First and First Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Ray Hicks is a good Southern boy who grew up on comfort food and at his downtown eatery, ​First & First Southern Baking Company. He's bringing those flavors to Miami one deliciously gooey cake at a time.  From Coca-Cola cake to red velvet,  the only thing more American in this establishment than  Ray himself, are his peanut butter cupcakes.  The moist and airy sweets with a buttery peanut flavor are only made better by the creamy peanut butter cream cheese frosting slathered on top.  Here's the recipe:

First and First peanut butter cupcakes

Ingredients for batter:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter

For topping:

1 (250g) package Philadelphia brick cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup peanut butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 12 cup tin.  Mix together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

2. Combine the egg, vanilla, 1/2 cup melted butter, buttermilk, and 1 1/2 cups brown sugar in a bowl.  Add the flour mixture and stir until combined. Gently fold in the peanut butter. Pour batter into prepared cup cake tins.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Icing when cool. Cool completely before serving.

To make the topping, combine all the ingredients until creamy, set aside until cupcakes cool