Peanut Butter & Jam Cupcakes

Peanut butter flavoured anything is my little girl’s idea of heaven – after chocolate of course. She’s crazy for these delicious little cuties, and so am I!

Cupcakes are quick and easy to make and always look pretty impressive with their swirl of tooth-achingly sweet buttercream icing. You can whip these up in no time for your next socially-distanced-limited-to-six gathering, or just for yourself, because why not?

PB&J is an iconic flavour combo and one of my all time favourites as demonstrated in my Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jam Flapjacks. I couldn’t wait to give it a whirl in this format – a little peanut powder gives the feather-light sponge and frosting a delicately nutty flavour which pairs beautifully with the jammy centre. Grape jelly is the classic pairing but virtually impossible to find in the UK, so I recommend strawberry as the next best match – feel free to try your favourite jam!

Topped with a peanut butter frosting, these bite-size treats are delicious with a glass of oat milk. If you like these you’ll love my Very Vanilla Cupcakes and Best Ever Chocolate Cupcakes With Fudge Frosting – all deliciously vegan.

Makes 12.

For The Cupcakes:
180ml non-dairy milk
20ml lemon juice (bottled is great!)
2 tsp natural vanilla extract
60g sunflower oil
180g plain flour
2 tbsp peanut powder (found near the jam in supermarkets, or in health food shops)
180g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
150g approx strawberry jam, for the centres

For the Buttercream:
200g icing sugar
4 tbsp peanut butter powder
60g vegan butter (a solid one is best, ie Flora vegan block butter, Stork or Naturli)
30ml non-dairy milk
1 tsp natural vanilla extract

For The Strawberry Sauce: 75g approx strawberry jam, mixed with a splash of hot water (1-2tbsp) to thin

Preheat the oven to 180c / 350f / gas mark 4 and line a 12-cavity muffin/cupcake tin with paper cases.

To make the Cupcakes:

1. Use a fork to lightly whisk together the milk, lemon juice, vanilla and oil in a jug.
2. In a separate large jug or mixing bowl, stir together the flour, peanut powder, sugar, baking powder and bicarb.
3. Pour the wet mix on to the dry mix, whisking quickly and thoroughly until the batter is smooth with no visible dry bits.
4. Divide the batter equally into the 12 cupcake cases; I use an ice-cream scoop (about 50ml) of batter per cupcake
5. Bake for 22-24 minutes or until the cupcakes are risen and golden. Transfer to a cooling rack as soon as the cupcakes are cool enough to handle.
6. When the cakes are completely cold, use a cupcake corer (or an apple corer) to create a cavity in the centre of each cupcake. Fill with a heaped teaspoon of jam then pop the sponge ‘lid’ back on as shown in the picture below.

To Make The Frosting:

Simply measure the icing sugar, peanut powder, butter, milk and vanilla into a mixing bowl and mix on high speed for several minutes until creamy smooth and fluffy. I use a stand mixer and paddle attachment for this, but an electric whisk works well too.

Now you are ready to ice the cupcakes! Apply the frosting with a palette knife for an elegantly smooth finish or use a piping bag and star nozzle to pipe swirls.

In a small bowl, combine 75g strawberry jam with a tiny splash of hot water from a recently boiled kettle until you have something resembling a strawberry sauce. Drizzle a teaspoon or two of this sauce on to each cupcake and serve immediately. (If you want to store some of the cupcakes for a few days, I would suggest only adding the strawberry sauce when you are ready to eat, as they tend to get a bit messy).