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I am so happy to bring you this recipe for peanut butter and jelly cupcakes today. It is quickly becoming one of my favorites, but that certainly hasn’t always been the case!

Did anyone else hate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as a kid? Yeah, I was one of those kids. The flavor combination never made sense to me, plus they would always end up soggy by lunchtime. I was always doubly disappointed. My mom quickly grew onto the fact that I was never going to like the iconic American sandwiches, and started packing me something else for lunch.

I mean, I have always been a fan of peanut butter, I could eat it off the spoon. And I have always liked jelly and jam, especially spread on toast. So, it is kind of weird that I could never get behind PB&J as a “thing.” But as an adult, I have finally discovered my surprising love for this flavor combination.

I don’t need to explain to you why it is amazing, I think all of us have tried PB&J at least once in our lives. Unless you’re allergic, and then, by all means, keep on scrolling. But for someone who always said she hated it, I have a newfound appreciation for the humble PB&J sandwich. And, of course, I wanted to find new ways to explore its possibilities.

This recipe is adapted from My Baking Addiction, and I have altered the frosting here. Her original recipe used only 1 cup of peanut butter and an additional pound of confectioner’s sugar. I made the original recipe, and the frosting texture was good, but that it didn’t have enough peanut butter flavor. So, I doubled the peanut butter up to 2 cups and now this frosting is lick-straight-from-the-spoon good.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes Recipe

Servings: 24
Total Time: 45 minutes

Cupcakes

2 1/4 cups (255 g) cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 (295 ml) cups low-fat buttermilk, room temperature
120 g egg whites (from 4 large eggs), room temperature
1 1/2 cups (300 g) sugar
113 g (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Frosting

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 pound confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Filling

Strawberry Preserves (I ended up using most of a smallish jar)

For the Cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350F/175 C. Line your cupcake tins with paper liners. I used a 12-hole cupcake tin here, you can use any size you like, but it will affect the baking time.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk and egg whites together. They won’t really “come together” but just try and combine them a little. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in your largest mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed until the butter and sugar are very light and fluffy. Then add the vanilla, one-third of the flour mixture, and mix on medium speed until incorporated. Next, add in half of the buttermilk-egg mixture, and beat. Then repeat the process again (flour, buttermilk-eggs, flour) until all of the ingredients are mixed in well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and give a final mix (about a minute or 2) until it looks smooth.

Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners until they’re about 2/3 of the way full. This amount of batter should make about 24 standard-sized cupcakes (not like the monster ones in the fancy bakeries).

Bake for 9 minutes on the center rack of the oven. After 9 minutes, rotate the pans and cook for another 9-10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on wire racks or in their pans.

For the Frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in your largest mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and peanut butter on medium speed until fluffy. Turn your mixer off and sift about 1/3 of the confectioner’s sugar over the top. Slowly beat in the sugar and repeat until all of the powdered sugar is incorporated. The texture is almost like a fluffy mousse, it is quite delicious.

Frost cupcakes as desired and enjoy!

To Assemble: Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, use a small paring knife to hollow out a small circle in the center of each cupcake. Fill the center of each cupcake with a dollop of strawberry (or your favorite flavor) preserves.

Cooking Notes

  • Frosting the cupcakes. Fill a large zip-top bag with your icing and cut the corner off, about ½ an inch up. Then take a large iced tea-type glass and flip it upside down. Place the cupcake on the base of the cup and swirl the frosting around the cupcake to get the desired effect. I find that putting the cupcake up on something tall like the glass gets my hands out of the way. Otherwise, I would end up wiping the side of my hand through the frosting.
  • Transportation and storage. I made these peanut butter and jelly cupcakes the night before the big event, so I stored them in the fridge overnight. I found that they transported very well the next day since the fridge hardened up the frosting quite nicely. When I got to work, I took the lid off and the frosting relaxed a little but they still looked perfect. I can’t attest to how long these will last, but the original recipe says that they are best eaten the same day. They did not get soggy at all the next afternoon, but I can only assume they would be fine for 2-3 days stored in a covered container in the fridge. Or, you could store them in a covered container on the counter if you want a fluffier and more mousse-like frosting.

If you make and enjoy any of my recipes, please leave a comment below, and don’t forget to tag me in your pictures on Instagram (@bookishkitchen #thebookishkitchen)! I love seeing my followers recreating my recipes.

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