3 | 52 Peanut Butter & Jam Bars

Peanut butter and jam. A match made in culinary heaven.

I don't even know what else to say. PB&J doesn't need many words, I think.

Make these PB&J bars at your own risk: the amount of peanut butter in these is insane.

Insane.

Peanut Butter & Jam Bars

From Ina Garden (via julie's eats and treats)

227 g (1 cup) butter, at room temperature

300 g (1 1/2 cups) sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs, at room temperature

450 g (2 cups) creamy peanut butter

380 g (3 cups) flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

325 g (1 1/2 cups) jam (of your choice)

85 g (2/3 cup) salted peanuts, coarsely chopped (optional)

• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 33x22 cm / 13x9 inch baking pan with parchment paper. 
• Mix together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
• Add eggs, vanilla and peanut butter and mix until combined. 
• Add flour and baking powder and mix until all is well combined. 
• Spread 2/3 of the dough onto the bottom of the pan. Spread jam on top of it. Drop the remaining dough over the jam with a teaspoon. 
• Bake for about 25-30 minutes until the edges start to brown. Remove from oven and let cool. 

My modifications:

As I already said above, the amount of peanut butter in these is insane. I noticed this because one entire jar (at least the standard small size you can buy in Europe) was not enough... Thankfully, I had another big (American size) jar in the pantry. It was the crunchy kind but that was totally fine. In the end, I think I used 2/3 creamy PB and 1/3 crunchy PB.

I would definitely make it like this again to add a little texture/crunch without having to worry about chopping those optional peanuts...

And I used raspberry jam (my favorite with PB - next to apple jelly).

The taste:

Well. It's the full load of PB&J. Actually, more of PB. One bar easily replaces an entire meal. But that's okay. It's PB&J, after all.

Which flavor combination do you find unbeatable? 

Which combo do you despise and why?