A Little History on this Peanut Butter Muffins Recipe
We love peanut butter and a little bit of chocolate added can make peanut butter taste even better. Why not make a peanut butter muffin recipe with chocolate chips? Being muffins, this should be an easy recipe and it is as simple as combining a few ingredients together without a lot of fancy equipment. No need to break out that mixer! You can do this all by hand with just a few bowls and a couple utensils.
However, that is where the simplicity ends and my trouble begins. As many of you may be aware, we lost our dear Jackson a few months ago and this recipe, like his untimely passing, haunts me. I began tinkering with this recipe over a year ago and thought I was close to finalizing it when Jackson suddenly became unwell. All my focus became about him and our desire to save him and the heartbreaking decision to let him go. I can’t seem to finalize this recipe and would love some input on how to make it better.
Every time I start to work on this recipe again, I just seem to make it worse instead of better. I feel such melancholy as Jackson always tested out all the baked goods that were safe for dogs. He was always there in the background checking on me and telling me when to take a break for health and cuddles. His little face is ingrained in my mind when I pick up this recipe. I always made at least one muffin without chocolate for the pups to try. I also find I am kind of “stuck” and can’t seem to move onto other baking projects, hyper-focusing on perfecting this recipe.
So this is where I ask my fellow bakers and friends for help! If you are brave enough to experiment on baking and trust me enough to say they are very nice muffins as written, you could have some fun learning how to modify a recipe to make it your own. I’ll go over the steps of how to make these muffins, with the adjustments I tried along the way and what works and what didn’t. Perhaps, my friends, we can honor Jackson’s memory by working on this peanut butter muffin recipe together.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Below, we will teach you how to make this peanut butter muffin recipe with a few simple steps. It’ll take longer to read the details or clean the dishes than it will to whip up this muffin! For those that are attempting to “fix” my recipe, I will include notes along the way. For those just here for the baked goods, feel free to click to the “jump to recipe” button as usual.
Step 1: Prepare the (mostly) Dry Ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. For this recipe, we are including sugar in the dry ingredients. (Adding the sugar to the peanut butter creates a grainy texture in the muffins.) Set aside.
If you are wanting to tinker around with this peanut butter muffin recipe, I have tried between 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar (100 – 200 grams) and I also used 2 tsp (8g) of baking powder and omitted the baking soda altogether. I can’t increase the salt any more than I already have since some brands of peanut butter seemed to be more salty than others and I didn’t like the outcome.
Step 2: Mix your Wet Ingredients
I recommend weighing out your peanut butter. Too little and you don’t taste the peanut butter. Too much and the muffins become claggy. I have tried between 1/2 cup to 1 cup (128g – 256g) of creamy and crunchy peanut butters and can’t seem to find a happy medium. However, I have found between 2/3 – 3/4 cup to be the sweet spot.
Slowly add in the oil. As you add the oil, it thins out the peanut butter. If you are wanting to experiment with this recipe, we’ve tried up to 1/2 cup oil (120mL), but beyond 1/3 cup oil (80mL) added, we found the muffin batter tends to clump and separate into a greasy mess and the end result is a very dense muffin that almost tastes wet in the center.
Look how thinned out the peanut butter looks with just that small amount of oil added.
Now you will want to add in the eggs. Something magical happens when you add eggs to the thinned peanut butter.
It becomes quite viscous instead of thinner as you’d assume. Know how when you eat peanut butter and it feels thicker as you chew? This is because the peanut butter is reacting to your saliva and naturally thickening. Science is very interesting.
Now you want to add in some milk. At first, it will not want to absorb and will become even thicker. But as you gradually add in the milk, it becomes thin again. This process of the peanut butter thickening and thinning with ingredients is why I’m having such a hard time finessing this recipe. Also, because of this phenomenon, when eating these peanut butter muffins, be sure to have a glass of milk or water with them. We have used as little as 1/2 cup of milk (120mL) and as much as 1 1/2 cups of milk (360mL) for those that are wanting to experiment. Too little and the muffins dried out as they baked, even at lower temperatures. Too much and the muffins became soggy tasting, even when over baked.
Once you have all the milk added, it’s time to combine the ingredients together.
