Peanut Butter Muffins
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A simple recipe for moist, soft peanut butter muffins (loaded with chocolate chips!). These muffins are simple to make, no mixer required.
Hey peanut butter/chocolate addicts, this one’s for you.
For those of you who love soft and fluffy baked goods infused with peanut butter flavor, punctuated with melty pops of milk chocolate (or semisweet, I don’t discriminate). For those of you who have obsessed with me over classics like my peanut butter blossoms or peanut butter bars, and those of you who won’t even think about making my flourless peanut butter cookies without a healthy scoop of chocolate chips tossed into the mix. You’re going to love these peanut butter muffins.
And while technically they may be better categorized with desserts rather than with breakfast, I’ve definitely been enjoying these for breakfast recently. Muffins are breakfast food, right? No matter how much peanut butter and chocolate they contain?
Right.
What You Need and Notes on Substitutes:
- Flour. I have only tested this recipe with all-purpose flour.
- Sugar. I use a blend of granulated and light brown sugar for the best flavor.
- Peanut butter. I recommend using a traditional peanut butter and not a natural variety (where the oil separates on top).
- Oil. Any neutral cooking oil will work, canola and vegetable are my preference.
- Buttermilk. Even though we’re not using baking soda (which, if you remember from my buttermilk substitute, is often paired with buttermilk), I still like to use buttermilk for added moisture and a richer flavor. If you don’t have it you may substitute regular whole milk.
- Vanilla extract. For flavor.
- Eggs. Two large or extra large.
- Baking powder. To help the muffins rise nicely.
- Salt. For flavor.
- Chocolate chips. I used semisweet chips here, but when I have them I prefer milk chocolate. While I’m typically a dark-chocolate fan, milk chocolate and peanut butter are one of my favorite flavor combos.
This recipe makes 18 peanut butter muffins. I tried to scale the ingredients down to make an even dozen, but the muffins didn’t work out too well and a lot of awkward measurements were needed. If you don’t want to make 18, you can cut the recipe in half.
If you only have one muffin tin, bake one batch of muffins and cover the remaining batter while the first batch bakes. Let the first batch cool for at least 20 minutes before baking your remaining batter.
Tips:
- I didn’t have any muffin liners on hand when I made these peanut butter muffins, so I made my own using parchment paper. Here is my tutorial I recently shared on how to make your own muffin liners. Alternatively you can grease and flour the cavities of your muffin tin.
- Don’t over-mix the muffin batter, or your muffins will be dense and dry. Mix gently by hand, using a spoon or spatula.
- Add the chocolate chips once the flour mixture is halfway incorporated. This helps keep the batter from becoming over-mixed, which might happen if you stir the chips in once the batter is already combined completely.
- Take care to not over-bake your muffins or they will be dense, dry, and crumbly.
Enjoy!
More Recipes You Might Like:
Peanut Butter Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups (250 g) creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar, firmly packed
- ½ cup (118 ml) Avocado, vegetable or canola oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (236 ml) buttermilk¹
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (340 g) milk or semisweet chocolate chips, see note
- Additional granulated sugar for sprinkling on top, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C) and line muffin tin with paper liners (out of paper liners? See my tutorial on how to make the muffin liners seen in the photos above).
- Combine peanut butter, sugars, and oil, and stir well to combine.1 ¼ cups (250 g) creamy peanut butter, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar, ½ cup (118 ml) Avocado, vegetable or canola oil
- Add eggs and stir well, then stir in buttermilk and vanilla extract.2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 cup (236 ml) buttermilk¹
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
- Combine wet and dry ingredients and use a spatula to gently fold together. Once batter is about halfway combined, add chocolate chips and continue to stir until better is uniform (don't over-mix or muffins will be dense and dry).2 cups (340 g) milk or semisweet chocolate chips
- Divide batter into muffin liners, filling each cavity ¾ the way full (keep in mind this recipe makes 18 muffins, so you will need two tins. If you only have one, bake the first batch and cover the remaining batter until the first batch has baked and mostly cooled). If desired, sprinkle muffins with additional granulated sugar.Additional granulated sugar for sprinkling on top
- Bake on 375F (190C) for 20-22 mins or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (avoid chocolate chips) or with moist crumbs. Do not over-bake or they will be dry.
Notes
¹Buttermilk
You may substitute whole milk for the buttermilk in this recipe without making any other changes. I prefer the buttermilk because it makes the muffins slightly more moist and more flavorful.Chocolate chips
Milk chocolate chips pair best with peanut butter (in my opinion) but this recipe works with whatever variety you have on hand!Storing
Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
This recipe was originally published in June of 2014, has since been updated to include new photos, an improved recipe, and a video.
These are the best I have ever made from scratch…For those who Love peanut butter and chocolate you Must give these a try!! Quite easy and super moist and flavorful!
We’re so happy you like the muffins, Jeanne! Thanks for the review 💕
can I use blueberries instead of chocolate chips without too much change to structure?
Hi Raechel! Blueberries will work instead of chocolate chips. 🙂
I had been searching for a recipe for these muffins for years. The ones I tried all were disappointing but not this one. It was exactly the taste combination I was looking for. Thanks.
I don’t know anything about the science of baking. How would it affect the final product if I use heavy whipping cream instead of buttermilk in any of your muffin recipes?
Hi Kathy! You would need to make other alterations so I don’t recommend substituting heavy cream for buttermilk. 🙁
So, funny story. I was craving peanut butter muffins. So, since you’re my go-to for all things baked, I went to your site while at the grocery store. A quick perusal of the recipe to see if I needed to get anything – and I saw “Avocado”…because I was on my phone, I didn’t see the rest of the ingredient line. Trusting you implicitly, I picked up a ripe avocado. Mushed it thoroughly, added it to the peanut butter…then saw the rest of the ingredient line. Not wanting to waste that much peanut butter, I added 1.5 tbsp of canola oil…kinda figured the avocado would act like zucchini…moisturizing? We’ll see how it goes. They’re in the oven now. On the other hand…I’ve never baked with avocados before. New ingredient??
I almost did the same thing!!!😊
I hope your muffins turned out good.
We love these peanut butter muffins.
These delicious muffins did not disappoint! The peanut butter flavor definitely came through and they not too sweet. Next time I would use mini chocolate chips so that there would be more chocolate dispersed into each muffin – ha ha! Nothing better than chocolate and peanut butter in every bite!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Donna! 🙂
Super easy and tasted great, but mine over baked after 21 minutes. I used a lined, dark metal pan. Would you recommend I reduce the cooking time or temp? Thanks in advance!
Hi Amira! I’m sorry to hear this happened! I use a pretty dark pan and didn’t need to adjust the bake time. I would just check them a couple of minutes earlier next time. 🙂