These peanut butter and jelly cupcakes highlight a classic flavor combination. Made with vanilla cupcakes, raspberry filling, creamy peanut butter frosting, and salted peanuts, these cupcakes are perfect for PB&J sandwich lovers.
Ingredients for Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
Vanilla Cupcakes
- All-purpose flour: To create structure.
- Granulated sugar: For sweetness.
- Baking powder: Helps the cupcakes rise.
- Salt: To enhance flavors and contrast sweetness.
- Milk: Room temperature. I like using 2% milk.
- Vegetable oil: For added moisture. You can use any neutral baking oil.
- Egg: Large egg, room temperature.
- Sour cream: Room temperature, for additional moisture.
- Vanilla extract: Pure vanilla extract adds great vanilla flavor to the cupcakes.
Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting
- Unsalted butter: Room temperature for easy creaming.
- Peanut butter: Go with regular creamy peanut butter. I don’t recommend using natural peanut butter for this buttercream.
- Powdered sugar: Also known as confectioners’ sugar or icing sugar.
- Vanilla extract: For added vanilla flavor.
- Salt: Contrasts the sweetness of the frosting and enhances the peanut butter flavor.
- Heavy cream: Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream helps the buttercream whip up to be creamy.
Raspberry Filling
- Raspberries: Fresh or frozen.
- Granulated sugar: For sweetness.
- Lemon juice: Fresh is best but bottled will work just fine.
- Cornstarch + water: To create a cornstarch slurry to thicken the raspberry filling.
Additional Ingredients
- Peanuts: Chopped, salted peanuts for a little crunch and salty contrast.
Tools & Supplies for Making Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
- Cupcake pan
- Cupcake liners
- Large cookie scoop – to portion the cupcake batter into liners
- Apple corer – to remove the center of the cupcake for filling
- Piping bags (2)
- Wilton 1M piping tip
How to Make Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
Here is a basic breakdown of the steps to make the components for these peanut butter and jelly cupcakes.
Make the vanilla cupcakes: Whisk together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and whisk to combine. Portion the cupcake batter into cupcake liners. Bake for 20 minutes and cool to room temperature.
Make the peanut butter buttercream frosting: To make the buttercream, you will need a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer. Whip the butter until light and fluffy. Add peanut butter and then powdered sugar. Add in vanilla extract and salt. Drizzle in heavy cream and whip for a few minutes until smooth and creamy.
Make raspberry filling: Cook raspberries, granulated sugar, and lemon juice on the stovetop until the raspberries have broken down and are bubbling. Add a cornstarch slurry to thicken the raspberry mixture and mix well. Cool the raspberry filling to room temperature and chill to thicken.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes Recipe Tips
Bake perfect cupcakes
Check out my baking tips blog post on my top 10 Tips for Baking Perfect Cupcakes to learn simple tips and tricks to bake up the best vanilla cupcakes.
Make the components ahead of time
Make the raspberry filling and peanut butter frosting a day before baking the cupcakes to break things down a bit. The raspberry filling should be chilled before filling the cupcakes, so chilling overnight works well! Store the peanut butter buttercream frosting in an airtight container overnight. To use, bring to room temperature and whip the frosting until it is smooth and creamy.
Assembling the cupcakes
- Remove the center of the vanilla cupcakes with an apple corer. Plunge the corer about â…” of the way down the cupcake, twist, and remove.
- Use a piping bag filled with the cooled raspberry filling to fill the center of the cupcakes.
- Use a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M piping tip to swirl on peanut butter buttercream frosting.
- Drizzle on additional raspberry filling and sprinkle with chopped peanuts.
Storing and serving
Store the peanut butter and jelly cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To serve, remove the cupcakes from the fridge about an hour before serving to bring to room temperature.
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Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
Equipment
- Cupcake pan/cupcake liners
- Large cookie scoop
- Piping bag with piping tip
Ingredients
Vanilla Cupcakes
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup milk room temperature
- 1 egg room temperature
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp sour cream room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt adjust to taste
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
Raspberry Filling
- 6 oz raspberries fresh or frozen
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp water
Additional Ingredients
- ¼ cup chopped salted peanuts
Instructions
Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prepare cupcake pans with 12 cupcake liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Add milk, vegetable oil, egg, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Whisk until the wet and dry ingredients are fully combined.
- Use a large cookie scoop and portion the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners.
- Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes until the tops of the cupcakes bounce back when gently touched.
- Remove the cupcake pan from the oven. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add in room temperature unsalted butter. Whip the butter for 5 minutes on medium-high speed until the butter is light, fluffy, and pale in color. You will need to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl occasionally.
- Add in the creamy peanut butter and mix until well combined.
- Add one half of the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until fully combined. Add remaining powdered sugar and continue to mix on low until incorporated.
- Add vanilla extract and salt.
- Drizzle in heavy cream while mixing on low speed. Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure the ingredients are well combined.
- Turn the speed of the mixter to medium and whip the buttercream for an additional 3 minutes.
- If desired, switch to a paddle attachment and mix the buttercream on low speed for an additional few minutes to remove any air bubbles.
Raspberry Filling
- In a medium saucepan, combine raspberries, granulated sugar, and lemon juice. Cook over medium-low heat on the stovetop, stirring occasionally.
- Simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes until the raspberries have broken down and the mixture is bubbling.
- In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch and water.
- Add the cornstarch slurry to the raspberry mixture and stir immediately and quickly to combine. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Cool the raspberry filling in the pan to room temperature. Transfer the raspberry filling to a storage container and chill in the refrigerator at least one hour before use.
Assembling the Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
- Remove the center of the vanilla cupcakes with an apple corer. Plunge the corer about â…” of the way down the cupcake, twist, and remove.
- Use a piping bag filled with the cooled raspberry filling to fill the center of the cupcakes.
- Use a piping bag fitted with a piping tip to swirl on peanut butter buttercream frosting.
- Drizzle on additional raspberry filling and sprinkle with chopped peanuts.
Notes
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