These super-moist, delicious Ultimate REESE’S Tres Leches Cupcakes take classic tres leches cake, shrink it down, and add a fun peanut butter twist! The ganache and chocolate whipped cream truly make these treats irresistible!
You know what makes a Monday better?
Not much. Let’s be honest.
Unlesssss it’s your best friend’s birthday, and you spend the whole morning whipping up a fancy cheese board, homemade apple butter, and a batch of the tastiest cupcakes this side of September to celebrate her with.
(The ‘better %’ goes up considerably when the eating starts, of course.)
JUST TAKE ME TO THE REESE’S TRES LECHES CUPCAKES ALREADY!
If you’d rather skip my (pretty darn helpful) tips and tricks, essential cooking info, and similar recipe ideas – and get straight to this deliciously easy tres leches cupcakes recipe, just scroll right on down to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card!
If you come here often, you might know that I’m a bit of a coffee freak.
A creamer connoisseur, if you will.
I only buy one brand of coffee (because my husband would mutiny if I did otherwise,) and it’s super strong. I like to have a variety of creamers in the fridge since I don’t add sugar to my morning cup(s).
This time of year, there is obviously a pumpkin spice flavor readily available (since I’m teaching Basic 101.) I saw something about International Delight® REESE’S Peanut Butter Cup creamer on Facebook a few weeks ago, so of course, you know as soon as I saw it at Walmart, I grabbed it.
(All-time fave candy in my coffee? Um – duh.)
After having a couple of cups of joe with it mixed in, I had a thought…a desperate, how-can-I-stop-myself-from-drinking-this-straight-from-the-bottle thought.
What else can I use this in that will highlight its chocolatey, subtle peanut butter flavor? And how fast can I make it happen?
It was actually Abe who suggested a tres leches dessert. I, of course, was all in with that idea.
Tres leches, or three milk cake, is a spongey, light cake soaked with evaporated & sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream.
In the case of these REESE’S Tres Leches Cupcakes, I replaced the heavy cream with the International Delight® REESE’S Peanut Butter Cup creamer.
Talk about a chocolate bomb!
Traditional tres leches are usually baked in a large cake pan, which makes pouring the milk mixture over it soooooo easy.
But, you know cupcakes are my specialty, and I always have to put a spin on things when it comes to the people I love.
That being said, this would work just as well as a cake.
No pressure to mess with liners and the little bit of extra mess these cupcakes produce.
No judgment from me for taking the lazy way out, guys.
(But they are SO worth it in their cute single-serve state.)
Give these babies a night to soak up all that dairy goodness before moving on.
Your next step?
Peanut butter ganache.
Oh hold me, that stuff is so good.
Fun fact: I used the creamer (and some peanut butter chips) to make that, too.
And yes, I had to stop myself from eating it from the bowl, much like I do the real stuff from the jar.
The fluffy topping is fresh whipped cream, cocoa powder, and some sugar – and everyone at my Bestie’s birthday dinner swore it tasted like chocolate mousse.
Can’t argue with the majority, right? #winning
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HELPFUL KITCHEN TOOLS FOR MAKING TRES LECHES CUPCAKES:
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Ultimate REESE'S Tres Leches Cupcakes
Ingredients
Tres Leches Cupcakes
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs separated
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups evaporated milk
- 1 ½ cups sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup International Delight® REESE’S Peanut Butter Cup coffee creamer
Peanut Butter Ganache
- 1 cup peanut butter chips
- ½ cup International Delight® REESE’S Peanut Butter Cup coffee creamer
Chocolate Whipped Cream
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- Assorted REESE'S candy for garnish
Instructions
Tres Leches Cupcakes
- Preheat oven 325 degrees F. Place 24 foil-lined paper cupcake liners in 2 standard sized cupcake pans. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, mixing until fully combined. Mix in the vanilla
- Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add to the creamed butter and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold gently into cake batter.
- Divide the batter between the cupcake liners, filling them only 2/3 of the way full (you don't want them to rise over the top edge of the liners.) Bake about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- While the cupcakes are baking, whisk together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and coffee creamer in a separate bowl.
- Let cupcakes cool in pans for 5 minutes. Using a wooden skewer, poke several holes in the tops of cupcakes, then ladle the milk mixture over each cupcake. Repeat the process until all of the milk has been used. Transfer cupcakes to wire rack and set aside.
- Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight before finishing.
Peanut Butter Ganache
- Place peanut butter chips and coffee creamer in a metal bowl set over a small pot of simmering water or in a double boiler. Use a rubber spatula to stir the mixture until it is melted and smooth, about 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly, then dip each cupcake in the finished ganache and allow to dry for 20-30 minutes.
Chocolate Whipped Cream
- Place a large metal or ceramic bowl and whisk attachment or beaters in the freezer for 10 minutes before mixing.
- Remove from freezer and place cream in the bowl and whip on high speed for 1-2 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Add the cocoa and powdered sugar and whip on medium-low speed until incorporated. Increase speed to high and continue to whip cream until it just reaches stiff peaks.
- Place a mini-sized REESE'S peanut butter cup upside down on top of each cupcake, then pipe whipped cream around and on top of them. Garnish with more peanut butter cups and REESE'S pieces, if desired.
Nutrition
PIN THESE TRES LECHES CUPCAKES FOR LATER!
Still craving cupcakes? How about these other peanut butter desserts?
Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie
Kelly | Maverick Baking says
These look INSANE. Great recipe idea! We don’t have coffee creamer here in the UK, a splash of milk is as exciting as it gets! However, I’m sure we could try this with regular milk and a little extra peanut butter? 🙂
Erica says
Thanks so much, Kelly! They really are crazy good! I think melting some peanut butter with chocolate milk would probably work just fine – plus, you can control your PB levels that way, as well!
Emily says
These look amazing! I’m a huge fan of baking with International Delight and plan to try your recipe soon. #client
Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) says
These cupcakes look moist and delicious!!
Megan @ MegUnprocessed says
So pretty!
Karen says
I am so EXCITED to try this recipe! I have a Dessert Buffet every Christmas Eve and would like to add this AWESOME cupcake recipe!
How would you store the cups for a few days?
Also, could you freeze them until the event?