The Craving: Peanut Butter and Jelly and Potato Chip Cupcakes?!

By Rachel Bates

My doctor recently told me that he thinks I'm just one of those people that just gain weight when they're pregnant. This seems pretty unfair. Granted, I gained 50+ pounds with my first two babies, but this time around, I'm exercising! Even still, I'm in my second trimester and I've already gained 15 pounds. No good!

But, I can tell you what went wrong with my previous pregnancies, no problem. When I was pregnant with my son, I couldn't get enough of hot chocolate and green olives. I know it may sound a little icky, but trust me, the rich chocolatey goodness complimented the salty olives perfectly. With my daughter, I had a whole other sweet/salty addiction: pb&j sandwiches with potato chips wedged in the middle! I would sit at my desk at lunchtime, hiding behind my computer, quickly devouring three or four of those bad boys. And while a pb&j may be a classic kids lunch food, it is definitely not a low calories treat. By the time you add the calories of the bread, peanut butter, and jelly, you're already up to at least 300-400 calories! And when you add the salty, greasy goodness of a potato chip on top of that, it becomes a pregnancy weight atomic bomb. Thankfully, I've managed to curb those cravings thus far, but I couldn't help but think of what a delicious cupcake a pb&j potato chip cupcake would be.

I could attack this cuppie a number of ways. I've thought about a raspberry jelly cupcake, with peanut butter filling, peanut butter frosting, with jelly swirled on top or even a peanut butter cupcake with raspberry jelly frosting. However, I think the ultimate homage to this childhood favorite is a peanut butter cupcake, filled with raspberry jelly, topped with peanut butter buttercream mousse, a dollop of raspberry jelly smack in the middle and rolled in deliciously salty potato chips. I really love the brown sugar base in this recipe. And the buttercream is folded with whipped cream to add a delicious lightness. Finally, the crunchy potato chips add a textural contrast, as well as the perfect salty note. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

1 stick of butter
2 cups of brown sugar
1 cup of peanut butter
½ cup of applesauce (plain flavored)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
dash of salt
1 ½ cup buttermilk

Beat together the butter, brown sugar, peanut butter and applesauce until it because smooth and blended. Add eggs one at a time and add vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Alternating, add the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the peanut butter/sugar mixture. (This batter tastes like peanut butter cookies!). Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. (I had to leave mine in 22 minutes because I have a really cheap oven).

Peanut Butter Buttercream Mousse

Beat one stick of butter and one cup of peanut butter together until creamy. Add 1 ½ cups of powdered sugar. In a separate bowl, beat one cup of heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture.

To assemble:

Fill the cupcakes with your favorite jelly. I use Welch's Red Raspberry Spread. To fill, I put a star tip on a piping bag and jam it into the cupcake. I squeeze until I see the cupcake start to burst and the jam just barely comes out of the top of the cupcake. Frost with the Peanut Butter /buttercream mousse and roll the cupcakes in crushed potato chips. It's important to use really crunchy potato chips (like "kettle cooked" brands). Top with a dollop more of jam.

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