Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookie Bars
I’ve talked ad nauseam about how much I absolutely adored peanut butter and jelly as a kid, so I won’t bore you with it again. However, I pretty much lived on the stuff as a kid, and I could totally do it as an adult. I make a good amount of desserts that include peanut butter, but not that many variations on actual peanut butter cookies, and definitely not many that include jelly. From my perspective, once you have a great peanut butter cookie recipe, there’s no reason to try to fix what isn’t broken. With an awesome soft peanut butter cookie and a crunchy peanut butter cookie, I was set.
However, what about cookie bars?! With old-school grape jelly? I thought it might be crazy, but ran with it anyway. Turns out that it was an awesome decision!
These cookie bars bake up soft and chewy and thin. If you’re after a thicker, more substantial bar, you could always choose to bake these in an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan, just be aware that you’ll need to increase the baking time. Since jelly can be a little clumpy, it helps to give it a good stir to smooth it out before dolloping it on top of the pan.
Once everything is said and done, you have what is essentially a cross between a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a peanut butter cookie bar. In other words, they are utterly fantastic, and if you’re a peanut butter lover, these will make your day! I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t sliced off a corner, then another little sliver, and then another, until an entire row had disappeared in one afternoon. Maybe you’ll have more willpower than me!
One year ago: Muddy Buddies [a.k.a. Puppy Chow]
Three years ago: How To Make a Rainbow Cake
Four years ago: Dutch Apple Pie
Six years ago: Chocolate Biscotti
Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1½ cups (181 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) salt
- ¾ cup (159 g) light brown sugar
- ¾ cup (202 g) creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup (99 g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (80 g) grape jelly, well-stirred
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan; set aside.
- In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until creamy and light. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Reduce speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until the flour is just incorporated.
- Turn out the mixture into the prepared pan and press into an even layer. Drop dollops of the grape jelly over the top and use a butter knife to gently swirl into the cookie dough. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, or until the center is set. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars and store at room temperature in an airtight container.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
I made this last night . They were so easy and yummy. Thanks for the recipe!
I love peanut butter and Jelly too! I often make baked goods with that flavor combo, but not bars like these … yet!
I made these for a colleague’s birthday celebration and they were a huge hit! Everyone agreed the recipe was a keeper :-)
We are having dinner with my daughter and future son-in-law tonight and I am going to make these(GF of course) Thanks for sharing the recipe :) Pinned :)
Peanut butter and jelly is just the ultimate sweet flavour combination ever.. craving one of these bars right now – they look so delicious!
I have a girls night tomorrow and the recipe came just in time for me to decide what snack I was going to bring. Hopefully my husband doesn’t finish them before tomorrow. We both agreed we could devour the whole pan!! I did use a bit more jelly and spread it over the top.
Oh my, that looks amazing. LOVE LOVE peanut butter and jelly and never get enough chances to eat it. Bookmarking to try soon.
Now that’s not fair. No really! You know that the peanut butter and jelly combo is irresistable to a foodie, so how could you do this to us? What am I supposed to do now, bite my laptop’s screen? ;) Fantastic recipe, well done!
My family would go nuts for these bars!
3 words – yum, thank you!
Michelle, do you use a pyrex dish for this or metal pan lined with parchment sling? If the latter, are you able to lift out with parchment so you don’t have to cut them in the pan?
I used a pyrex dish, but you could also use a metal pan – if you did so, then yes, I would use a parchment sling so you could lift them right out.
If it wasn’t for peanut butter and strawberry jam, my son would starve to death I think somedays. These look really yummy and I like grape jam, but I think I will go with the strawberry so my beyond picky eater will eat them. I also made your soft PB cookies and oh yum, I can make my own. They were delicious! Thanks!
Our family is famous for shaving off coffee cake (baked in a 13×9 pan) until entire rows are gone, and I can totally see why this recipe would fall victim to the same shaving! Looks delicious, and will be baked in my house pronto. :)
Could you use a “natural” style PB in this recipe? Also, family likes a crunchy PB, would that affect recipe? Thanks, can’t wait to make them.
Hi Karen, I have not tried using natural peanut butter. I always recommend if you do it in a baking recipe, then to use the no-stir kind that doesn’t have oil separation, otherwise it would be too oily. You could definitely use crunchy peanut butter if you’d like.
For a Christmas treat I am going to try these as the family love peanut butter. I have never seen grape jam (jelly) in the shops here but shall use Raspberry and Greengage jam. Thank you for a tasty looking recipie.
You can talk as much as you want to about PB & J! I promise I will not get bored. It’s the best topic ever!
And these bars look amazing. After school snack, here I come!
Girl you just made my favorite childhood food 1,000,000 times better. yum I jist want a full tray of these and se freshly brewed coffe. Yum! Thanks for sharing!!
Has anyone made this with salted butter. If
So did you leave the salt put?
The next way I will make all the peanut butter disappear…these bars. At least my husband will know where it went :)
hmmm gonna grab a spoon of PB right now…. lol
they look good
These look delicious! I’ll never outgrow peanut butter and jelly!