Back-to-School PB&J Bars

What’s your favorite school memory? Chances are the iconic peanut butter and jelly sandwich makes it on your top ten list of school memories. I remember squishy white bread with grape jelly and a smear of Peter Pan all wrapped in a paper towel and tucked neatly in my tin lunch box. I can still taste and feel that first bite – you know, the one that always stuck to the roof of your mouth.

If I were better at math I would attempt to count the number of school lunches I’ll end up making for the Littles over the span of the twenty-three years they will be in school. My highly honed algebraic skills tell me it’s a bread-load of sandwiches. But as we all know, man cannot live by bread alone. When I found this twist on the PB&J in this month’s issue of Real Simple magazine, I knew it would be our back-to-school treat. Anna helped me whip up two batches of these delicious bars this weekend – one for a church back-to-school gathering and one for our own school lunches this week.

Judging from the sticky fingers and smudges of raspberry jelly I’m finding, these bars are a destined to be almost as classic as the original.

Happy Back-to-School Week!

Back-to-School PB&J Bars

Print Recipe

A delicious twist on the iconic back-to-school peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

• Author: adapted from Real Simple Magazine
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 16 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup raspberry jelly
• 1/2 cup fresh raspberries
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Line an 8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add the egg and vanilla, continue mixing until well combined. Add the peanut butter and continue mixing. Slowly add the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until just combined. Dough will be thick and crumbly.
3. Press 3/4 of the dough into the parchment lined pan.
4. In a small bowl, combine the raspberries and the jelly. Spread the mixture evenly over the dough.
5. Drop the remaining dough in clumps over the jelly mixture.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 – 40 minutes until the top is golden brown.