Peanut Butter and Jelly Lava Cakes
Peanut butter lovers, rejoice! Behold the ultimate peanut butter dessert: peanut butter and jelly lava cakes! Warm, creamy, and gooey liquid center fondants atop a concord grape sauce. Easy recipe, no mixer required, just 15 minutes to pb nirvana.
When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. Right?
This is one of those times.
Why is it that recipe fails only seem to happen when you’re up against like a gazillion crazy deadlines, btw?
And ps- why is it that when you have a gazillion crazy deadlines, the kids have no school? Again? My kids haven’t had a full week of school in what feels like months. Last week I lost 2 “work” days to parent/teacher conferences, and this week I lost two more to teacher in-service days. How is a sane person supposed to get 40 hours worth of work done in 7 1/2 hours?
Anyhow, back to the subject at hand. I was planning to make you guys Guinness soft pretzels with dark chocolate and vanilla salt today. And they were going to be in the shape of Celtic knots. I know. When I tell you I had been planning this for almost a year, it’s the God’s honest truth. My heart almost broke when they ended up tasting like dog s**t. Maybe I can take another crack at it at some point, and end up with a better result, but I doubt it can happen before St. Patty’s day this year :/
So, obviously I had to think pretty fast if I was gonna have another post for ya this week.
That week that I took off last month? It all kicked off when I tried to make fluffernutter lava cakes, and I Could. Not. Make. Them. Work. I was stuffing them with marshmallows like I saw Jocelyn do with her s’mores lava cakes. The cake was coming out fabulous, but the marshmallow was just melting into nothingness. After three tries I finally gave up (I guess peanut butter and marshmallow just don’t work together, in this instance), but after yesterday’s flop I figured why not rework them? They were still awfully tasty and it’d be a shame not to share.
I always liked PB&J better than fluffernutter anyway!
The peanut butter lava cake is seriously out of control. A little sweet, a little salty, and uber creamy and peanutty. If you are a peanut butter lover, seriously. You’ve got to try this. You’re gonna freak!
And they are super quick and easy to whip up. No frosting necessary. You don’t even need a mixer. Just a bowl and a whisk. Fifteen minutes to bake, and you’re in peanut butter nirvana.
The sauce is nothing more than a few tablespoons of grape jam. (If you cast a vote on my informal Facebook PB&J poll, thank you! The results were nearly unanimous. Grape wins! Better luck next time, strawberry.) I really like the way jam works for this, as opposed to jelly, because all you need to do is stir it with a spoon and it’s the perfect consistency for a shortcut sauce. Just puddle a little on a plate and invert your peanut butter lava cake right on top. Dress it up with a little dusting of powdered sugar, and you’re golden.
Oooh, look how gooey!
I’m telling you, peanut butter lovers, you’re going to thank me! This has got to be the ultimate peanut butter dessert!
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Peanut Butter and Jelly Lava Cakes
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (86 g) creamy peanut butter
- 4 tablespoons (59.15 g) unsalted butter,, melted
- 3/4 cup (90 g) powdered sugar
- 2 eggs, (large)
- 1 egg yolk, (large)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (31.25 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons grape jam
- additional powdered sugar, , for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease (2) 6-ounce ramekins with non-stick spray.
- Place peanut butter and melted butter in a bowl and stir together until smooth.
- Mix in the powdered sugar.
- Add the eggs, yolk, and vanilla, mixing to incorporate.
- Sprinkle in the flour and salt and stir until smooth.
- Divide the batter equally between the prepared ramekins.
- Bake for 16 minutes.
- Cool for 10 minutes and then run the blade of a thin knife around the edge of each ramekin to loosen.
- Stir the jam to loosen it up. Spoon it in the center of each serving plate, and invert the lava cakes on top.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar (for garnish), and serve.
Ohmahgaaaaaawd Allie! My mouth dropped open and I began drooling like crazy when I saw this photo on G+ yesterday. You’re brilliant and amazing! I’ve never heard of a peanut butter lava cake and it’s simply glorious! I’m sorry to hear about the guinness pretzel. It sounds delicious. I hate when all the planning and anticipation and the time/labour/ingredients go to waste. I’m sure you’re gonna make it work someday. I hope those kids get back to school soon and give you some free time 😉
Me too, girl! After this post went live they both came down with a tummy bug. Gah! I’m just waiting on pins and needles for it to hit me now. I hope I can bypass it somehow! But thank you so much for all the kind words! I do hope I can work out that Guinness pretzel at some point. I thought it was a great concept and I’m totally kicking myself for not testing it sooner. Live and learn I guess!
It’s the worst thing when recipes don’t turn out as one wishes AND you’re short on time ughhh. Sorry to hear you had such an stressful week, darling – I hope you get to relax soon.
