Grandma’s Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
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The classic flavors of grandma’s peanut butter and jelly bars will be a hit with the kids and have you reminiscing your childhood.
Like old-fashioned peanut butter cookies, no bake peanut butter bars, and chocolate chip cookie bars with peanut butter, these bars would be a perfect treat for back-to-school season or as an after-school snack any time of year.
Dreaming of Childhood Treats
I couldn’t tell you why, but for some reason these delicious peanut butter and jelly bars with peanut butter chips popped into my mind this week.
Although I hadn’t had the bars since I was a child, I couldn’t get them out of my mind.
I didn’t want the bars — I had to have them.
The problem was, I couldn’t remember grandma making them in at least 15 years.
Would she even still remember the recipe?
Grandma Came Through
Because she is the most awesome person in the history of ever, Grandma not only remembered the recipe, but she even text me a photo of the recipe card from her recipe box.
Grandma is the best.
After I made a special trip to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients for the bars, I set out to make them for myself for the first time.
As I placed the baking dish in the oven, I couldn’t help but get a little bit anxious.
Would my bars live up to Grandmas? Would they taste as good as I remember?
You guys, they are even better than I remembered.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
Packed with peanut butter chips and a layer of jelly, these savory dessert bars have the same flavors as the classic sandwich, but in a delicious dessert form.
As I took my first bite my mind flooded with memories of school lunches and enjoying the treats in the kitchen of my childhood home.
I can’t believe I had gone 20-something years without these bars in my life!
Now that I got my hands on Grandma’s recipe, I knew I needed to share her recipe here on the blog so you all can also bake a batch of these incredible bars for your family. Plus, with the recipe up on the blog, I know I will never find myself without this amazing recipe again.
Grape Jelly or Strawberry Jam?
Any variety of jelly, jam, or preserves will work.
If you are going for classic PB&J flavors, you may want to opt for grape jelly.
My family loves strawberry preserves, so I choose to use it in this recipe instead.
One thing to keep in mind is the thickness of your jam or jelly. If it is super thick, it may be more difficult to spread out onto the dough. A few vigorous stirs before you spread the jelly should help remedy that though, so no worries.
Either way, I know you and your family will love these incredible PB&J bars!
More easy peanut butter desserts
If you are a fan of peanut butter, you will also love these easy peanut butter desserts:
- 3-ingredient peanut butter fudge
- peanut butter blossom cookies
- Chocolate peanut butter chip cake mix cookies – only 5 ingredients!
- no-bake peanut butter cookies
- homemade peanut butter cups
Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup 2 sticks butter, softened
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1 cup strawberry jam or individual preference
- 1 bag 10 oz peanut butter chips, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375. Prep a 13 x 9-inch pan with a thin layer of non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir to combine flour, sugar, and baking powder. Using a pastry cutter or fork, cut in butter until the dough resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg; stir until mixture is smooth.
- Press half of dough evenly into bottom of baking pan. Spread jelly evenly over the dough. Sprinkle with 1 cup of peanut butter chips. Crumble remaining dough on top.
- Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove from oven; immediately sprinkle with remaining peanut butter chips, pressing chips down slightly. Allow bars to cool fully before slicing and serving.
Nutrition
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This recipe was added to The Weekend Potluck.
Bars are one of my favorite desserts. I never thought of peanut butter and jelly. I am going to make them this summer.
I love a retro recipe and these peanut butter and jelly bars were a huge hit with my family!
What a nice idea, I had never thought of peanut butter and jelly in bars, definitely energizing as a snack even after a long run or a swim! Thanks for sharing 🙂
My kids love these!
You had me at peanut butter and jelly. My kids will love this!
At point do you put the eggs? The recipe doesn’t mention it.
Thank you for catching that! The eggs are the last ingredient to go into the dough mixture in step 2 — I updated the recipe card in the post so that it is accurate now as well 🙂
No problem. I had finished mixing everything this past weekend and realized the eggs where still sitting there on the counter. So I wrote the comment. I made it without the eggs, and it holds fine. A bit crumbly but it holds. I’ve never had a PB&J sandwich before and it simply doesn’t appeal to me. I made these for my hubby for father’s day cause he loves PB&J sandwiches. However I ended up falling in love with these as well. This is definitely going to be a tradition in our household.
Oh my goodness! I am just so happy that they came out alright for you regardless and that you and your husband enjoyed them 🙂
What a great nostalgia find! I love the strudels like topping as well! Did you test any ideas that use spreadable peanut butter? It would be awesome to use some nice crunchy peanut butter.
Hi Shannon! I stuck to grandma’s recipe for the bars BUT I do think that a version with chunky peanut butter sounds amazing!