Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins
by Missy Chase Lapine
If your kids demand PB&J morning, noon, and night, you probably think you've got your work cut out for you getting veggies on their plate. But never fear! These peanut butter and jelly muffins are a great way to start the day, and they'll have your kids worshiping the ground you bake on. Just don't let it slip that they're eating vegetables and whole grains, too!
Makes 8 large muffins (or 16 mini muffins)
Ingredients:
1 cup Flour Blend (see Make-Ahead recipe below)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup Orange Puree (see Make-Ahead recipe below)
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
8 heaping teaspoons favorite jam
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the Flour Blend, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until well combined, then whisk in the oil, Orange Puree, and peanut butter. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until flour is just moistened (don't over-mix or the muffins will be dense).
Scoop about two tablespoons of batter into the large muffin cups until half full. Place a heapiong teaspoon of jam in the center of each muffin. Cover the jam with another 2 tablespoons or so of batter, filling the cups just over the top. If you're using mini-muffin cups, scale back quantities to fit into the smaller sized cups.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.
Flour Blend Make-Ahead Recipe:
1 cup all-purpose, unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup wheat germ, unsweetened
Combine the flours and wheat germ in a bowl. This blend can be stored in a sealed, labeled plastic bag for months.
Orange Puree Make-Ahead Recipe:
1 medium sweet potato or yam, peeled and rough chopped
3 medium to large carrots, peeled and sliced into thick chunks
2-3 tablespoons water
In a medium pot, cover carrots and potatoes with cold water and boil for about 20 minutes until yams, and especially carrots, are very tender. If the carrots aren’t thoroughly cooked, they’ll leave telltale little nuggets of vegetables, which will reveal their presence (a gigantic no-no for the sneaky chef).
Drain the potatoes and carrots and put them in the food processor with two tablespoons of water. Puree on high until smooth; no pieces of carrots or potatoes should remain. Stop occasionally to push the contents from the top to the bottom. If necessary, use the third tablespoon of water to make a smooth puree, but the less water the better.
This makes about 2 cups of puree. Double the recipe if you want to store another cup of puree.Store in refrigerator up to three days, or freeze 1/4 cup portions in sealed plastic bags or small plastic containers.
Missy Chase Lapine is the former publisher of Eating Well magazine. A mother of two young daughters, she knows how picky kids can be—and she’s got the kitchen experiments to prove it! She is on the Culinary Arts facility of The New School, in New York City, and also gives cooking classes and coaching to busy families hoping to learn how to eat healthier. Her book, The Sneaky Chef, is published by Running Press. Her next book The Sneaky Chef: How to Cheat on Your Man (In the Kitchen) will be out in April 2008. You can learn more about Missy at her website, www.thesneakychef.com
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