Okay, so peanut butter & jelly has nothing to do with the holidays. I know this but ever since the Barefoot Bloggers flooded the blog world with posts about these bars last month, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them.
These guys are awesome. Imagine taking 2 of those old fashioned criss-cross peanut butter cookies (but a little bit softer) and smooshing them together with some jelly. That’s exactly what these are!
My only suggestion is to use real fruit preserves or something that isn’t as sugary sweet as the Smuckers stuff.
Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars
- ½ pound 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 extra-large eggs (at room temperature)
- 2 cups 18 ounces creamy peanut butter
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups 18 ounces raspberry jam or other jam
- ⅔ cups salted peanuts (coarsely chopped)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan. Line it with parchment paper, then grease and flour the pan.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until all ingredients are combined.
- In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.
- Spread ⅔ of the dough into the prepared cake pan and spread over the bottom with a knife or offset spatula. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Don’t worry if all the jam isn’t covered; it will spread in the oven. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and cut into squares.
Sheila Blais says
I have made these and they are so good. Been a long time since I thought about them. This is a good reminder that I might need to make them for Christmas. I love the “barefoot lady”.