
Last week, my daughter’s kindergarten class had an “ABC buffet” in celebration of finishing the letter of the week they have been doing most of the year. Each student had to bring in food starting with the letter they were assigned to. Parents and siblings were invited in to the classroom to enjoy the buffet. We got assigned the letter J. My daughter immediately thought of juice, but I couldn’t do something as boring or simple as that! I was flipping through some cookbooks for inspiration, when I saw this recipe. Bingo! I haven’t made these muffins in ages, so it was high-time to make them again. These were incredibly popular! I had forgotten how good these are. I doubled the recipe to make sure there were enough for everyone (and maybe a few extra to leave at home for us later). You can’t go wrong, a buttery, moist muffin that is filled with jelly of your choice, baked to perfection, then dipped in melted butter and rolled in sugar. Oh my gawd. I used jelly that I had canned last year. I filled half of them with blueberry lime and the other half with strawberry rhubarb. These are best the day they are made, but will last for several days in the refrigerator.

Recipe barely adapted from Cooking in the Moment by Kyra Alex

Jelly Filled Donut Muffins
Sweet muffins rolled in butter and sugar yield a donut-like muffin with a surprise jelly center. Use your favorite jam/jelly to make several different kinds of fabulous muffins!
Ingredients
For the muffins
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 5 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- your choice of jam or jelly
For the topping
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- granulated sugar (1-2 cups)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Grease or line a muffin pan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, milk, eggs and vanilla extract. Stir the butter mixture into the flour mixture, until completely combined, but still lumpy.
- Scoop half of the batter into the prepared muffin tin. Spoon 1-2 teaspoons of jelly over the batter in the muffin tin, then top with the remaining batter. If necessary, smooth the batter so it covers the jam.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 18-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs. Let cool for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, melt the 6 tablespoons of butter in a small bowl. Place 1 cup of sugar in another small bowl. Carefully removing the muffins one at a time, dip the tops in the melter butter, then in the sugar to coat the top. Place on a wire rack. Repeat with remaining muffins, adding more sugar to the bowl if needed. Serve.