Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes

Time for the third bake for the month of February. The perfect pair this week was Peanut Butter & Jelly. I was thinking about baking a PB&J cheesecake but at the last minute I scrapped that idea. I decided to bake cupcakes because I normally don't bake them. This was also the perfect opportunity for me to try making some swiss meringue buttercream. I'm really glad that I did. My mom requested some chocolate coconut cupcakes so I made some of those too. I made a peanut butter swiss meringue buttercream and it is amazing. So light and peanut buttery. I think this may be my new favorite way to make buttercream because the american style is so much more heavier. I filled the peanut butter cupcakes with some classic grape jelly. I also drizzled more jelly on top and I made some roasted peanut dust and topped each cupcake with that. They came out so well.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcake

Here's what you will need

Chocolate Cupcake

• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup softened butter ( 1 stick)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup hot water

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• 3 egg whites
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cup softened butter ( 3 sticks)  each stick cut into 8 pieces

for coconut swiss meringue buttercream

• 2 tablespoons of coconut extract

for peanut butter swiss meringue buttercream

• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

First sift your flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda together and then set aside.

In a bowl cream together softened butter and sugar until nice and fluffy

add in your eggs one at a time

Add in half of your flour mixture

pour in your milk and blend

add in the second half of your flour mixture

take your hot water and pour that into your cupcake batter and mix till combined

This is hot water, I just added it to the same measuring cup that had the milk in it

Preheat oven to 350F

Scope your batter into cupcake liners being careful not to over fill (cupcakes will rise) 3/4 full is always a good fill level.

Bake in 350F oven for 15-20 minutes ( I baked mine at 17 minutes) everyone's oven is different so use a toothpick to check doneness.

After removing from oven let them sit in the pan for about 10 minutes then move them to a rack to cool.

These smelled so good after coming out of the oven

I took a measuring spoon and carefully removed some of the inside of the cupcake to stuff them.

best part about removing the center is that you get to eat cupcake scraps

I just filled these with some grape jelly I had in the fridge (you can use whatever you have)

Yummy jelly

For the coconut filled I just mixed about a 1/2 cup shredded coconut with 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

yummy coconut filling

These are ok to leave out while you work on your frostings.

In your stand mixer bowl (or you could use a glass or metal bowl) place your egg whites and sugar and give it a quick whisk

 You are going to place this bowl over a pot of simmering water and cook until all the sugar is dissolved or a thermometer reads 160F (make sure the water in the small pot does not touch the bottom of the bowl

Once all the sugar is dissolved and you reach 160F remove the bowl and attach it to your stand mixer and begin whisking the egg whites on high until stiff peaks form and your bowl feels cool to the touch.

look at that glossy meringue

with your mixer still on high add one piece of butter in at a time.

thats a whole lot of butter

Keep whisking on high, if your buttercream looks like it will curdle keep mixing it will become silky and smooth.

nice and silky

I then separated some out to flavor the peanut butter  swiss meringue butter cream. I just added peanut butter and tasted it.

add in some peanut butter and adjust to your taste

For the coconut cupcakes I added the coconut extract and whipped it in the mixer and placed in a pipping bag. I like a lot of frosting.

I really love a lot of frosting

I topped the peanut butter and jelly cupcakes with the peanut butter swiss meringue buttercream. I microwaved a tiny bit of jelly for about 15 seconds and drizzled that over the cupcakes. I then placed some honey roasted peanuts in my coffee/spice grinder and blitzed them till I had a crumb consistency and I sprinkled that on top.

I did make a mess with the jelly, but look at these cupcakes

For the coconut I just threw a ton of shredded coconut on top and placed two almond slivers on top.

After adding the coconut 

So yummy

The PB & Jelly are my favorite

Ya'll better bake these

The cupcakes were deliciously moist and not overly sweet. Also the buttercream freezes well ( I had enough to frost another dozen cupcakes). Definitely try baking these. Hmmm I'm still trying to decide on the last bake. I'm leaning towards something with red velvet.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookie Cups For The Win!