Step 3: Combine the Wet with the Dry Ingredients
Pour the peanut butter mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a spatula or spoon until just the flour is absorbed. Do not overmix. Over mixing can lead to the oils in the peanut butter separating. Depending on the brand of peanut butter you use, the mixture will be somewhat thick or a little thinner. Don’t worry if it looks a little different than this photo.
Now you want to add in chocolate chips if you want to use chocolate. I recommend adding the chips a little at at time so they distribute better in the batter while baking. You may even want to reserve a small handful to sprinkle on the top of the muffins prior to baking.
If you add the chocolate chips a little at a time, each muffin should have plenty. However, feel free to use up to 1 1/2 cups (360g) of chocolate chips in total. Any more than that, and the muffins becomes gooey and may not bake properly.
Step 4: Baking the Muffins
Now you are ready to bake your muffins! Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin tins. There will be approximately 1/4 cup (60mL) of batter in each section. We always recommend using paper liners for easier storage, serving and cleaning up.
We do recommend you turn the tray 180° halfway through baking if you don’t have a convection oven to prevent hot spots and over-browning of some of the muffins. Below you will see we didn’t do that. Can you tell which ones were at the hardest part of the oven?
Substitutions and Tips
Here are some common substitutions and tips for this peanut butter muffin recipe.
- Fat-free, 2%, whole milk or buttermilk can be all be chosen for this recipe. Whole milk will give the richest flavor, but fat-free tastes excellent! For a tang, try buttermilk.
- You can use soy, almond or other milk substitutes for this recipe.
- Up to 1 cup (113 grams of chopped or whole peanuts can be folded into the batter.
- Do not use more than 1 1/2 cups (360g) of chocolate as it will change the texture of the muffins and they will not bake properly.
- Any type of cooking oil can be used for this recipe. Canola and vegetable oil will give a neutral taste.
- Melted coconut oil or butter can be substituted for the oil in this recipe. Melted butter will result in a muffin that stales within just one day.
Storage
Freshly baked muffins are always best eaten the day you make them. However, these will keep 2-3 days before they go stale and dry out. Let the muffins cool completely and store in a paper bag, an airtight container or a plastic bag. The crust will soften if stored in plastic bags.
These muffins freeze up to 3 months, but it is best to eat them within a few weeks as baked goods tend to dry out as they age in the freezer. To freeze cool completely and then store in a freezer safe container or storage bag. Thaw on the counter for approximately 45 minutes prior to eating. This may take less time or longer, depending on the temperature in the home. In general, the warmer the home, the quicker they will thaw.
Final Thoughts
In the end, I was satisfied enough with this recipe to share it with all of you. Many people enjoyed it just as it is posted below, yet I find it lacking. Perhaps this recipe is great as it is written and it’s just grief clouding my judgment. Or perhaps it’s the fact that chocolate triggers migraines and a side effect of those migraines changes my sense of taste for days on end. But we aren’t here to talk about me; we are hear to bake and celebrate the life of Jackson. We are here to help you create happy memories with those you love. Because one day, they may be gone and the smell of peanut butter muffins baking away in the oven years from now will bring back a flood of happy moments you created over time with those you love. Happy baking my friends. Happy baking.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups (300g) flour
- 1 ¼ cup (300mL) milk
- ¾ cup (192g) peanut butter
- ¾ cup (180g) chocolate chips
- ¾ cup (150g) sugar
- 2 large (100g) eggs
- ¼ cup (60mL) oil
- 1 tsp (5mL) vanilla
- 1 tsp (4g) baking powder
- 1 tsp (3g) baking soda
- ½ tsp (2.5g) salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C.)
- Grease and flour or line a muffin tin with paper cups.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a smaller bowl, add the peanut butter. Gradually whisk in the oil until smooth. Next, whisk in eggs. Then, whisk in the milk and vanilla. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and stir together until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Divide batter equally into each muffin tin, about 1/4 cup.
- Bake 18 – 24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean of batter. Some melted chocolate may cling to the toothpick. Center temperature should read between 200 – 210°F (93 – 99°C) when fully baked.
- Cool in pan for 5 – 10 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to finish cooling before storing.
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