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Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Now that I’m home with my (soon to be) 3 year-old on most days, I’ve realized that there are a few things that no one tells you about Stay At Home Mom-hood. Maybe because we don’t want to scare the fertility out of others since we like company in this brave new world of parenthood. For instance:

You will start to dissect the relationships between cartoon characters, "Are Mickey and Minnie Mouse dating? or are they brother and sister?" You may or may not Google it.

You’ll be standing in the backyard in your bathrobe trying to hose out a potty chair that is too gross to clean by way of any other method, and it will feel strangely normal.

You’ll say things like, "Don’t drink the bathwater, it’s been on your butt."

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You’ll stop noticing how messy your house is until someone unexpectedly drops by and then all of the messiness will sort of magically appear. I swear it wasn’t this gross two minutes ago.

You’ll quote your toddler like she’s a Will Ferrel movie, but only to your spouse. Because no one else would understand why you call cheddar "turtle cheese" or ask them to move by saying "step PUH side!"

At some point you will have the urge to photograph poop, either to show the pediatrician, "Is this color normal or does she have scurvy?" or to show your husband, "She took a poop today the size of Scuba Steve!" But you won’t, deciding instead to just describe it (the doctor and your husband are grateful for this).

You will start to refer to yourself in the third person, as in "Mommy needs a time out," as well as collectively, as in, "We don’t rub cheese on the window,"

You won’t even think it’s that strange when she refuses to even take one bite of the peanut butter and jelly bars you just made because they "look yucky," but then she immediately tries to eat the orange crayon, because apparently those look delicious.

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Ingredients

For the Crust:

  • 1 ½ cups flour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ¾ cup golden brown sugar
  • ¾ cup smooth peanut butter
  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla

For the Jam Filling:

  • 2 cups strawberries (thawed if frozen)
  • 2/3 cup powdered sugar
  • Yield: 9 to 12

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl combine the flour and baking powder.
  2. Add the peanut butter, butter and sugar to a stand mixer, mix on medium high until well combined. Add the egg and vanilla, mix until well combined.
  3. Sprinkle with flour mixture, stir until just combined.
  4. Line and 8×8 inch baking dish with parchment paper, making sure the paper goes up and over the edges. Add half of the peanut butter dough to the pan, press into one even layer. Add the remaining dough to the freezer, put the 8×8 pan to the fridge to chill until ready to use.
  5. Preheat oven to 350.
  6. In a saucepan over high heat, add the strawberries and powdered sugar. Cook, stirring frequently, until thick and syrupy and the strawberries have broken down, about 10 to 15 minutes. While the strawberries are cooking, use a potato masher or spatula to smash and break up strawberries.
  7. Pour strawberries over crust. Retrieve the remaining crust from the freezer, break into pea-sized pieces, and sprinkle over strawberries. Use as much as desired, you may have leftover peanut butter dough.
  8. Bake at 350 until the top crust starts to turn golden brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool, remove from pan by grabbing the edges of the parchment paper and lifting out. Cut into squares.

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Comments


Averie @ Averie Cooks March 26, 2013 um 2:36 am

The bars look wonderful! I love PB & J bars. There is nothing better than PB & J (well, maybe PB & Choc…but they tie)

And life as a mom. Never a dull moment, right!

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Jackie March 26, 2013 um 8:24 am

I thought about you when I made these! You are the peanut butter queen 🙂

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Gerry @ foodness gracious March 26, 2013 um 6:21 am

All totally true, and you’ll become desensitized when they chew on batteries like they are tootsie rolls (yesterday) or when they throw stuff into the neighbours yard just missing their brand new SUV (i hope) I could go on and on 😉

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Jackie March 26, 2013 um 8:27 am

That’s so funny! and they when you take the batteries away they look at you like, "What’s your deal? I was just chewing on a battery, geesh! So up tight."

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Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious March 26, 2013 um 6:58 am

Too funny! I love that the crayon looked more appealing than these bars!

If you have any leftovers, I’d gladly help you out with these!

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addie | culicurious March 26, 2013 um 8:25 am

I’d eat those bars any day!! 😉

I don’t have kids but I can sympathize with the things you described. I have a 4 year old nephew and he loves putting the bath water in his mouth. I’ll have to remember the "its been on your butt" thing. I usually just talk about the dirt and soap being bad for him. 😉

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Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet March 26, 2013 um 8:32 am

I am laughing so hard, my sides hurt! Only because it sounds all too familiar!! Love PB and Jelly bars!

