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These peanut butter and jelly cookies are soft cookie bar perfection. I vote that we all eat them for lunch today!
Hi, friends!
Gosh, it seems like it’s been awhile since we’ve chatted! If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you probably caught a glimpse of my latest travels!
The family and I went on our first trip to Europe – we sailed the British Isles with Princess Cruises and it was seriously just amazing. We were able to visit England, Guernsey, Ireland, Scotland, and France all in one trip. I love cruising and I’ll tell you more about it another day. In the meantime, feel free to go check out all of my photos on Instagram. So many pretty places.
Now that I’m home, I’m super excited to be back in the kitchen. It’s lovely to take a few weeks off, that is for sure. But the kitchen is my happy place and I’m feeling refreshed and inspired and ready to bake allllll the things.
These peanut butter and jelly cookies are seriously the best. This is an old Ina Garten recipe that used to be super popular. I thought it was high time we brought it back into the spotlight. These cookie bars are just heavenly. They’re so soft, full of peanut butter, loaded with jelly, and sure to be a hit with kids and adults alike.
I kind of think we should all eat them for lunch. What do you guys think?
Give my oatmeal bars and Christmas crunch bars a try too!
Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temperature 2 sticks
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups raspberry jam
- 2/3 cups salted peanuts coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper, grease and flour parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light yellow. Beat in vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter on low speed until everything is combined.
- In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.
- Spread half of the dough in the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread jam evenly over the top of the dough. Use your hands to make large balls of dough with the remaining half of dough, then flatten them out and place them over the jam. The dough will spread a bit in the oven, so it’s okay if there are bare spots. Sprinkle with the chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes.
- Cool completely before cutting into squares and serving.
Kelly Senyei @ Just a Taste says
Just lunch? I vote breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert! ๐
Looks like you had a great trip! And those Dublin doughnuts – YUM!
Karly says
Great idea! ๐
Jas @All that's Jas says
PB&J in a cookie?? I’m bringing my fork ๐ Sounds amazing!
Kelli @ Hungry Hobby says
Yummmmmmmmmm!!!!!!! PB and Jelly is the best combo EVER!
Jodi says
YUM!!! These are on my list to make. Hope you had an amazing trip Karly!
Karly says
Thank you – I did! ๐
Kimberly @ Berly's Kitchen says
Oh wow! These sound amazing! We love peanut butter and jelly, so these would be a great dessert to make. My son would have these eaten in a day.
Karly says
You’ll have to hide a few for yourself! ๐
Emma @ Lights, Camera, BAKE! says
Your travels sound incredible! Looks like an amazing time and experience :). These bars look amazing and I understand that feeling of loving a vacation but at the same time wanting to be back in the kitchen!
Karly says
It was such a great experience! ๐
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop says
Hooray for a vacation….and a cruise to Europe! Double Hooray! These bars look amazing! My kids would devour these in no time at all!
Nat says
Oh wow these look absolutely incredible! Will definitely be checking them out. And so excited to see your cruise pictures, sounds like a wonderful time! xo
Blair says
Oh my gosh, I remember this Ina Garten recipe! SO GOOD! I agree — it’s time to bring them back. ๐
And your trip sounds amazing! What a dream to cruise to all of those cool places.ย
Megan @ 3 Scoops of Sugar says
I will always love the PBJ combo and made into bars! Well, these are just genius! Your pictures from your trip looked like you sure had fun!
Jen says
I’m a big kid at heart when it comes to peanut butter and jelly! These bars look fantastic!!
Jessica Brandis says
Oh. My. I have a four year-old little girl who will be in love with these! What a great snack/dessert idea.
averie @ averie cooks says
PB & J is my love language! These look incredible!
Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen says
I don’t know if I can wait for lunch. ย There’s fruit so technically it’s a breakfast food, right? These look AWESOME! ย So glad you had such fun on your trip ๐
Ai @Ai made it for you says
Hi Karly! These look AMAZING! Your PB&J cookie bars look so soft and chewy…??