy peanut butter
3¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

To make the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, butter and peanut butter until smooth.  Slowly mix in the confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth and well blended.  Mix in the whipped topping until smooth and fluffy.
For garnish:
4 fun size Butterfinger bars, coarsely chopped

Thanks, Annie's Eats for the recipe!!!  Yumm-O.  Now go make these.  Like NOW.