Peanut Butter & Jelly Streusel Bars
Submitted by maximan
Peanut butter and jelly streusel bars with a brown sugar PB cookie base, strawberry jam middle, and oat-crumble topping. The lunchbox sandwich reinvented for the cookie tray.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
25 minCOOK
25 minREADY
60 minThe peanut butter and jelly sandwich of your childhood, reimagined as a three-layer bar. A tender brown sugar peanut butter cookie base gets a generous spread of strawberry jam, then the remaining dough mixed with rolled oats goes on top as a crumbly streusel.
The jam layer is where the magic lives. Stopping it a quarter inch from the edges keeps it from bubbling out and burning on the pan, and gives every bar a clean, bakery-case finish. Any fruit jam works, but strawberry is the classic PB&J pairing.
The dough will feel stiff when you mix in the oats for the topping, but don’t add liquid. That firmness is what gives you distinct streusel crumbles instead of a solid top crust. Drop spoonfuls and press gently to even them out.
Cool the bars completely before cutting. Warm jam is molten and will run out the moment your knife hits it. Once cooled and cut, they pack well for lunches, school bake sales, or late-night fridge raids.
Pro Tips
- Use natural peanut butter for richer peanut flavor, but stir it well first so the oil doesn’t pool in the batter.
- Line the pan with parchment paper with overhang. Lifting the whole slab out for cutting means cleaner bars than carving them in the pan.
- Warm the jam slightly in the microwave to make it spreadable. Cold jam tears the soft cookie base as you spread it.
- Use quick oats, not rolled. Rolled oats stay chewy and don’t crumble properly into streusel texture.
Variations
- Swap strawberry jam for raspberry, grape jelly, or apricot preserves depending on the PB&J mood.
- Add ½ cup chopped peanuts to the streusel topping for extra crunch.
- Drizzle melted white chocolate over cooled bars for a prettier finish.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃) F; grease a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the shortening, brown sugar, peanut butter, milk and vanilla extract until well blended.
Add the egg; beat just until blended.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt.
With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the shortening mixture; mix just until blended.
Press ⅔ of the dough in the bottom of the prepared pan in an even layer.
Spread the jam evenly over the dough to within ¼ inch of the sides.
Combine the remaining dough with the oats; drop by spoonfuls onto the jam layer.
The dough will be stiff.
Press lightly to even out the dough layer.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the edges and streusel topping are lightly browned.
Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
To serve, cut into bars.
Comments
