Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Love a classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Now you can enjoy your favorite flavors in dessert form! These Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars are soft and chewy. The base peanut butter crust is topped with jam and chopped peanuts and then more peanut butter crust. Perfect dessert, bake sale treat, potluck dessert or after school snack.

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I’m not gonna lie – when I first thought about peanut butter and jelly together in a dessert I wasn’t too excited. I love it for sandwiches, but a dessert? Let’s just say I wasn’t convinced. Well, I was wrong to ever doubt because these peanut butter and jelly bars are amazing. If you love PB&J sandwiches you will love these bars!

I absolutely love fruit bars like strawberry pie bars and apple caramel bars and so it makes total sense to use jam! I mean, it’s made of fruit, right? So, you get all the fruit flavor but you don’t have the hassle of prepping the fruit yourself. In other words, jam is a perfect shortcut. Add a soft and chewy peanut butter cookie base and you end up with that classic combination of flavors served up as a sweet treat.

My kiddos love these as a snack and they’re also great for potlucks or bake sales. This recipe makes a big batch so there’s plenty to share! If you’re looking for a fun and easy dessert you have to give these a try!

Ingredients Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Most of the ingredients you need are pantry staples that are already in your house.

You can use any flavor of jelly you want and this is a fun way to mix it up!

If you love chunky peanut butter it’s fun to add the chopped peanuts, but if you’d rather leave them out that’s fine too!

How to Make Them!

The base of the dessert bars is like a giant peanut butter cookie – soft, chewy and so good! Plus, you only need one bowl to make the dough.

• Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla and mix until combined.
• Add the flour and baking powder and mix until the dough comes together and is well combined.

• Spread 2/3 of the dough in a prepared 9×13 baking dish (the rest of the dough will be the topping!
• Spread the jam over the top of the dough. If you want to go classic use grape jam but any flavor will work! When you spread it over the dough, leave about 1/2″ around the edge plain.
• Sprinkle the chopped peanuts over the top of the jelly and then drop the rest of the dough by the teaspoon over the top.
• Bake the bars for 25 to 30 minutes or until the edges start to brown. Cool the bars in the pan and dust them with powdered sugar before slicing.

Get out the PB&J – you’re going to want to give these a try.

Storage

You can store the bars in an airtight container and they’ll keep well at room temperature for three to four days. If they last that long – they never do when I make them!

More Desserts to Try!

Want more recipes? Here are a few more I love to make:

• If you want an easy snack cake, my chocolate zucchini cake is dense, tender and loaded with chocolate chips. You can’t taste the zucchini – it just gives the cake a lot of moisture!
• Classic scotcharoos are our FAVORITE no-bake treat! This is the recipe that my Mom made for us growing up and it is the BEST scotcheroos recipe ever.
• For a really easy dessert, you have to try my cinnamon roll peach cobbler – it’s perfect for summer!
• Carmelitas are ooey-gooey dessert bars that are easy to make!

Try it and love it? Rate it, please!!!? Seriously though a five-star rating below will make my day! If you snap a photo, please be sure to tag me on Instagram at @julieseatsandtreats or #julieseatsandtreats so I can see your yummy treat!!

Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure tag me on Instagram at @julieseatsandtreats or #julieseatsandtreats so I can see your yummy treat!

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5 from 20 votes

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Enjoy your favorite peanut butter and jelly sandwich flavors in a soft chewy dessert bar.

Prep:15 minutes mins

Cook:30 minutes mins

Total:45 minutes mins

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Ingredients

• ▢ 1 c. butter at room temperature
• ▢ 1 1/2 c. sugar
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla
• ▢ 2 large eggs at room temperature
• ▢ 2 c. creamy peanut butter
• ▢ 3 c. all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 tsp baking powder
• ▢ 1 1/2 c. jam of your choosing
• ▢ 2/3 C salted peanuts coarsely chopped, optional
• ▢ Confectioners' sugar for dusting

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Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13x9 inch baking pan.
• Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, vanilla and peanut butter. Mix until combined.
• Add flour and baking powder. Mix until well combined.
• Spread 2/3 of the batter mixture onto the bottom of the pan. Spread jam over the batter and sprinkle with chopped peanuts. Leave about 1/2 inch around the sides without jam. Drop the remaining dough over the jam, in about teaspoon size drops.
• Bake for about 25-30 minutes until the edges start to brown. Remove from from oven.

Tips

• You can use any flavor of jelly you want and this is a fun way to mix it up!
• If you love chunky peanut butter it's fun to add the chopped peanuts, but if you'd rather leave them out that's fine too!
• You can store the bars in an airtight container and they'll keep well at room temperature for three to four days. 

Video

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1, Calories: 506kcal (25%), Carbohydrates: 63g (21%), Protein: 12g (24%), Fat: 25g (38%), Saturated Fat: 9g (56%), Cholesterol: 42mg (14%), Sodium: 227mg (10%), Potassium: 277mg (8%), Fiber: 3g (13%), Sugar: 29g (32%), Vitamin A: 319IU (6%), Vitamin C: 2mg (2%), Calcium: 40mg (4%), Iron: 2mg (11%)

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We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box is calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.