White Chocolate Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
I just recently discovered a brand of peanut butter that I have totally fallen in love with…Peanut Butter & Co. They have the most amazing flavors…ones I’ve tried are Dark Chocolate Dreams, Cinnamon Raisin Swirl and White Chocolate Wonderful. I like adding a heaping teaspoon of these delicious flavors into a bowl of plain lowfat yogurt for dessert…mmmm. So good.
When I decided to make these bars today I had all the ingredients in the pantry…as far as peanut butter though, all I had was the White Chocolate Wonderful. This peanut butter isn’t the most inexpensive peanut butter so I cringed a little using up the whole jar for the recipe (actually 2 oz. less than the recipe called for), but I figured it would make the bars that much better.
I thought the bars turned out good…crumbly and buttery, but they held their shape well. My only complaint was that I thought there should have been more jam than what the recipe asked for. Next time I will just eye ball it and make sure to spread a nice thick layer of jam on them. Also, I think my pan might have been too small…my bars came out kind of thick, but that’s not really a bad thing.
If you are a PB&J lover, bake up a batch of these bars and grab a glass of milk…
(I’m loving my new Martha Stewart Collection plates from Macy’s…)
White Chocolate Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 cups (18 ounces) creamy peanut butter (I used Peanut Butter & Co. White Chocolate Wonderful)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups (18 ounces) raspberry jam or other jam (I used strawberry)
- 2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped (I totally forgot to add these!)
Directions:
- 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 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.
Recipe by Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa at Home
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