Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins (Vegan!)

So... I've had this recipe in mind for a while; I've actually spent the last 2 weeks figuring out how to make the flavors and textures work the way I wanted them to. However... the final product I was expecting is NOT what actually came to fruition, but it is an awesome and unique recipe nonetheless! 

The texture of these muffins are more like... a very soft bread or cookie, due to the moistness the jelly provides. But they are somehow very hardy and portable. In addition, they are great on their own, but EVEN BETTER when you top them with some powdered sugar, agave nectar, or (our favorite) even more jelly!!

Also: here is a fantastic example of what happens if you put too much batter into your muffin tray... So always make sure to fill your muffin trays 3/4 of the way and NO MORE!!

Ingredients:

***Use these measurements to make about 12 servings of this dish***

• 1 cup of non-dairy milk
• 1 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons of cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• 1/3 cup of oil
• 1 tablespoon of (natural) peanut butter
• 1 cup of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla
• 1/2 cup of your favorite jelly/jam (I used strawberry)
• Optional Toppings: more jelly/jam, agave nectar, powdered sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease a muffin pan with nonstick spray or vegan shortening.
3. In a separate cup, pour the milk and add in the apple cider vinegar and cornstarch. Do not mix or touch. It will curdle to make a buttermilk-like consistency, which you will use at a later step of the recipe.
4. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
5. Once the milk/apple cider vinegar/cornstarch mixture is chunky and smells putrid, stir it gently, and then mix it into the flour mixture. Add vanilla extract at this time as well.
6. Mix the oil, peanut butter, sugar into the mixture.
7. Once all parts of the mixture are thoroughly mixed, pour into muffin pan 3/4 of the way high (NO MORE THAN 3/4!)
8. Put a giant glob of jam/jelly into the center of each muffin batter. Though it is at the top now, baking will push it down and marbleize some of it.
9. Bake for 30 minutes, or until fork inserted into the center of the dish comes out dry and clean.
10. Let muffins cool, and add toppings afterward if desired.

 I got a request for a close up of the curdling... so here it is! I tried adding cornstarch this time due to a suggestion I found online, and it did improve the 'buttermilk' texture.

The finished batter.

The jelly just put onto the batter (we only had squeezable jelly at home, hence the strange rectangular shapes.)

You know you put in too much batter if your muffins are this big only halfway through the baking process...

The muffins right out of the oven. Those darker areas aren't burns; they're jelly swirl areas!

3 muffins: one with sugar, one with agave nectar, and one with jelly! You can tell someone couldn't wait to eat before taking the picture... oops.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Did you try this recipe out?

Please let me know in the comments!