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Carolyn March 26, 2013 um 10:13 am

Okay, I have never, ever photographed my kids' poop…but for the rest…yeah, I’m with ya! ANd these treats look so good, I may have to find a way to make them low carb and gluten-free!

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Jackie March 26, 2013 um 5:38 pm

I haven’t actually done it yet, just thought about. So far, I’ve just decided to google the oddness and see if it’s normal, I’m way paranoid about possible diseases.

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Kiersten @ Oh My Veggies March 26, 2013 um 5:18 pm

I bet you can get a crazy amount of detail on those poop photos with your DSLR! Okay, I just kind of made myself sick. I’m going to focus on the PB & J bars now…

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Jackie March 26, 2013 um 5:36 pm

Ha! I never actually have taken a picture, but I’ve had the urge to. I just get so paranoid about her guts, she has always had issues, poor kid.

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Samantha @FerraroKitchen March 26, 2013 um 5:39 pm

Ok..so is it weird that I do all these things…with..uhhh…my dog?! hah "Don’t touch the water, it’s been on your butt" muwahah

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Jackie March 27, 2013 um 9:14 am

Not at all! I remember the first time I got a dog (as an adult) and I said to someone "I think I’ve said 'poop' more often in the last week than in the rest of my life combined!"

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Nicole @ Young, Broke and Hungry March 26, 2013 um 8:52 pm

Although I am not a mom, this post had me laughing. Moms should get credit where its due thats for sure. These bars look way better then an orange crayon but then again when I was young, I used to eat chap stick.

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Jackie March 27, 2013 um 9:15 am

Ha! But it smelled like Dr. Pepper!

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Sara March 27, 2013 um 6:14 am

Omg- do follow the honest toddler at all on twitter? Its fabulously funny

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Jackie March 27, 2013 um 9:15 am

No, I’ll have to check it out 🙂

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Kelly March 27, 2013 um 6:58 am

These look absolutely perfect and I love your recipe! Yum! 🙂

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RavieNomNoms March 27, 2013 um 7:03 am

Oh my good lord these look good! I love peanut butter and jelly. This is such a great way to change it up a bit!

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claire @ the realistic nutritionist March 27, 2013 um 7:53 am

Oh don’t worry, the fertility is already scared out of me. haha. Love these.

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Jackie March 27, 2013 um 9:16 am

Haha! I’ll come back to you one day, you and your hubs will be great parents….SOOOOOOME day 🙂

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Crista March 27, 2013 um 11:20 am

Oh my, those sure do look amazing.

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Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. March 27, 2013 um 10:11 pm

Haha! I love this post! So funny.

And these look so good! Any kid is crazy not to love them!!

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Elizabeth @ SugarHero.com March 28, 2013 um 12:31 am

These look incredible! But I can’t believe you left such a cliff hanger in your post–are Mickey & Minnie dating or not?! My hunch says they’re brother and sister…or something…? Off to the google machine!

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Jackie March 28, 2013 um 8:17 am

Haha! I think everyone has a different idea. When I was a kid I thought they were married, and so where Donald and Daisy, but now I have no idea.

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Jen March 28, 2013 um 3:04 pm

Great post and these look delicious, my kids would go crazy for them. That’s if I don’t eat them all first 🙂

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katie March 28, 2013 um 7:23 pm

Jackie… too funny! Yes, you are helping with the birth control right here in this single post. And these pb&j bars don’t look too bad–way better than an orange crayon!

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Jerald April 1, 2013 um 1:50 am

Simply amazing! My wife and I made these for a gathering and everyone loved them.

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Mama’s Gotta Bake April 1, 2013 um 10:57 am

Even though my kids are pretty much grown, I find the only thing they will always eat is peanut butter and jelly. I will give these bars a try, and I bet my boys will be thrilled!

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Kim April 8, 2013 um 11:13 pm

As a brand new parent to two toddlers, I can absolutely relate to everything you’re saying. 🙂 Including the bit about the crayon.

Also – I made these a couple of weeks ago and they were outstanding.

Thanks!

[K]

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Emily December 12, 2015 um 10:06 am

I didn’t read through all of the comments, so I’m sorry if this was answered already, but I have an egg allergy at my house and was wondering if you had a recommendation for a substitution?

Reply

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