Peanut Butter and Jelly... It's not just for sandwiches anymore!

Property of Jessica Gordon Ryan and The Entertaining Kitchen

I saw this awesome recipe and then I had to totally change things because that's just what I do... and from it came another awesome recipe. These are really good... rich from all the peanut butter... and you'll need a tall glass of cold milk, unless you are like me and can't stand the stuff, in which case a nice cup of coffee or a cafe au lait or cappuccino compliments quite nicely as well!

Ingredients

2 2/3 cup oats
1 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup of butter (1 stick)

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1/2 cup of lowfat milk

3/4 cup of peanut butter, your favorite brand. Here I used Skippy Chunky All Natural

1 jar strawberry jam. I used Smucker's seedless strawberry.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350

In your mixer cream together butter, sugar and vanilla
Then add oats, flour and milk. Mix on low speed initially, then you can turn up the speed.

Spread mixture onto a greased 9x13 baking dish using a rubber spatula

Empty the contents of the jam into a small saucepan, turn on low to medium and stir, until the jam starts to liquefy, then pour over the bar mixture and using the rubber spatula, spread the jam all over the top.

Place the pan into the oven for about 25 minutes.

Remove and let cool thoroughly before cutting. The jam will be too hot and the peanut butter bar will be too crumbly. These need some time to set.

Perfect for an afternoon snack or even breakfast! 

Strawberry Freezer Jam

I think I'm making up for my months of absenteeism! The oven has been on non-stop and the mixer and mixing bowls and spatulas have had more use this weekend than they have the past few months!

I went strawberry picking with the kids on Friday and came home with what seems like 10 pounds of strawberries that are going to turn quickly if I don't do something with them... fast! I made strawberry scones this morning. (Recipe to follow shortly) and a Strawberry Tea Bread. This barely made a dent in my strawberry population.

Jam uses a lot of strawberries. I have never made jam before. I just recently learned of Freezer Jam. Essentially it's a no cook jam. Easy. Brilliant, I thought I would give it a try. I went to the store and bought some pectin, measured out 4 cups of strawberries, 1 1/2 cups of sugar, then mashed the strawberries and added the sugar and pectin and stirred the soupy stuff for 3 minutes as indicated on the package. When my time was up I poured it into jars that I let rest out on the counter for 30 minutes to set and solidify.

Still too many strawberries left over, so I repeated the steps above and made another batch. I'll have lots of jam stored up in my freezer. Unless I can find lots of friends who like home made strawberry jam!

I did notice that one package of pectin (Ball) was specifically for freezer jams. The other was not. I will let you know if there is a visible difference in appearance or taste or texture.

Ingredients:

4 cups of strawberries, cut and stems removed
1 package of pectin (preferably that for freezer jam -- by Ball)
1 1/2 cups of sugar

In a bowl combine pectin and sugar
In a separate bowl mash strawberries. When well mashed add the pectin-sugar mixture and stir for 3 minutes.
Pour into desired containers.
Let sit out for 30 minutes before placing in the refrigerator or serving.

Note, this is a very sweet jam. I added some salted butter to my toasted freshly made bread. My toast was divine! I do love the fresh strawberry flavor as opposed to the flavor of cooked berries from most jams.

(For more strawberry recipes please see my side-bar. Thank you!)