Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes

The whole reason wing night was started at our house was to get people over to eat and watch America Idol. While wing night carried on long after the last season of Idol ended, it just wasn't the same. To celebrate the new season of American Idol and essentially a new 'season' of Idol-filled wing nights, I made these super lucious PB&J Cupcakes. The concensus of the judges is these are the best cupcakes I've made in a long time. If Idol was a baking competition, I very well may be on my way to Hollywood... unlike that Alexis Cohen... WHO ELSE SAW THAT? What a train wreck!

ingredients... (ran out of l. brown sugar, had to use 1/3 cup d. brown)!Ready to rise!...cooling and smelling like peanut butter heaven!Each cupcake got a grape jelly injection!Blending peanut butter, butter and vanilla for the frosting...
I love the way things look in the mixer when they get all creamy and delicious looking! Peanut butter frosting swirled with grape jelly (this was extremely difficult to achieve and 25% of the cupcakes look like crap)! Grape jelly in the middle!

Cupcake recipe from Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella. Frosting recipe from 500 Cupcakes by Fergal Connolly.

MY NOTES: My cupcakes took 21 minutes to bake.
To inject the jelly: I used a Wilton round #7 tip and a piping bag. Just stick the tip most of the way into the cupcake and squeeze until you feel jelly coming out of the tip. Stop squeezing before you remove the tip from the cupcake. You might have to practice to know how much jelly to add. I squeezed about 2 teaspoons into each cupcake, but probably could've added more. I was just worried about the cupcakes exploding.
To swirl the peanut butter frosting and jelly together: I filled a piping bag half full with frosting. Then pinch one side of the bag to pull the bag away from the frosting starting at the tip all the way to the top of the bag to make room for the jelly. Then using a spoon or another piping bag, add a small amount of jelly to one side of the piping bag. This takes some experimenting also. A few of my cupcakes came out looking terrible because too much jelly came out with the frosting. No worries, they were still delicious!


Peanut Butter Cupcakes

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp
1 cup smooth or crunchy peanut butter
1 1/3 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Insert 24 liners into a medium cupcake pan.
2. In a large bowl cream together the butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time. Beat well. Mix in the vanilla.
3. In a separat bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to creamed mixture, alternating with the milk. Mix well.
5. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan.

Peanut Butter Frosting (this is the original recipe x1.5)

3/4 cup smooth or crunchy peanut butter
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons milk

Combine the peanut butter, butter, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer beat until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Add the confectioners sugar along with the milk, and beat until well combined.