Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were one of my favourite snacks as a child, I'm sure many of you can relate. The amazing sweet and salty combination is just heavenly.

So when I came across this peanut butter bar recipe in Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa at Home cook book I had to try them, I have made the recipe a few times now so have added a few tweaks of my own.

These are really rich and decadent and will appeal to the inner child in you. Enjoy!

Ingredients

227g unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

425g creamy peanut butter (recommended: Skippy)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
425g raspberry jam or other jam
2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan and line it with parchment paper.

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, almond extract, 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 2/3 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.