I’m very particular about peanut butter. Offer me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on honey whole wheat bread and I’ll be unreasonably happy, but offer me a peanut cookie or slice of cake with peanut butter frosting and I’ll be less inclined to accept.
I can never tell if I’ll like a particular peanut butter dessert, so I usually just make recipes and hope I like them.
The other day I stumbled upon this recipe for peanut butter oatmeal bars while looking for a recipe to make for friends. They looked delicious so I decided to make them, figuring that if I didn’t like them others would.
I didn’t have any Reece’s and planned to add chocolate chips instead, but halfway through making the bars I remembered seeing a recipe for peanut butter jelly bars, and decided that, yes, that was what I needed in my life.
I was right.
These bars are intensely good. The peanut butter flavor is subtle but still evident, and the jelly adds a delightful gooeyness. They’re soft and buttery and fragrant. Yum.
If you’re looking for a fun recipe to try, I would definitely make these bars (now, optimally). If you’re gluten free or vegan, I’ll post a similar recipe that you can enjoy soon!
Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars
Recipe adapted from here.
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temp
- 2 cups light brown sugar
- ½ cup peanut butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbs vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 2 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup peanut butter baking chips
- strawberry jelly or jam
- Cream together the butter and brown sugar.
- Mix in the peanut butter.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating the mixture until smooth.
- Stir in the vanilla.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, salt, and peanut butter baking chips.
- Fold in the wet ingredients until no flour streaks remain.
- Pat 2/3 of the dough into a greased 9×13 inch pan.
- Spread a layer of strawberry jelly or jam over the dough, using however much desired. (I added just enough so the bottom was completely covered.)
- Add the remaining dough to the top of the jam in small chunks.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until golden the top is light to medium golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the bars comes out clean.
Chomps of Life 