There are a few food combinations that never get old. Peanut butter and jelly is one of those combinations for me. I will gladly eat a PB&J most any day. This recipe using that delicious combination recently called out to me from the pages of one of my favorite cookbooks, Martha Stewart’s Cookies.
One note about baking these. The directions give a wide range for the baking time: 45-60 minutes. With the jam layer, there was not a good way to test these for doneness. The old toothpick trick would not have worked well. I baked mine for 45 minutes, and they were just right to me.
After mixing up this simple recipe, I was rewarded with a delicious, dense treat. While the predominant flavor is peanut butter, the jam adds a little extra kick of sweetness. I used strawberry, as recommended in the recipe, although you could easily substitute your favorite flavor. For sandwiches, I definitely prefer grape. What flavor of jelly do you like with your peanut butter?
40 responses so far ↓
1 Fe McB // Jun 27, 2008 at 11:52 am
love these, love that book. have you tried making the chocolate crackles yet? they are to die for!
2 katy // Jun 27, 2008 at 12:38 pm
those look amazing! pb&j really is the best combo. i’m not sure i have a favorite jelly, but i love peanut butter and bananas!
3 Katrina // Jun 27, 2008 at 12:55 pm
These look great. Love the combo of pb & j. My favorite jam would have to be raspberry. I do love grape though. I also love a pb & h (honey), as well as the old pb & b (banana). Can you just not go wrong with peanut butter in any way? I think not.
4 Susan // Jun 27, 2008 at 1:40 pm
That is an awesome picture!
I’d have to stick with the strawberry jelly/jam. Although, I’ve been known to switch it up with blackberry.
5 Nick // Jun 27, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Oh man, I love the sound of these. I recently tried making a healthy peanut butter and jelly breakfast bar that came out decent, but a little dry. These look way better though, I think you’ve sold me on them.
6 Bekindi // Jun 27, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Funny, I got up this morning and had peanut butter and jam on toast, then came here and saw this!
These+me=meant to be.
Thankyou for sharing
My favourite jam is the homemade nectarine one mum makes, it’s just not as good as the plum!
7 jennifer // Jun 27, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Fe McB, I haven’t tried those yet, but they sound delicious!
katy, I have lots of favorite jelly flavors. Hard to pick just one!
Katrina, raspberry is one of my very favorites.
Thanks, Susan! Blackberry sounds good. I need to get some soon!
Nick, these aren’t exactly healthy, but they are definitely delicious!
Bekindi, it’s a sign! I don’t think I’ve ever had nectarine jam. Sounds interesting.
8 Patti // Jun 28, 2008 at 12:33 am
Wow…these look absolutely amazing!!! I’ve tried to make my own PB & J bars before, but I’ll definately have to try these!
9 Amanda // Jun 28, 2008 at 9:37 am
PB & J is like the quintessential combination. I can think of nothing better… besides chocolate and peanut butter, of course
I read some other people who bought this cookbook and they enjoy it too. Do the recipes seem pretty reliable? And is the layout reader-friendly? Some of Martha’s books don’t seem to be too trustworthy.
10 jennifer // Jun 28, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Patti, let me know what you think if you try these.
Amanda, I’ve liked every recipe I’ve tried from this book. It seems more approachable than some of her earlier books. Lots of pictures, clear instructions. I think it’s a great choice for anyone who likes to bake cookies.
11 Kevin // Jun 28, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Those look so good. What a great way to use such a classic flavour combo.
12 brilynn // Jun 28, 2008 at 5:32 pm
I’ve been loving this book too, I’ve made so many recipes out of, eventually I’ll do a big round up post. Those bars looks delicious!
13 love, tastespotting // Jun 29, 2008 at 11:37 am
wow…love these and would LOVE to see this re-submitted to TasteSpotting - our cropping tool cropped your picture in a funny way yesterday…maybe resubmit already cropped to 250 x 250 so it looks perfect?
looking forward…
love,
tastespotting
14 jennifer // Jun 29, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Thanks, Kevin!
Brilynn, it’s a great book. I’ll be on the lookout for your post.
tastespotting, I’ll resubmit. Thanks!
15 Sandie // Jun 30, 2008 at 12:15 pm
What a great twist on an old standby - these sound so comforting. My favorite jelly with peanut butter? Strawberry… followed closely by grape, blackberry, cherry, raspberry, orange marmalade, kadota fig…. (should I go on?)
16 Patricia Scarpin // Jun 30, 2008 at 1:04 pm
I have been meaning to make bars again, Jen. These are amazing!
17 Elle // Jun 30, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Ooooh, these look so good! I’ll bet the kids would love them!
18 jennifer // Jul 1, 2008 at 8:55 am
Sandie, it sounds like you have about as many favorites as I do.
Patricia, they are wonderful!
Thanks, Elle! I bet your right.
