Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

It’s peanut butter jelly time! But no seriously, when is it not peanut butter jelly time? I could eat a PB&J everyday for most meals. Definitely acceptable for breakfast, obviously for lunch, a great snack, and even a somewhat sad but still delicious part of dinner. It’s the ultimate sweet and salty combination (rivaling with peanut butter and chocolate of course), and it’s not just for grade school kids. If you haven’t noticed by now, I kind of have a thing for peanut butter. We always have a jar in the pantry, and although we don’t always have jelly, it’s totally a treat whenever we do. So when Jess posted these peanut butter and jelly muffins a few weeks ago, I found the perfect excuse to run out to the store and stock up on my favorite berry preserves! (Bonne Maman’s Four Fruits if you’re wondering…)

I’m generally a strawberry jelly kind of girl, but I’ll take any variation in a pinch. Grape is definitely my least favorite, plus it totally wouldn’t have matched my adorable red gingham cupcake liners as much anyway. And as for the peanut butter, I grew up with JIF my whole life, but ever since I started dating Ryan, I’ve become a Skippy convert in recent years. Although I must admit we don’t usually stock Skippy in our house these days, I try to be “healthy” with my peanut butter and get the natural kind instead. For baking I usually like to use a more traditional peanut butter, but I actually made these muffins with a natural brand (only ground peanuts in the ingredients) and they came out great. Bottom line – whatever jelly you like, whatever peanut butter you prefer – these muffins will be amazing!

The best part of these muffins is definitely the topping. There’s streusel, globs of jelly, and a great mixture of crunchy and smooth textures. The recipe I followed made the streusel topping is a little different than I’m used to since it used melted butter instead of cold cubed butter and everything was just mixed together rather than cut or crumbled together. I thought it was an easier method for sure, but the streusel baked up a little softer than I expected. Still delicious and really pretty, so I still suggest the shortcut method for these! And don’t skimp on the dollops of jelly at the end, they add ton of flavor and a lot of pretty swirls of color in every bite.

If you’ve got a picnic breakfast, lunch, or dinner planned for your weekend, put these on your list of things to bring! Muffins make great transportable treats and you can never go wrong with peanut butter and jelly for a crowd. Unless of course there’s a peanut allergy, and then there’s a lot that could go wrong, so swap out the peanut butter for almond butter and you’ll be all good :) Have a great Easter/Passover/spring weekend everyone – I hope sunshine is finally in your forecast as it is in ours!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

Recipe adapted from How Sweet Eats

Yield: 12 large muffins

Ingredients:

for the muffins:

6 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 cup peanut butter
1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
9 oz berry (or Grape if you must) preserves

for the crumb topping:

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1-1/2 cup all purpose flour

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 12 muffins tins with cupcake liners and spray the inside of the liners with nonstick cooking spray. Place the butter and peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well until completely melted and mixed together.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the egg, brown sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the butter and peanut butter mixture and continue beating until well incorporated. Add the milk and yogurt and mix again. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. The batter will be very thick.

Divide the batter among the liners so that each one is about 3/4 of the way full. Use your fingers to create a little well in the top of the muffin batter and place a dollop (about 1 tbsp) of jelly onto each one.

For the crumb topping, whisk together the sugars, cinnamon, salt and melted butter until smooth. Then add the flour and use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to fold in the flour until a paste-like dough results. Crumble the mixture with your fingers and add a generous amount of crumbs to each muffin top, covering the jelly and pressing the crumbs down well so they stick to the batter. Add a few more dollops or drizzles of jelly to each muffin and bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.