Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Oh. My. Stars. (I feel like Ruthy when I say that! :))When I got this in my in-box from Martha Stewart Cookie of the Day, I about flipped. This looks so yummy, and I just had to share!


Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
from MarthaStewart.com

  • YieldMakes 12


  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 jar (12 ounces) grape jelly
  • 3/4 cup chopped roasted salted peanuts
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush a 9-inch square baking pan with butter and line with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Butter parchment.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. With a pastry cutter or your hands, work in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. Add egg and vanilla extract; stir until dough just comes together. Set aside 1 cup dough and firmly press remaining dough into pan in an even layer. Using a small offset spatula, spread grape jelly over top.
  3. Combine reserved dough, peanuts, and peanut butter chips; crumble over jam layer. Bake until topping is deep golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Run a sharp knife around edges, then, using parchment, lift cake from pan and cut into 12 squares.

Cook's Note

Store in an airtight container, up to 1 week.

9 comments:

  1. Sounds delicious, Missy. My oldest just baked PB and J cupcakes for her friend's birthday and they were a huge hit. Peanut butter cupcakes with jelly injected into each cupcake then frosted with a chunky peanut butter icing.

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  2. Wow, Mary, those sound amazing!

    I wanted to make this recipe so badly this past week but was already almost out of butter. I guess I've been baking too much lately!

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  3. Love PB&J. Wonder whether the base might be too slow, too much like cake. But they look delicious.

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  4. Patricia, I hope it's heavier, like a bar, not cakey. I'll let you know! My daughter is dying to make these, but I'm down to my last stick of butter. :)

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  5. Oh, gals, I recognize this crust. Missy, it is a cookie type crust, not cake, and the egg just helps it to hold together better for slicing. We use this for...

    Get ready...

    Wait for it...

    Wait....

    "Life Ladies of the Morton Baptist Church Scrumptious Bars"...

    Yes, you read that right, when I was given the recipe, that's what it was called. And it's a thick chocolate/cheesecake topping, very fudgy with this cookie base.

    And I use this base for "Toffee Bars" and it works perfectly. I've never tried it with the PB&J theme, but this is like the GOLDEN example of how you don't have to be smart to cook a lot of stuff, you just find a good recipe and adapt it to like, 100 different things.

    Love this, Missy!

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  6. OOOOOH! I had breakfast before stopping by, and it's a good thing I did!

    The PB&J bars had my mouth watering, and then Ruthy goes and throws in the chocolate/cheesecake and toffee bar variations for a triple whammy.

    I'm saving the cookie baking for December - but I can tell this basic recipe with variations is going to be my new recipe to try out this year.

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  7. And no, I did NOT have breakfast at 12:30 PM as my comment time would lead you to believe! I live in the west, and it's still morning here :)

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  8. LOL, Jan. I'm so glad you're not a slacker after all! :)

    Ruthy, I am totally cracking up at that recipe name. But it sounds amazing!

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  9. Isn't that name a hoot? And I filed it that way so I would never forget the good Life Ladies of the Morton Baptist Church...

    As if!

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