Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes

It's peanut butter, jelly time!!!

Happy Birthday, Gabby!


Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 cup chopped peanuts (Honey roasted was awesome!)
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup jam (your favorite flavor-I used Concord Grape)
• Peanut Butter Frosting (recipe below)
• Optional: Blackberry Jam

Peanut Butter Frosting:
• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.
2. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. In another bowl, cream butter, peanut butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Reduce speed to low. Mix in the sour cream, vanilla, milk and peanuts. Add dry ingredients slowly. Scrape sides of bowl. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.
4. Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks.


Frosting Directions
1. Cream the butter, peanut butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar. Stir in the vanilla. Use immediately or refrigerate until needed.

To Assemble
1. When cupcakes are cooled, using a small paring knife, cut out a small hole in the top of each cupcake; discard crumbs (makes good fat kid snack!).

2. Fill a Ziploc bag (or piping bag, if you have one - with a round tip) with the jam. Insert the tip into the center of the cupcake and squeeze the jam inside (you’ll want to apply a decent amount of pressure) until the hole is filled. Repeat until all the cupcakes are filled.

3. Pipe or spread the peanut butter frosting on each cupcake. Optional step: to pipe blackberry jam spirals on top for an extra berry kick! Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cupcakes will keep, covered, for up to 3 days. Makes approx. 18 cupcakes.

Mango Sticky Rice

This is, hands down, my biggest weakness when it comes to the Thai cuisine: the mango sticky rice! Like many desserts, I want it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sometimes, I just want the mango sticky rice when I order Thai food, and nothing else. But when ordering Thai food, it’s a hit-or-miss on the dessert being freshly made…and if you haven’t tried this dish, freshly prepared mango sticky rice is 10^2 times better! The exotic flavors of the coconut and mango are fresh and enticing, and the ingredients are so simple! I had to test it out in my own kitchen, and it was a win:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups uncooked short-grain white rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt  
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 mangos, peeled and sliced
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Combine the rice and water in a saucepan; bring to a boil; cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer until water is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes.
2. While the rice cooks, mix together 1 1/2 cups coconut milk, 1 cup sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil; remove from heat and set aside. Stir the cooked rice into the coconut milk mixture; cover. Allow to cool for 1 hour.
3. Make a sauce by mixing together 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a saucepan; bring to a boil.
4. Place the sticky rice on a serving dish. Arrange the mangos on top of the rice. Pour the remaining coconut milk over the mangos and rice. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

(Source: allrecipes.com)