Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars

Sometimes to get through the week, all you need is some peanut butter & jelly.

Or at least, that's what I used as therapy last night. No harm, and so much cheaper than a shrink!

Simple, sweet, yet still so decadent and mouth-wateringly fantastic.

These bars don't need much of an introduction, just take a peek and please, for the love of all that's holy in PB&J land, try them. It takes a stellar 15 minutes to whip them together, another 30 to bake, and about 18 seconds to devour.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup smooth/creamy peanut butter (all natural works best)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temp
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups favorite jam (grape, strawberry, take your pick!)
1/2 cup oats (instant work best)
Nonstick spray for pan

Begin by lining an 8x8x2 or 9x9x2 inch pan with tin foil or parchment paper, and spraying with non stick spray. Refrigerate while you make the batter. Preheat oven to 350F.

Batter: cream together the butter, peanut butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Beat in the egg until just combined. In a seperate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. You may need to use your hands towards the end, as the batter gets pretty thick/dough like and a hand mixer won't have the elbow grease.

Knead the dough into one big ball and split in half. Return one half of the mixture to your mixing bowl, and take the other half and press to the bottom of your greased/refrigerated pan with your hands to coat evenly. Meanwhile, take the second half in the mixing bowl and knead in the oats. Place back in bowl while add jam layer.

Jam layer: spread your favorite jam (at least 1 - 1 1/2 cups) evenly across the pressed peanut butter dough on the pan.

Top layer: take the peanut butter & oats dough and sprinkle across the top to make a crumble. Easily done by breaking off into quarter sized rings and placing along the top, coating the jam layer thoroughly.
Bake 30-35 minutes or until top layer is browned. Let cool thoroughly before removing and slicing.

Makes roughly 16-18 squares.

Slice, and store in air tight container in refrigerator, if desired.