My little sister has always loved peanut butter and jelly. I, however, don't eat it. I didn't when I was little and still won't. I don't like the combination of flavors, nor do I enjoy how sticky and squishy it is. However, these I will actually eat! They're a bit addicting, even though they are very dense. I would suggest keeping 1/2 for your family and giving the rest to another family. Share the love!
Recipe: Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
Makes: ~ 36 bars
Recipe originated from: Martha Stewart Cookies ( http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/peanut-butter-and-jelly-bars )
Compliments: A tall glass of milk! And a napkin, because they are pretty messy.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups strawberry jam, or other flavor
- 2/3 cup salted peanuts, roughly chopped
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan with butter, and line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease the parchment, and coat inside of pan with flour; set aside. Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. On medium speed, add eggs and peanut butter; beat until combined, about 2 minutes.
2. Whisk together salt, baking powder, and flour. Add to bowl of mixer on low speed; combine. Add vanilla. Transfer two-thirds of mixture to prepared pan; spread evenly with offset spatula. Using offset spatula, spread jam on top of peanut-butter mixture. Dollop remaining third of peanut-butter mixture on top of jam. Sprinkle with peanuts.
3. Bake until golden, about 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool; cut into about thirty-six 1 1/2-by-2-inch pieces.
Now, I used raspberry jelly, but you could use any kind! It took me about 10 minutes standing in front of all the jellies at the store to decide, too. I just love raspberry flavor, so I decided it would mean I might actually eat these. It worked! It's salty and sweet and oh so good. Now, I will say the 'dough' is actually pretty crumbly, so you can't really spread it when you put the last bit on top of the jelly. I ended up flattening pieces out and laying them on top. It's also very crumbly. Careful when feeding to small children- you will have a mess on your hands. However, its a cute idea when you need to bring a dessert to like a picnic. So here is a quick tip that I learned from school- if using the 'creaming method' (aka cream together the butter and sugar) go ahead and throw the vanilla in. It wont hurt the mixture, and you're using Mise en Place (Remember? Everything in it's place!) you can put the vanilla up at the very beginning and don't even have to worry about it! So try these- they're great for the summer. Kind of a cheeky rendition of a child's favorite.
Abby xx
