Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

Even though I write a blog about cooking healthy meals and snacks for and with kids, I still struggle with what to make for dinner every night. Ok, I’m going to say it. I’m not a fan of eating dinner. However, breakfast? Love it. Lunch? Bring it on. Snacks? Yes please, and make mine a double (that means a muffin and a cookie). But dinner? Meh. I’ve been like that since I was a kid–never one to look forward to or make a big deal out of dinner. It’s why you get a pancake recipe from me as much as Ceri will allow. I just enjoy eating and making other meals more. (I’m pretty sure I invented the idea of breakfast for dinner? I didn’t, oh?)

Photos by Maya Visnyei

And while my dinner arsenal is a constant work in progress, baking has really become my thing. I love creating recipes that I’m dying to tuck into, and feel good about what they deliver nutritionally. As a result, I think I can create a pretty mean muffin. One of the easiest breakfasts or snacks to grab, a muffin can either be sweet or savory making it appealing to any one in your family. And if your family is anything like mine, foods that have a generous helping of comfort are always a winner. Therefore, the peanut butter and jelly muffin was born.

These are actually great with any nut or seed butter you enjoy in your household but, I have to warn you, these muffins are completely addictive. I think I made them four weeks (and counting) in a row. We like to toast one every morning and have it as part of our breakfast. When I brought them to the studio to shoot for this post, our photographer Maya got addicted to them. She then made them for a group of editors on her next photo shoot and wound up sending me an email asking permission to share the recipe with those editors because they got hooked too. In other words, they’re the food equivalent of the 80’s hair care world–“and they told two friends and so on and so on.” (Remember those old Faberge Organics’ commercials from the early 80’s? You don’t? Great, now I’m the old one.) Just make the muffins and forget I made that reference.