Peanut Butter Muffins (Am)

These peanut butter muffins are built on whole wheat pastry flour and sweetened entirely with molasses, which gives them a deep, almost gingerbread-like sweetness that pairs beautifully with the roasted peanut flavor.

The mixing method is more like making biscuits than cake. You cut the crunchy peanut butter and oil into the dry ingredients with a fork or pastry blender until everything looks like coarse grains. This creates little pockets of fat throughout the batter that keep the muffins tender despite the whole wheat flour.

No eggs in this batter, which keeps the texture dense and bread-like rather than cakey. The milk and molasses get stirred in just until combined. Overmixing is the enemy here. The second the dry streaks disappear, stop stirring. Overworked gluten in whole wheat flour makes tough, chewy muffins instead of tender ones.

Fill the tins two-thirds full. These rise modestly compared to sugar-and-egg muffins, so don’t expect big domed tops. What you get instead is a sturdy, satisfying muffin that’s more about substance than fluff.

Kitchen Tips

• Use whole wheat pastry flour, not regular whole wheat. Pastry flour has less protein and makes a much more tender crumb
• Crunchy peanut butter adds texture. Smooth works too but you lose those little peanut bits
• If you swap honey for molasses, the muffins will be milder and lighter in color
• These freeze well. Pop them in a bag and reheat in a warm oven for 5 minutes

Variations

• Banana peanut butter: Mash one ripe banana into the wet ingredients for added moisture and natural sweetness
• Chocolate chip: Fold in ½ cup of dark chocolate chips after mixing for a sweet-salty treat