Sunday, October 17, 2010

Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars



I haven't had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a long time. I remember back in grade school when the thing to eat was a pb&j sandwich for lunch. I've been craving for some peanut buttery goodness lately and I remembered that I had bookmarked this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Beantown Baker. I had some leftover Strawberry Jam that I made and LOTS of peanut butter. So I decided to try to make this. And boy did this hit the spot. It sure brings back memories of days eating lunch at the school yard.

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs, at room temperature
2 cups creamy peanut butter
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups (18 oz) jam
2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease a 9x13 inch pan. Line it with parchment paper, then grease and flour the pan. Set aside.

2) In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3) In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. Turn mixer down to low speed and add vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter. Mix until ingredients are combined. Slowly add flour mixture into peanut butter mixture and mix until well combined.

4) Spread 2/3 of the dough evenly into prepared pan. Spread jam evenly on top of the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly on top of jam. Sprinkle the top with the chopped peanuts. Bake for 45 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

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