Peanut Butter Muffins

I know pretty much anyone who reads this will think I’m crazy, and some may even think “Blasphemy!” but I’m just going to come right out and say it. Muffins are better than cupcakes. There I said it. Please don’t come after me with torches and pitchforks.

Don’t get me wrong, I like cupcakes…but only sometimes. Actually, I would much rather eat a slice of cake than a cupcake. A slice of cake is much more satisfying that a little tiny cake with as much frosting on top to equal the cake that comes in the decorative paper liner. Now to some, that is heaven on Earth, but I feel sick just thinking about it. I just don’t have the tolerance for most frostings.

Muffins on the other hand are strong on their own. They don’t need an extra layer of sugar to make them stand out, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t need a little help either. Muffins are good plain, or with berries bursting in the middle or chocolate chips speckling the batter. They are best when there’s a sweet and crumbly streusel top, or with a thick and dense top, either way you spin it, a muffin top will always be the best part. And yes, cupcakes can be filled with marvelous things like sauces, curds, cookie doughs, and various other goodies as well, but it’s just not the same. Once all of those things come into play, there is just too much going on.

The humble muffin is the way to go.

The reason for all this muffin talk is because I haven’t made muffins in a really long time and I was just dying to get my hands on a delicious little muffin. I didn’t do much searching because I already had about 10 muffin recipes saved from Foodgawker. After much deliberation and internal arguments, I chose a peanut butter and chocolate chip muffin.

I love the taste of peanut butter. I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day! I’m kind of worried for my future adult self. Will I still be making a PB&J for lunch when I go to work? Gosh I hope so. The future seems bleak without that classic sandwich. I digress.

These muffins are really simple and easy to make. Plus, cleanup’s a breeze because you only need two bowls to make these, one for the dry ingredients and one for the wet. I halved the recipe, not knowing who else but me would eat these muffins. Turns out all but one was eaten within the day. So next time I will definitely make the whole batch, although I’m not sure how many it will yield because halving the recipe gave me 10 muffins. Maybe I just have a small scoop.

Peanut Butter Muffins
Adapted from Alida’s Kitchen
Makes about 10 muffins

Ingredients
½ cup + 2 tbsp. unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. canola oil
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup + 2 tbsp. buttermilk
½ cup milk chocolate, chopped (or use chips)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Prepare a muffin pan by spraying cooking spray in the compartments or line them with paper liners. Set aside

In a medium bowl sift together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl whisk together the canola oil, brown sugar, peanut butter, vanilla, and egg. Whisk until well combined.

Fold in 1/3 of the dry ingredients followed by half of the buttermilk. Continue this until everything has been mixed together well. Fold in the milk chocolate pieces.

Use a medium or large scoop to portion the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pan. Place in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. Cool in the pan on a cooling rack for a few minutes. Take the muffins out of the pan and allow them to cool completely.

These muffins were best serves slightly warm.