These lava cakes look brilliant and the pb + jelly combo is fantastic, so I’m sure they are delicious! xx
Thank you Consuelo! I was a bit frazzled when I wrote this post but luckily everything fell into place. I’m doing much better now! Thanks for being such a sweetie <3
Peanut butter nirvana is right! These babies wouldn’t last an hour in our house. Pinned!
Thanks Melanie! They went pretty quick around here too, which is saying a lot for this house! My family’s spoiled rotten for desserts and they hardly ever finish anything. 😉
I’m just a peanut butter and jelly fanatic. I LOVE this idea, it’s so creative. That oozing peanut butter is calling me…
Ha ha, thank you Jessica! I know, I just can’t quit pb&j! The salty/sweet combo is so good and it always takes me right back to my childhood. 😀
My goodness, this is genius! I love the idea of a lava cake, but I’ve only ever had chocolate versions. I’m sorry your Guinness pretzels and s’mores lavas didn’t work out, but we got this marvellous creation this week instead!
Thanks Helen! You know, I think when all’s said and done, the PB&J was way better anyway! Hope you’re enjoying your weekend 😀
Oh my gosh these cakes look so darn good! Seriously, PB and jelly in the form of a lava cake?? Pure genius. I just love all of the gooey peanut butter oozing out. Pinned. 😀
Yeah, I know, right? Warm peanut butter goodness, so comforting! Thanks Sarah, for always being so sweet and supportive!
I cannot get over how amazing these looks! This is such a good idea! Who doesn’t love peanut butter and jelly? The little kids I nanny for will go bananas over these!
Awesome, thank you Ally! Ya, these were really good. Like I said, I made them 4 times total and they all got devoured. That doesn’t happen too often, with all the sweets we always have lying around here! Thanks so much for the sweet comment, dear!
How unique! I love every variation of a lava cake, they’re always awesome!
So true, Meriem! You just can’t go wrong with warm gooey cake. It doesn’t get much better!
I haven’t been this excited about a dessert in a long time! What a great idea! Chocolate lava cake is one of my favorites, I can’t believe I have never thought about a peanut butter lava cake! Can’t wait to try your recipe!
I know, I love chocolate lava cake! Right??? Honestly I have to say, the peanut butter version might even be better. Is that blasphemy? 😉
Although I am so psyched at the mere idea of these, the fluffernutter cakes sound amazing too! I would love the recipe if you ever end up getting them to work. Did you try freezing the marshmallows? If they are frozen when they go into the oven, it will take them longer to get to their melting/incineration point, so they miiiiight just stay in tact. But seriously, these look absolutely phenomenal and the concept is so fun! You *will* get the hang of those pretzels and it’s going to be so exciting to see how they turn out.
Nora, you are so stinkin’ smart! I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. I should have talked to you! <3
Ahhh this is why you posted that question on your Facebook page 😉 Awesome, Allie!! Who doesn’t love pb& j and lava cake? Never have never heard of fluffernutter? Also, even though I don’t have kids it seems when you have a ton of stuff to get done, something gets in the way :/ but I always tell myself that everything always falls into place so no need to stress! I’m sure your st pattys day special pretzels will taste wonderful if you keep working on them 😉 Have a lovely evening!
Thank you so much, Kelly! Hopefully I’ll nail those pretzels at some point, and you are right, everything falls into place! Sometimes it’s just hard to imagine how it possibly can- and then it just does 😉 So, I feel like I have to tell you all about fluffernutter now! It’s a peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwich! I was never allowed to have them for lunch as a kid, but I remember a lot of my classmates eating them. More like dessert, if you ask me. Anyhow, thanks for reading and for the super sweet comment! Hope you’re having a fun weekend 😉
I just want to lick out that filling, how dreamy and peanutty! Yumm!
There’s only one thing better than peanut butter, and that’s warm and gooey peanut butter! Thanks so much for the sweet comment, Laura!
Oh my this looks scrumptious! pinning!
Oh, ya, these are super yummy, Nora! I hope you give them a try. Thanks for pinning!
Oh my gosh!! These are so beautifu;. Justin will love and devour these. Will be making them for sure 🙂
I was actually thinking of Justin while I was making them, lol! I hope he enjoys 😉
I’m a peanut butter lover, so this is me thanking you!!! I’ve already had peanut butter English muffin for breakfast and and peanut butter sandwich for lunch…so this makes the perfect dessert right?!
Hi, I’m Rachel and yeah, I’m a PB addict.
Ha you sound just like me! Love it and you should definitely make it a hat trick 😉
These look so fun! Definitely for those days when I just crave PB! Pinned!
They are perfect for a PB craving, Anna, especially because they’re so quick and easy to whip up. Thanks for stopping by!