Peanut Butter Muffins

I made these muffins for breakfast today—and we all loved them! Even Alyssa—who sometimes wonders how long this peanut butter kick of mine will continue.

This recipe is from The Ultimate Peanut Butter Book.

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs (process about 3-4 whole graham crackers in a food processor to get this amount of crumbs)
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup creamy standard peanut butter (7-1/8 ounces)
2/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg plus 1 large egg white, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon milk, preferably low-fat or nonfat

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly spray indentations of a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick spray; set aside. Whisk the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Beat the peanut butter, sugar, and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in the egg, then the egg white, and finally the vanilla until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and beat in the milk until creamy and light, about 1 minute.

Remove the beaters and stir in the prepared flour mixture with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula, just until moistened. The batter may still be grainy but no white pockets of flour should be visible. Fill the muffin-tin indentations three-quarters full. (If you have any empty indentations, fill them with water—I had one that was empty).

Bake until golden a toothpick inserted into one of the muffins comes out dry, about 14 to 16 minutes. Remove the muffins from the tin and cool on a rack.

Customize them! Stir 2/3 cup dried cranberries or other fruit, raisins, or semisweet chocolate chips in with the flour. Or add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon with the vanilla. (I added dried mixed berries--yummy!)