These Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes have a soft peanut butter cupcake that is topped with peanut butter frosting and a dollop of jelly in the center. The perfect after school snack!
If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I love food. I love making it and I love eating it. But if I had to choose one thing to eat for the rest of my life, it would be a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Boring, right? Well, if I really think of it, there are only a handful of foods that I don’t get sick of quickly. And peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are one of them. I honestly think I could eat one a day and not get tired of them.
So when I saw this recipe for Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes in this month’s Cookbook of the Month, I knew it was a recipe I would be making. And they are so cute, I just couldn’t pass them up!
I have made 2 baked goods with natural peanut butter (before these cupcakes, of course). The first called for natural peanut butter, and they turned out wonderful. The second didn’t specify, but I was out of regular old Jif that day, so I used natural peanut butter instead. Big mistake. the cake turned out dry and just not very good. So when this recipe said that natural was preferred, I was a bit apprehensive. I shouldn’t have been, because it worked out just wonderfully in the cupcakes.
The icing, on the other hand – not quite as great. I do have to say that the icing recipe does not say whether to use natural peanut butter or not. But I figured since I used it in the cupcakes, why not the icing? Well, my icing did not look the same as in the book. And it did not taste good – originally at least. After I followed all the instructions, I tasted it and it was not sweet at all. And an icing needs to be at least a little bit sweet. So I ended up sifting in probably another half cup of confectioners’ sugar until it tasted sweet enough for me. The texture was still weird, and I had to put them in the fridge to set up a bit. I’m blaming it all on the natural peanut butter. I don’t know how it would work with Jif, but I’m guessing it would be sweeter and smoother!
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Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 24 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes have a soft peanut butter cupcake that is topped with peanut butter frosting and a dollop of jelly in the center. The perfect after school snack!
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 2/3 cup natural creamy peanut butter
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting:
- 6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup jelly or jam
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F. Line standard muffins tins with paper liners.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Mix in peanut butter.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
- Mix in vanilla.
- Gradually add flour mixture, being careful to not overmix.
- Mix in sour cream and peanuts.
- Divide batter evenly among lined cups.
- Bake until golden and cake tester comes out clean, about 15-22 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.
- With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar until pale and fluffy.
- Add salt and peanut butter and beat to combine.
- Beat in vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk cream until medium-stiff peaks form. Fold cream into peanut butter mixture.
- Spread frosting on top of each cupcake, leaving a small well in the middle.
- Dollop about 1 teaspoon of jelly into each well.
Recipe Notes:
Cupcakes can be refrigerated up to 1 day in an airtight container; bring to room temperature before serving.
Colleen says
I love PB&J desserts!