Pb&J Cupcakes!

After neglecting baking in general for quite awhile, I finally got back into the cupcake groove & decided to try to recreate one of my favorite meals in the form of a cupcake: peanut butter & jelly!

The results were quite good, and even the naysayers were won over! Here’s a quick recipe for the vanilla cake (vanilla adapted from the one in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World) with jelly filling and peanut butter frosting:

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup soy or rice milk
• 2/3 cup light agave nectar (no regular sugar this time!)
• 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

Line muffin pan with cupcake liners and preheat oven to 325° F.

Mix the soy milk and apple cider vinegar in a large bowl; allow to sit for a few minutes to curdle. Beat in agave, oil, vanilla and almond extract. Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix until smooth. Fill liners two thirds full. Bake 20 to 22 minutes until a knife or toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean; definitely don’t overbake or the texture will come out funky.

These cupcakes need to cool at least an hour. Once the cupcakes are cool, cut out the center with a paring or sharp knife, and add your favorite jam/jelly filling. In mine, I added strawberry preserves.

Once the jelly is in, place the tops back on and prepare ‘em for the peanut butter frosting! 

Peanut Frosting recipe:
Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons shortening/butter sticks
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
• 1 to 2 tablespoons rice milk or soy milk

With electric handheld mixer, cream together shortening, peanut butter, and vanilla and beat until smooth. Beat in sugar; mixture will be very stiff.  Add in rice milk a little at a time, beating continuously till frosting is very fluffy. Now you can frost up those jam-filled suckers and voila! your favorite childhood sangwich in the form of a sweet-treat!

Next up, koolaid-infused cake!