Peanut Butter Jelly Bars

Two nights ago I made Peanut Butter Jelly Bars from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook. (Now that I have four of her cookbooks, I can't believe I actually remember where most recipes are, but I do.)

When I first read this recipe, I thought it sounded kind of weird. I didn't really like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all that much growing up, and I wasn't sure what the baking would do to the jelly. But for some reason I decided to try it anyway, and wow. It was awesome. (I have made this recipe a few times before; this is just the first time I'm blogging it.)

I use raspberry jam for the filling, but you could use any flavor of jam. The dough is made from flour, butter, salt, vanilla, baking powder, and a full jar of peanut butter. The dough is fantastic, of course - but let's not kid ourselves, with over a pound of peanut butter and two sticks of butter, this is one of the fattiest recipes I make.

But it is so good...


Seriously, I don't know how Ina's recipes all turn out exactly like the pictures in her cookbook, but they do. (These actually look better in person - I'm not sure my photo does them justice.)

This recipe makes a lot - and as I said, they are very heavy. In fact, they are so heavy that I can have difficulty lifting the pan before and after baking. The thing probably weighs almost 8 pounds in a 9 x 13 baking pan.

Given that they make more than one person's arteries should ever endure in a single sitting, I split up the recipe and gave it to three separate individuals. One, a coworker who had done me a favor; two, a friend who had a barbecue last night; and three, a friend who's pregnant and is too tired to bake for herself right now.

I'm looking forward to a family food fest on Sunday for Easter; my family doesn't do anything religious, we just apply the successful holiday formula - eat and hang out - and we always have a good time. I got a Paas Easter egg kit and I'm going to make those for decoration. I'll also probably make some deviled eggs and guacamole. I haven't made the Paas eggs in years, so I'm really excited! (Obviously I will post pictures...)