A Sweet Valentine Treat for my Boys, a cupcake recipe

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes

File this away as another "use what you've got" challenge. Ever the eleventh hour crafter, baker and mom, I decided at 6:15pm last night that I wanted to bake something yummy for my guys so they could have a sweet surprise when they woke up this morning.

I rummaged around the cupboards, pantry and fridge and came up with these:

I figured if Sandra Lee can whip up fabulous "semi homemade" stuff in a flash, then I could too.

Cupcake preparation is as directed on the package. For mine, I used a box of Pillsbury Funfetti cake mix which requires:

1 cup water
1/3 cup veg. oil
3 eggs

I only had 17 paper baking cups so I was bold and made giant cupcakes (the mix is supposed to yield 2 dozen). A tip I'll share (which many of you might already know) is that if you have a muffin tin that is not completely full, fill the empty wells with water so the pan heats evenly and your cupcakes don't burn!

Other Ingredients:

1 cup creamy peanut butter
4 tbsp softened unsalted butter
1 8 oz pkg softened cream cheese
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup strawberry jam

In a large mixing bowl, using a hand mixer on medium(or large electic mixer) beat together cream cheese and butter until well combined. Add the vanilla and peanut butter and mix well. Slowly add in your confectioner's sugar (about 1/2 a cup at a time) and continue mixing until well combined and fluffy.
Spoon the jam into a cake decorating bag with a large star tip. Insert the tip about 1/2 way into your totally cooled cupcakes and squeeze gently to push the preserves into the cupcake, about 1/2 TBSP or so each.

~~~ side note: About half way through the baking process I recalled a container of assorted ice cream toppings that I had tucked away in the cupboard so I pulled those out to sprinkle on after I frosted. And as if I wasn't being crafty enough, I pulled out some pink construction paper, tape and toothpicks and made little valentine notes to stick on top if each cupcake. Just call me Martha. (ha!)

Frost liberally with your peanut butter frosting, decorate if desired and serve! *Note* if you plan to serve these at a later time, refrigerate them or the frosting will get all drippy and slippy!

Mmmm, are these suckers good! I meant to show you a picture of the center of the cupcake so you could see the jam, but I forgot and ate it! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!