♥ PB&J Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars ♥

Do peanut butter and jam sandwiches bring back any childhood memories? PB&J, they are meant to be born together, just like Nutella & banana, I guess. I don't have a specific love for peanut butter, but when it comes with my favourite berries / jams, I do. That's why I convert this ordinary sandwiches into bars, and thanks for the inspiration last week when I saw someone brought a tub of peanut butter and jam in his bag for lunch -> LOL. 

These PB&J bars can be made 3 days ahead. Keep them in airtight container will do. Optionally, you can use peanut instead of cashew. Other kinds of jelly or preserves such as raspberry, cranberry or even blueberry can be substituted as well.

Make 16 squares

You'll need:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup Skippy peanut butter

1 egg, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup strawberry jam/jelly

2/3 cup coarsely chopped cashew nuts

How to make pb&j bars:

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line 8 x 8 x 2 inch square baking pan with parchment paper, set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Mix well. 
4. Add flour mixture, beat until just blended. Transfer 2/3 of the dough onto prepared pan and press evenly onto bottom of the pan with wet fingertips. Freeze the remaining 1/3 dough for 10 minutes.
5. Spread strawberry jam over in even layer. Remove dough from freezer, break into grape-size and scatter over jelly layer. Sprinkle chopped nuts.
6. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool bar completely in pan on rack and cut into 16 squares. 

With all my love <3

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