PB&J is obviously the best flavor of sandwich this side of the galaxy, so I was excited to see a “cookie” form of it.
I thought this would be an easy one because there weren’t many ingredients. I was kind of right.

I had to go shopping because who keeps at least 2 1/2 cups of peanut butter in their house? 

I buy Adams peanut butter which normally comes with the oil separated. It is really difficult to stir without spilling (No, the “no stir” variety didn’t come in ogre size).

I decided to dump it all into a bowl to stir. I’m so smart.

Well, this took probably 10 minutes to scoop out, stir, measure out, and return the rest (1/2 cup) into the jar. Okay, I’m ready to go now.

Step 1: “Roughly chop” peanuts.

This translated to “miss a lot of peanuts altogether and chop a few into tiny pieces.”

Step 2: Gather all ingredients: flour, butter, peanut butter, jam, peanuts, eggs, vanilla, salt, baking powder, sugar.

Step 3: Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Step 4: Add eggs, one at a time, until incorporated.

I’m starting to memorize these steps.

Step 5: Add peanut butter.

This was interesting. And almost gross.

Step 6: Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.

I’ve been skipping this photo lately since it’s always the same, but this was the most normal thing I did all-recipe, so I included it.

Step 7: Add flour mixture. Then add vanilla.

The mixer didn’t like this step. The bowl (as you can see) got very full and it tried to kick the dough out a couple times.

Step 8: Butter and parchment-line a baking pan. Butter again and flour.

Tedious, but so nice when it is time to lift out.

Step 9: Transfer 2/3 of the dough to the baking pan and spread with an offset spatula.

Okay, 2/3? That is not a measurement. You expect me to eyeball this and get it right? I cut it with the wooden spoon and guessed. Fingers crossed.

On the app, this recipe included a video. Her dough looked a lot more moist and actually spread. Mine was pretty dry and I had to press/pat it into the pan. Great.

Step 10: Spread jam on top.

She said to make sure I bought “jam” and not “jelly” so it wouldn’t get too thin. I did the best I could. It wasn’t Farmer’s Market day, so I got something in a jar at the store.

Step 11: Crumble remaining third of peanut butter mixture on top of jam.

I think that’s “crumbled”

Step 12: Sprinkle evenly with peanuts.

If you’re allergic to peanuts, you should have already stopped reading. I take no responsibility for your throat closing up at or before this step.

Step 13: Bake for 45-60 minutes until golden.

Here you go again, Martha, giving me a huge range of time. 15 minutes is a lot! I went with 45 and it looked done.

Step 14: Cool, then refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

It was still warm after an hour, so I left it in for another hour.

Step 15: Lift out of pan.

NICE.

Step 16: Cut into about 36 bars.

I don’t know what my problem is, but I couldn’t figure out how to evenly cut it into 36 bars. I made a couple different sizes. Smaller is better. These things are thick.

Link to original recipe

Yields: 36
I got: 30-something

Start time: 7:35
End time: 12:00 (4 hours, 25 mins)
Martha’s estimated time: 3 hours

What did I learn?

• Peanut butter isn’t as easy to work with as I thought.
• My “jam” still wasn’t as thick as it should have been. Should really buy fresh jam.

What do I need to learn?

• Math. I should have been able to calculate 9×4 or whatever to get 36 bars.
• Why was my dough so much drier than Martha’s?
• Were the peanuts supposed to bake into the top crust (probably)? They tumble off when you pick it up.
• How much of a difference does it make when creaming butter/sugar until it “looks” fluffy or the 2-3 minutes she tells me to do? It never takes that long.

Who knew this much peanut butter and jelly could ever be used all at once?