Peanut butter and jelly is one of my favorite flavor combos on planet earth. It may be my #1 comfort food ever. Under the weather? Bad day? Just don’t know what to eat? PB&J is always the answer. These Healthy Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes absolutely hit the spot – they taste like a PB&J and cake all rolled into one. Soft vanilla cake, a dollop of jam filling, and a lightened up peanut butter frosting make these irresistible. They’re also WW friendly (yes, really!).
Lightening up cupcakes
While ‘healthy’ and ‘cupcake’ don’t typically go together, I found out that with a few key ingredient swaps, you can have your cake and eat it too, literally.
The cake starts with boxed cake mix, but instead of adding eggs, butter, etc, you’ll just add nonfat Greek yogurt and water. The cake will still bake and rise normally, and the end result is fluffy, moist, and delicious (you don’t taste any tartness from the yogurt). You’ll make these in a mini muffin pan which make them perfect bite sized treats.
For the filling, you’ll use a sugar free preserves (I used raspberry).
Lastly, for the frosting, instead of using peanut butter, you’ll use powdered peanut butter, which lacks the oils of a regular nut butter. It still delivers big peanut taste, but is a lower calorie, lower point alternative. Powdered peanut butter + powdered sugar + vanilla + a little milk is all it takes to make a smooth, delicious peanut butter frosting.
Making Healthy Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
To make these cupcakes, you’ll need:
A box of vanilla cake mix (white cake, yellow cake, etc – whatever you like), nonfat Greek yogurt, water. This will be the base of your cupcakes, and you’ll just mix it all up and bake normally in a mini muffin pan.
Once baked, you’ll let the mini cupcakes cool, you’ll cut a small hole in the top (about halfway through the cupcake). Remove the cut out piece, fill with 1/4 tsp of sugar free raspberry preserves. You can then plug the hole with the cut out piece of cake.
For the frosting, you’ll use:
- Powdered peanut butter (I used PB2, the plain or vanilla varieties work great)
- Powdered sugar (or use a confectioners sugar replacement)
- Vanilla extract
- Milk (any kind) to bind it all together
You’ll use roughly 1 tsp of frosting on top of each cupcake. Frost and enjoy!
Healthy Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
Equipment
- Mixing Bowls
- Stand Mixer
- Mini Muffin Pan
- Oven
Ingredients
- 1 package White cake mix 15.25 oz. I used Pillsbury, but any brand works. Can also use vanilla cake mix.
- 1 cup Nonfat greek yogurt I use Fage 0%
- 1 cup Water
- 4 tbsp Sugar free raspberry preserves
- 1/2 cup Powdered peanut butter or butter/vegan butter alternative, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups Powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp Milk any works, up to 2 tbsp
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Combine cake mix, greek yogurt, and water in a mixing bowl and combine fully. Pour into prepared (greased or lined) mini muffin pan, and bake at 350 for 10-14 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely before frosting.
- Cut central hole in each cupcake (about halfway through) and remove small amount of cupcake. Fill with 1/4 tsp sugar free raspberry preserves and plug hole with bit of cake that you cut out.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a mixing bowl with hand mixer, mix powdered peanut butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk until smooth.
- Add additional milk 1 tsp at a time until desired consistency is reached.
- Frost cupcakes with 1 tsp of frosting each, top with additional sprinkles if desired.
Notes
- In the frosting, you can substitute the milk with cream (or even creamer) in the same amount
- You can also substitute the powdered sugar with a sugar-free powdered sugar substitute and adjust points accordingly
