Peanut Butter Muffins

These easy peanut butter muffins have a delicious peanut butter flavor, moist texture, and are filled with chocolate chips. Make them for breakfast or a snack – they’re the perfect way to get your peanut butter fix. 

**This post was updated September 13, 2023 with new photos and a slightly updated recipe for more tender muffins**

Peanut butter is such a staple breakfast food. But have you ever made peanut butter muffins? These delicious peanut butter morsels have the perfect peanut butter flavor, aren’t too sweet, and are moist and tender. They’re filled with melty chocolate chips and pair perfectly with the salty sweet flavor of the peanut butter. The chocolate chips are optional, but also necessary (if you ask me).

Because as much as I love peanut butter on toast – sometimes you need to up the ante with your peanut butter 🙂 Note – these are not meant to be healthy peanut butter muffins (I’ve got this recipe for you if that’s what you’re looking for). These are big, moist, chocolate chip filled peanut butter muffins.

Peanut Butter Muffin Recipe

To be totally honest – developing this peanut butter muffin recipe was a little tricky. Too often in my recipe testing the muffins either turned out way too dry or slightly oily. Or somehow, some variations managed to be both dry and oily at the same time.

I’m going to take you through each recipe step to show you exactly what to do.

1. Start by preheating the oven to 375F (190C) and line your muffin pan with muffin papers. Alternatively, you could grease and flour a muffin tin. However, I prefer to line the pan because it ensures that the muffins lift out easily.
2. First, whisk together the dry ingredients: 1 ¾ cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt. You’ll set this aside for later.
3. In a separate large bowl, whisk together: ½ cup oil, ¾ cup brown sugar, and ¾ cup smooth peanut butter until no lumps of sugar or peanut butter remain. I recommend warming up the peanut butter in the microwave beforehand – about 30 seconds on medium power. This helps it whisk together much more easily.
4. Then whisk in 2 eggs, 1 cup buttermilk and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract into the oil mixture. Using buttermilk makes the muffins more tender, however, I’ve included a substitution in the recipe notes below if needed.
5. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the middle. Then gently fold the ingredients together. If you find that there are lots of lumps of flour, you can do a few whisks by hand using a wire whisk. DO NOT use an electric mixer – this will lead to overmixing, which can create tough muffins.
6. When the ingredients look almost combined, fold in the the chocolate chips. I typically fold in about ¾ cup, an save the remaining for sprinkling on top of each muffin before placing the tray in the oven to bake. This means that all the chocolate chips won’t just fall to the bottom of each muffin.
7. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan filling each muffin paper about ¾ full.  You will end up with about 12 to 14 muffins in total.
8. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean (minus any melted chocolate chips).

Baking Tips & Tricks for Moist & Tender Muffins

• Measure the flour carefully. Whisk it first, then spoon into a dry measuring cup and level off the top. Alternatively, using a scale and measuring in grams will give you the most accurate results. Too much flour and the muffins get dry quickly.
• I do not recommend using natural or homemade peanut butter. Sometimes it’s too oily, other times there’s not enough oil.
• The brown sugar not only adds flavor, but also more moisture. For a sweeter muffin, use 1 cup of brown sugar instead of ¾ cup.
• Do not over mix the batter. Too much mixing causes muffins to get tough.
• Bake times can vary, so watch your oven carefully.
• Muffins are best if enjoyed the same day you bake them (preferably almost right after they come out of the oven).

Love peanut butter? Try these other favorites:

• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Peanut Butter Cupcakes
• Peanut Butter Blondies
• Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Peanut Butter Muffins

These easy peanut butter muffins have a delicious peanut butter flavor, moist texture, and are filled with chocolate chips. Make them for breakfast or a snack - they're the perfect way to get your peanut butter fix. 

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time18 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins, Peanut Butter Muffins

Servings: 12 muffins

Calories: 397kcal

Author: Fiona Dowling

Equipment

• 12-cavity muffin pan

Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (219 grams)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup vegetable oil (120 ml) or canola
• ¾ cup light brown sugar (158 grams)
• ¾ cup peanut butter do not use natural
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk (240 ml) room temperature
• 1 cup chocolate chips (180 grams)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375F (190C) degrees. Line a regular-sized muffin pan with muffin papers (you'll end up with 12-14 muffins total).
• In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• In a separate large bowl whisk together the oil, brown sugar and peanut butter. I recommend warming up the peanut butter for 30 seconds on medium power in the microwave first.
• Whisk the eggs, vanilla and buttermilk into the oil mixture until smooth.
• Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the bowl. Gently fold the mixture together. If there are lots of lumps of flour, whisk by hand using a wire whisk to remove the lumps.
• Gently fold in about ¾ cup chocolate chips (save the remaining ¼ cup for later).
• Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each about ¾ full (you'll end up with 12-14 muffins total). Add a few extra chocolate chips to the top of each unbaked muffin.
• Bake for 16-18 minutes in the middle of the preheated oven, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean (except for the melted chocolate chips). 
• Cool muffins in the pan for about 10 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.

Notes

1. Flour: Measuring the flour incorrectly can result in dry muffins. Whisk the flour carefully, then spoon into a dry measuring cup and level off the top. Or weigh using a kitchen scale.
2. Light Brown Sugar: If you only have dark brown sugar, use ½ cup brown sugar and ¼ cup granulated sugar. 
3. Peanut Butter: Be sure to use commercially prepared, smooth peanut butter. Do not use anything where the oil sits on top - this can lead to inconsistent results because the amount of oil added will differ. Crunchy peanut butter can be used - but I recommend adding 2 extra tablespoons of peanut butter.
4. Storage: Muffins are best enjoyed the same day that they're made. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Baked and cooled muffins can be frozen for up to 2 months.
5. Nutrition: Details provided are an estimate only and based on 1 muffin, assuming the recipe yields 12 uniform muffins. I typically get a total of 14 muffins with this recipe. 

Nutrition

Calories: 397kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 166mg | Potassium: 236mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 112IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 96mg | Iron: 2mg