Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

For my birthday my Grandmother gave me a Chapters gift certificate. So I held on to it for awhile thinking about what book I'd like to purchase. I finally decided on a Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. I've watched her show a few times and like the ease with which she prepares her recipes. There were a few cookbooks to choose from but I settled on Barefoot Contessa At Home. The recipes are those that can easily be prepared any day of the week. I recently broke in to this cookbook and made Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars. And they actually do look like the picture in her book.







Here's the recipe:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups (18 ounces) creamy peanut butter (recommended: Skippy)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (18 ounces) raspberry jam or other jam
2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan. Line it with parchment paper, then grease and flour the pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until all ingredients are combined.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.

Spread 2/3 of the dough into the prepared cake pan and spread over the bottom with a knife or offset spatula. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Don't worry if all the jam isn't covered; it will spread in the oven. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and cut into squares.

Now which recipe shall I try next? There's coconut cake, tomato feta salad, couscous with pine nuts, frozen berries with hot white chocolate.........