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I want to thank all of you who participated in my recent CSN giveaway! (They have some fabulous stuff, don’t they?) And the winner is…
A huge congrats to Natalya S.! Natalya please email me and I will have your prize sent out.
Ok, so I have a little confession to make. Remember back, before the chill of autumn’s crisp coolness took hold and required a warm blanket, a crackling fire, or a bowl of warm soup to cozy up with in the evening. Go back even longer than that, before the warmth of summer drove us to take refuge in cool breezes, swimming pools, and tall glasses of iced tea. Yes, I’m talking about last spring. That’s when I made these glorious cupcakes. I had every intention of sharing them with you sooner but somehow they got pushed to the wayside. And it’s a shame because they in fact deserve the limelight.
These cupcakes are based on the classically delicious combination of peanut butter and jelly, but have a bit of a dressed-up, elegant look (it’s the jelly drizzle…a splash of red always feels so glam ;) ). I made a peanut butter cake (which I based on my recipe for Classic Yellow Cake), basic buttercream, and a jelly drizzle. And let’s just say that I know I won’t be able to wait until next spring to make them again. 
Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes
(Yield: About 20 cupcakes)
Cupcakes:
1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 c canola oil
2 large eggs
1 c low-fat or fat-free milk
1 c smooth peanut butter
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Buttercream:
1 stick salted butter
1/4 c no-trans fat vegetable shortening
1 lb (16 oz) powdered sugar
1 TB pure almond extract (or pure vanilla extract, if you prefer)
4 TB milk (more or less to reach your desired consistency)
Jelly Drizzle:
1/2 c red raspberries (frozen is fine)
1/2 c water
2 TB honey (more or less depending on your preferences and how sweet your berries are)
2 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 TB cold water
Muffin tray and paper liners
For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350F and line a muffin tray with paper liners. In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, oil, and eggs until they’re light, glossy, and pale yellow (about 2 minutes). Beat in the peanut butter and then the milk and vanilla. Beat in the flour, baking powder, and salt until just combined. Fill the muffin tray and bake for about 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
For the buttercream: Cream together the butter, shortening, and almond extract. Alternate beating in the powdered sugar and milk, adding 1 TB of milk at a time until it reaches the right consistency.
For the jelly drizzle: In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the berries, water, and honey and simmer for about 5 minutes. Strain the berry mixture through a fine mesh sieve; return the liquid to the saucepan over low heat (discard the pulp). Whisk in the cornstarch slurry and heat (stirring constantly) until thickened.
Frost the cupcakes with the buttercream and decorate the tops with a drizzle of jelly.
I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
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Yummy, thanks for the recipe! I love seeing all the peanut butter and jelly recipes(: It’s really cool, now they even have peanut butter and jelly m&m’s!
I’m just glad you shared these with us at all. Sounds delish and oh so pretty. I really can’t resist :).
These are gorgeous, wish you could make them for my daughters birthday next month :)
These would not last one hour if my kids and their friends were around! They are grown, but still love the thought of cupcakes and the P&J flavors! In fact, a jar of peanut butter was one of my son’s requested birthday present this summer while in Lebanon!
These cupcakes looks absolutely delightful. Very nice.
Happy Tuesday!
These are beautiful cupcakes! I love the icing designs, and even the photos sans icing are gorgeous.
Congratulations to the winner – your name is beautiful Natalya!
These are real treat for the eyes and the stomach! Looks really yum…
Very cute. I feel myself reverting back to childhood!
Lovely cupcakes, Faith! Peanut butter is such a fav ingredient isn’t it?
So true Faith, these little beauties sure do deserve the limelight. Red & White is oh so glam.
These look so inviting. I love peanut butter and jelly, so these have my name written on them. The drizzle gives them real pizzaz. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings…Mary
I’m glad that you shared these and yes they fo deserve the limelight! I love the raspberry jelly!
Faith, the peanut butter cupcakes look awesome…must taste SO good…the cake looks so fluffy :-)
Peanut butter and jelly is the ultimate combination.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes? Pretty much sounds like the most delicious cupcake EVER!
Faith…my little God son loves PB…I’ll be passing this tasty recipe of yours to his Mom who’ll no doubt be thrilled about this. The special icing touch should put a great big smile on his face ;o)
Flavourful wishes,
Claudia
Delish!
What adorable cupcakes, Faith! I love the way you piped on the jelly!
PBnJ is one of my favourite childhood snacks. Remember Goober’s? I was always annoyed when my slice if bread didn’t have the perfect swirl of the container. Absolutely love the idea of these cupcakes… Spring is here so I will have to make them!
these are really cute cupcakes. Personally i don’t like cupcakes but I’d definitely make these as gift! :)
I always say I can eat anything except peanut butter:-( Not sure why but it is the one and only food that I really dislike. I like the look of the roasted tomato sauce though.
The fig tree is quite special in our garden, and no matter what the weather does it always seems to produce masses of fruit. The one we had in S.Africa was not a patch on this one. Diane
Oh how scrumptious! I never thought of making peanut butter cake before, but that is MARVELOUS! I love peanut butter so much. :-) These are delight. :-)
That’s one awesome cupcake. looks good :)
Congrats to winner and lovely cup cake Faith
Oh my, these look amazing Faith! :o Two of my favourite things in one portable snack! :D
Peanut butter + jelly + cupcakes = insanely delicious! I have a PB and jelly muffin to post but the idea of a cupcake sounds so much better! These are pretty too!
Congratulations to Natalya! :)
These look delicious, and I especially love the jam drizzle!
I love those!
They are so cute…and I am quite sure, they are super delicious.
Lovely presentation on the cupcakes. Great job!
Love the jelly drizzle! Looks perfect for the upcoming Christmas holiday, too. Super festive.
Can I please have one of these right now? They would be perfect treats for my plane ride! But I would probably make everyone around me jealous! Thanks for sharing love!
Scrumptious cupcakes! Love the jelly drizzle on top!
Absolutely beautiful, the jelly drizzle is the perfect touch:)
I love the flavors in these cupcakes. The pictures are great, too!!
A big congratulations to the winner! These little cupcakes are perfect for my family. I would love to give these a go very soon. Yours are so pretty as well!
These cupcakes look delicious! I think I could eat the jelly drizzle with a spoon :-)
Congrats on the win!
PBJ cupcakes! Fantastic! I love PBJ!
The cupcakes look divine and I love the way you topped them. The icing looks like a cloud!!
Congrats to the winner!
So cute!
Thanks so much, I can’t believe I won! Your cupcakes are so pretty, I love that they’re based off the classic combo of PB&J!
They look so sophisticated with the glaze above them.
Those looked like a much glamorous version of pb&j! Yum!
Love pb&j sandwiches, so this is a cupcake of my dreams! I agree, the red drizzle is très glam!
Those cupcakes are so sweet, and such a fun flavour too. You did the piping so beautifully too :)
Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.
*kisses* HH