I've been thinking about what to bake and I really haven't baked a classic cookie. I was thinking about either an orange flavored short bread, a lime coconut shortbread cookie, or a peanut butter cookie. I had a ton of peanut butter in the pantry (when it's a buck you stock up) so I decided on peanut butter cookies. I've been craving peanut butter cookies for a while anyways. When I thought about the end result of a peanut butter cookie, I felt like they look too plain (peanut butter cookies aren't the prettiest cookies in the cookie universe), so I decided to go with a peanut butter and jelly masterpiece. I also had raspberry preserves from mother's day that I needed to use because I was tired of seeing a half empty jam jar in the fridge. I think the cookie cups are cute and I tried one last night and they taste amazing. I made a peanut butter cream cheese filling and it's the stuff dreams are made of.  When assembled together it reminds me of my favorite childhood snack, which was these PB&J Oatmeal Pies that Little Debbie made. My mom would have a little snack basket for us when we came home from school which would have all of your 90's essential snacks; Dunkaroos, Gusher's, Fruit Roll Ups, Cosmic Brownies, literally every cool snack but I would always go for those PB&J Oatmeal Pies. I think next time I will make an oatmeal cookie cup and use the same fillings, to recreate them. Back to the Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookie Cups, they are really delicious and fairly easy to make and you probably already have everything in your pantry to make them. Just look at them

Peanut butter cookie cup with peanut butter cream cheese filling and a raspberry sauce

I could have made them look a lot prettier but it was getting late and I was a little tired, but they still look wonderful. Oh and if you did not want to make them into cups you still will have a yummy peanut butter cookie recipe to keep with you.

So Let's get started, here's what you will need:

Peanut Butter Cookie Cups:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter smooth (not natural)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 
• 1 large egg (room temperature)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Filling:

• 8 oz cream cheese softened
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup powdered sugar (depends on how sweet you'd like it)
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (not natural)

Topping:
1 cup raspberry jam preserves (actually whatever jam you have on hand)
Crushed peanuts for garnish

simple ingredients

First preheat your oven to 350°F.

Spray a regular sized muffin tins with cooking spray and set aside for later.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

Beat butter and peanut butter until smooth.

I just zapped the butter in the microwave for about 15 seconds

so creamy

Add in both sugars and beat on med-high until pale and fluffy (approx. 2-3mins).

all fluffy

Reduce speed and add egg and vanilla. Beat until combined.

Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.

start really slow so you don't get flour everywhere then finish mixing with a spatula

peanut butter cookie dough

Using a large cookie scoop, scoop dough into muffin tins, press down to flatten slightly.

the pan looks super oily but I sprayed a lot to insure nothing sticks

Bake for 10-12 mins or until lightly browned and mostly set.

Remove from oven and immediately use a small jar or container to press firmly down in the center to create a well. Cool in pans for 10 mins, then place on wire rack to cool completely.

remember peanut butter cookies are soft and then they firm up, so if they look underdone thats fine

While the cookies are cooling you can make the peanut butter cream cheese filling.

First take your softened cream cheese and peanut butter and blend together for about 3 minutes

Peanut Butter + Cream Cheese

Now start with 1/4 of a cup of powdered sugar and blend until combined. Remember to taste as you go, I didn't want this too sweet because I used a honey peanut butter and wanted to taste the peanut flavor, so if you find you need more sugar add more.

taste and adjust sweetness as needed

When your mixture is sweetened you should place it in a piping bag or a ziploc bag to fill your cookie cups

this filling taste like the inside of a reese's peanut butter cup just smoother.

In a microwave safe bowl, heat raspberry jam to thin out. 20 second intervals. I then strained the mixture to remove the raspberry seeds.

After running this through a fine mesh sieve to get rid of the seeds.

Spoon 1 to 1 1/2 tsp of raspberry jam into each cookie cup. (I used a pastry brush to get the jam all inside each cookie cup) Then place in the fridge to chill for 20mins.

brush on the raspberries

Pipe the peanut butter cream cheese filling on top of raspberry jam.

pipe in the filling

you can eat these as is.

Top with additional raspberry jam and chopped peanuts to complete the Peanut Butter Jelly Cups

I was a little sloppy with the raspberry

top with honey roasted crushed peanuts

So Cute

Place these in the fridge to set for a few hours, I think these taste best cold.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookie Cups

You should probably eat these within 2-3 days. Or freeze them for up to 4 weeks. Again this is a customizable dessert so you could use any jam, or add chocolate on top for like a Reese's cup cookie cup.

So Yummy