PB&J cupcake recipe

Peanut butter and jelly makes me happy. It’s one of my all-time favorite taste treats — and it leads the way to all sorts of delicious ideas. Now that we’re moving full tilt into holiday baking season, I decided to turn this comforting combo into a cupcake.

These look like regular cupcakes, but there’s a surprise filling of grape jelly in the middle. The technique is easy and doesn’t require any special equipment, just a knife. I made a small square cut into the center of each cupcake and filled it with jelly, then covered up the hole with the cutout piece (see photo above the recipe).

The result is a delicious dessert for kids of all ages. If you’re calorie counting, don’t despair. These work well as mini-cupcakes, too. But beware: You’ll be tempted to eat twice as many!

Read on for the recipe and behind-the-frosting photo...

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup whole milk
• Grape jelly

Peanut Butter Frosting:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• ½ cup creamy peanut butter
• ½ stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1 white chocolate bar, shaved into curls using a vegetable peeler

Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350º. Line muffin tin with 18 paper or foil muffin cups. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. In a different bowl, beat together peanut butter, butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until blended, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and alternately add the flour mixture and milk, half at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Fill each of the lined muffin cups about two-thirds full and bake for 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Turn cupcakes out on to rack and cool. Cut a 1½-inch-wide by 1-inch-deep hole in the center of each cupcake, reserving cutouts. Spoon grape jelly into each cupcake. Remove the bottom half of the cutouts and insert the tops back into the cupcakes.

Frosting:

Beat sugar, peanut butter and butter in medium bowl until smooth. Add whipping cream 1 tablespoon at a time and beat until incorporated. Spread frosting on cupcakes and sprinkle with white chocolate shavings.

Makes 18

Comments

Sounds tasty and unique. I might try it some time, but making PB&J into a cupcake might be a bit too much for me.

What a great idea. I've always just thought ordinary peanut-butter cupcakes were just okay (like a peanut-butter sandwich, it just sticks to the roof of your mouth).

But the sheer idea of adding jelly makes it a delicious-sounding concoction that I can't wait to make. Thanks Grace for the recipe.

These look great! My daughter's 4th birthday party is coming up and now I know one thing that I will be making! Thanks for the great recipe!

For those of you who aren't baking-inclined, there are gobs of great cupcake bakeries across the US. A couple of favorites in NY are Crumbs, Babycakes, and Sugar Sweet Sunshine:

http://uncoolkids.com/reviews/2007/07/30/sugar-sweet-sunshine/

If it works for a sandwich..it's gotta work for a cupcake! i cant wait to try it!!