Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

"Gee," I thought, "We sure have an awful lot of peanut butter!"  We usually do.  Between WIC and TEFAP we're buried in peanut butter.  In fact, that's why I make my own jams and jellies (that, and it's fun to make jam!).  But we had a serious overstock.  Meanwhile I've been making and freezing muffins for when it's my turn for snacks at Junior's preschool.  So I thought "Why not peanut butter muffins?"  Then I remembered that as a kid I'd make jelly muffins from Bisquick, and figured peanut butter and jelly muffins would be a great kid treat.  (I'm setting aside extra banana muffins for kids with nut sensitivities).

The original recipe is from Jif.  I doubled it and got 30 nice muffins!  Doubling your recipe will use exactly one 16 oz jar of peanut butter, which is convenient.  Peanut butter is a pain to measure.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup jam or jelly

Heat oven to 375ºF. Spray muffin pan with no-stick cooking spray. Stir together flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl.

In a large bowl combine milk, eggs, cup sugar, peanut butter and oil.  Blend on low speed of electric mixer until smooth and creamy.  Add dry ingredients and combine until just moistened. Do not over beat.

Fill prepared muffin cups evenly with half of the batter. Place 2 level teaspoons jam or preserves in the center of each muffin. Evenly divide remaining batter between muffin cups. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar. Bake 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool in pan 5 minutes. 

The catch to these is the jelly is going to get VERY hot and goosh out while cooking.  Just after you take them out of the oven run a sharp knife around the muffins where jelly has escaped to keep the muffin from gluing to the pan.  The pan will be a pain to clean, so get it in hot soapy water immediately!

Be sure to let them cool well before giving them to kids.  That jelly is hot!