baked, occasionally: peanut butter + jelly muffins.

C’mon guys: it’s October. We all know this could be a pumpkin post, and yet IT IS NOT.

What do I think of when the weather starts to turn chilly in the mornings as I eagerly add my sweaters and boots back into regular rotation? I mean, yeah, pumpkin things, but also, peanut butter and jelly. Why? Because here, the onset of crispy fall weather reminds me of school. It has for years, and I haven’t been in school for…well, let’s say awhile, shall we? 

Scientists who study this sort of thing say that each time you actively think about a memory, you distort it in some way; that it gets degraded, or more fuzzy, or skewed toward what you want it to be. That may be true, generally, but I like to think my own treasure trove of autumnal back-to-school memories are accurate. At some point this month, at just the right temperature and with the sun at just the right point on the horizon, I will feel my heart swell with so much joy that I’ll begin to tear up, memory upon memory tucking in all around me – I refuse to believe there’s anything but truth in that.

And that right there was a huge lead-in to a humble, unassuming peanut butter and jelly muffin. Should have saved it for something more elegant, perhaps, but hey: the Baked, Occasionally project I do with Natalie seems to be the only thing keeping this blog’s little heart pumping recently. My fault, as usual: I got to Thanksgiving all the things for Feast this year, which means my kitchen has been a flurry of ingredients, typing, edits, and photo shoots. The feature will be in the November issue (obviously), and I can’t wait for you all to see it. It is my heart on a plate (actually several plates), this one.

Back to these muffins! This was my choice for the month – my birthday month, so quite fitting. We toyed with doing a pumpkin thing, and we may still jointly do it later this month, but I choice the PB & J situation mostly b/c it’ll give you a little break from Pumpkin-tober. Let’s discuss.

What it is: it’s a peanut butter batter with toasted peanut crumble – like a crumb cake streusel with nuts – and a surprise jelly filling inside. the cake is dense but not heavy, and not too sweet: you could eat these in the morning and not feel as bad as you would chowing down on a glazed donut, for sure. I’m a savory person for breakfast 99% of of the time, so for me, this would make a perfect dessert muffin. Bonus points for smelling very much like a peanut butter cookie during prep and bake times.

Prep Feels – We had tickets to the matinée of Once: the Musical, and I managed to squeeze these in prior to leaving – I am certified crap at being on time – which means they were really easy to throw together. The most tedious part of things was the batter-jelly-batter layering, but even that didn’t take a large amount of time. I didn’t like the way the book did it: the whole “2 Tbsp batter, then gently do the thing, then like 2 tsp more” and so on. Here’s what: just use this:

One scoop, do the jelly, one scoop on the top. Boom, done. Why it has to be any more difficult than that, I don’t know: I have no time for teaspoons of thick batter. Also, I firmly believe that anything with a crumb benefits by making that crumb and subsequently storing it in the fridge as you make the main event: it firms up and stays crumbly versus getting sandy and breaking down.

Flavor/Final Product Feels – I solidly like these: they go right into the “would make again” category of life for me, with one caveat – I’m not sure that I would *always* make them with the jelly inside.

I am almost always against filled things (Hostess cakes being the exception; vive la Ding Dong!). I just never see the point, really. Are these muffins really good? Yes. Do they benefit from jelly on the inside as opposed to slathered on the outside? No, unless you’re strictly speaking 1. portability or 2. kitsch factor. I wouldn’t say it detracts from the muffin itself, although Natalie and I both agreed that with the three jelly flavors we tried, baking the jelly in the muffin seemed to dull the flavor of the jelly itself, to varying degrees. So if you’re going for cute, or you need an on-the-go grab, do it, by all means. If you’re not, I would suggest baking these sans jelly and then serving it on the side. Another benefit of the side-jelly is that the muffins themselves will keep longer than the dreaded “eat within 24 hours” time frame. If I wanted that sort of limitation, I would have just baked a scone.

These have lovely, toasty-peanut butter flavor, and the crumble really makes the muffin exciting, in my opinion. I’m almost positive the book makes the crumble for 24 muffins: the measurements are way too big for 12 muffins, easily double if not triple, and both Natalie and I piled it on pretty generously. For that reason, in my recipe you’ll see what amounts to a half-batch of the crumble when compared to book quantities. Believe me, you’ll have more than enough.

Natalie has some strong opinions about these muffins as well: head over here to see how hers turned out (awesome, as per usual) and read up on what she thought about them.

Listen, you guys; I’m really happy it’s fall, and I’m really ready for all it brings with it. If I sound abstractly pumped for the season, I am. Who knows if anything will come of that here, but I hope so. I have the best of intentions, but right now, I have these muffins.

Adapted from Baked Occasions: Desserts for Leisure Activities, Holidays, and Informal Celebrations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.

Peanut Butter + Jelly Muffins