Pre-Holiday Dog Days

These days I find myself making a huge conscious effort NOT to become a Scrooge. Working in the gift card business, the last few weeks have been rather hectic, to put it mildly, and with all the overtime I've been putting in I've had no time whatsoever to bake any of the wonderful things that have been popping up all over the web. But like I said, I'm making an effort, even if that means I get no sleep. A few weeks ago a friend asked me to bake something for her friend's 30th birthday and even though I know I technically should not take up any projects and take it easy, I felt like it's been too long since I've been able to bake something fun, so I said yes. Her friend loves dogs, so I offered to make her a tower of puppy cupcakes.


The cupcakes themselves are peanut butter and they're filled with dark chocolate ganache, but my favorite part was the frosting, so I'm going to share the super easy recipe with you below. I didn't want to use marshmallows or candy, so I just piped frosting into the shapes I wanted and used the leftover ganache for eyes and nose. Here is what the cupcakes looked like when I was boxing them up.


Yummy Peanut Butter Frosting
For a smoother frosting that blends easily, keep all ingredients at room temp.

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 8oz package cream cheese
1 stick (4oz) softened unsalted butter
3 cups powdered sugar
4 tbsp heavy cream

Cream the first three ingredients in a stand mixer until smooth, light and evenly blended. Add the sugar and mix to distribute evenly adding the cream a tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached. You might need more cream if the frosting is too stiff or more sugar if you went a bit overboard with the cream, and enjoy!