PB and J Bars

So this recipe is lifted from Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa)....almost verbatim.. you know me...I cant just make a recipe the way it is specified. I used my own homemade strawberry jam instead of the raspberry that she used. The jam is embarrassingly easy...the recipe is in any package of pectin...strawberry freezer jam...the worst part is the chopping of the fruit. It is soooo worth it! They taste like a grown up version of the kiddie favorite!

Ina Garten's Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Ingr:
1/2 lb (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, softened
1 and 1/2 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, whisked
2 C (18oz container) peanut butter ( I like Jiff)
3 C all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 and 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 and 1/2 C (18 oz) rasberry jam (I used my homemade strawberry jam...rasp jam eww with pb)
2/3 C salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9 X 13 in pan ( I just used non stick aluminum foil...worked great!)

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on med. speed until light and yellow, about 2 min. With the mixer on low, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until all ingr. are combined.

In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Wiht the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture, mix until combined.

Spread 2/3 of the dough into the prepared cake pan and spread over the bottom with a knife or spatula. Spread the jam evenly over hte dough. Drop small globs of remaining dough evenly over the jam. Sprinkle wiht chopped peanuts, and bake for 45-50 min, until golden brown. Cool and cut into squares.

Summer Strawberry Crisp

I was inspired by Katie #s (as always) to make a nice summery crisp. I bought a jumbo container of strawberries at Costco, so I thought that would be good. I used her recipe for the topping as a guide(it is not exactly the same), and made up mine for the filling. It was soooo good!

Strawberry Crisp

Filling:

5 Cups Strawberries, washed, hulled, sliced

1/2 C sugar

1 T orange zest

juice of 1/2 orange

1/8 C Gran Marnier (or other orange liquer)

1 T cornstarch

Topping:

1 stick butter, chilled and cubed

1 C flour

1/2 C oats

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

juice of 1/4 of orange

Preheat oven to 400. Mix all filling ingredients and pour into baking dish. In med bowl add all topping ingredients and combine with a pastry cutter, 2 knives or a fork until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping evenly over filling in baking dish. Bake uncovered 45 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Smells like strawberry jam is cooking!