19 auntjone // Jul 1, 2008 at 9:37 am
I might have to make these tonight! My jelly preference for nearly all applications (pb, toast, etc) is strawberry, but I find myself longing for the good old days when mom would can homemade black raspberry jelly. To be 6 years old again….sigh.
20 bakingblonde // Jul 1, 2008 at 10:23 am
I love PB, it is food of the Gods and I am loving the look and sound of these bars!! They are on my short list of ‘must try recipes” for sure!!
21 Mara // Jul 1, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Be still my heart, that first image made it flutter! These look DIVINE. Bookmarked!
22 Dragon // Jul 1, 2008 at 6:17 pm
YUM! Every time I come here, I want to immediately run to my pantry to see if I have the required ingredients. Sadly I don’t have the PB.
I’ll have to wait to try it.
23 giz // Jul 1, 2008 at 9:37 pm
I have that cookie book of Martha’s and I stop every time I see that recipe. Now I’m convinced - I have to make it. That top picture is calling my name.
24 Sophie // Jul 2, 2008 at 8:19 am
What a great marriage of two flavors. I love how your pictures always come out so good, I can almost taste the yummy desserts! This one is extra gooey, so I know it has to be good!
25 Make and Takes // Jul 2, 2008 at 8:43 am
Perfect twist on a classic. I can’t believe I still don’t have that book!
26 jennifer // Jul 2, 2008 at 9:40 am
auntjone, I love black raspberry! I have some in my pantry that I’m waiting to use in just the perfect thing.
bakingblonde, you can’t go wrong with peanut butter!
Thanks, Mara!
Dragon, these are worth the trip to the store to get peanut butter.
giz, I think it’s well worth making. Hope you will, too!
Thanks, Sophie!
Make and Takes, I bought that book the day it was available. Love it!
27 Hannah // Jul 2, 2008 at 12:26 pm
We love these!
Hannah
28 Catherine // Jul 3, 2008 at 4:16 am
Oh. I am still kind of stuck on the self-saucing chocolate pudding. I may never move on. Anyway, this is a great blog, we have put you up on our site because it is so very well done. Forgive me while I slip away to hit the chocolate sauce…
29 jennifer // Jul 3, 2008 at 7:36 am
Hannah, they’re the best, aren’t they?
Thanks, Catherine! I understand that chocolate sauce can kind of grab hold of you.
30 Hannah // Jul 3, 2008 at 9:04 am
I was wondering if any of you knew of a really good coffee cheesecake recipe. Or mocha cheesecake.
Its for my moms bday, and I want it to be mouth tantalizing!
Hannah
31 Maya // Jul 4, 2008 at 6:32 am
These look absolutely scrumptious!
32 jennifer // Jul 4, 2008 at 8:54 am
Hannah, I’m not really a coffee/mocha fan, but I’ll see what recipes I have in my cookbooks. I’ll drop you an email when I find one that sounds good.
Thanks, Maya!
33 Eeva-Maija // Jul 7, 2008 at 3:16 am
Hello! I was reading through your blog and at one point at least you mentioned how encouraging it is to read comments when writing a blog, so I thought to drop you a line. I’m an amateur baker from Finland, Europe and decided two days ago to find two baking blogs that really inspired me and to become a regular reader, one from a Finnish writer and the other from a foreigner. When finding BoB my decision to pick you as the non-Finnish writer was fixed. I’ve now browsed through all of your posts and have already tons of recipes I want to try out! I also like that you don’t only post to recipes, but tell a little about your life and likings as well, it’s so much more fun to read with that personal touch!
34 jennifer // Jul 7, 2008 at 6:42 am
Eeva-Maija, thank you so much! I’m flattered!
35 bakingblonde // Jul 8, 2008 at 5:54 am
YUM!! I love peanut butter and am always looking for new recipes to try out! The picture of these looks absolutely sinful!
36 jennifer // Jul 8, 2008 at 9:01 am
Thanks, bakingblonde! Peanut butter is one of my favorites.
37 Cyndi // Jul 9, 2008 at 9:47 pm
These were so yummy! I ate so many of them that I am embarrassed. My only question is, although you said they are supposed to be dense…….should they have been crumbly too? Not so much dry, just crumbly.
38 jennifer // Jul 10, 2008 at 11:41 am
Cyndi, I’m glad you liked them. They were a bit crumbly for me, too.
39 chiffonade // Aug 6, 2008 at 7:01 am
Your site is beautiful. I came to it via a search for coffee cake (which I printed and am in the process of baking, BTW). The PB&J bars look amazing! I’d love to try them. The last time I made PB&J bars, they were Ina’s and they were excellent. Definitely want another PB&J bar recipe in the quiver.
40 jennifer // Aug 6, 2008 at 8:17 pm
chiffonade, thank you so much! I hardly ever make Ina’s recipes, and I really don’t know why not. I’ll be sure to track down her pb&j bars recipe.
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