Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars & a Virtual Baby Shower

It was only three months ago that I woke up and became a teary mess to my own virtual baby shower from my fabulous group of blogging.  It was such a special sweet moment for me that when the chance came to repeat that for Christina from Strawberries for Supper I couldn't wait to do the same.  Christina is a sweetheart and if you have ever read her posts has a brilliant sense of humor.
friends. We all can't wait for her little bundle to arrive.  My little girl is anxious to meet her new boyfriend.

Surprise!  

In the spring the group of us took a trip to Elora, to walk around, have lunch but mainly to buy bread from the Elora Bread Company.   We all pretty much walked out of there with a minimum three loaves.  They were all delicious.   My bread became even better thanks to a jar of honey plum jam from Christina.  YUM! Since I know she has mad skills and likes to make her own jams, I thought what better dessert for the shower than one that involves jam.    What goes good with jam, Peanut butter of course.   Let's consider this the sandwich aspect of the shower.

Happy Virtual Baby Shower!!  Hope you had the same reaction as me.



Check out what her other incredible bloggy friends are bringing to this party:

Planet Byn - Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Caramel Squares

The Brunette Baker - Apple Custard Pie

Living Lou - Baklava

The Tasty Gardener - Apple Bread Pudding

My Daily Randomness - Grilled Peach Pavlova 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

(Adapted from Ina Garten)

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups peanut butter
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cups jam of your choosing
• 1/2 cups peanuts

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350F.  Grease or spray with non stick a 10 x 10 pan. Line it with parchment paper or tin foil, then grease or spray and flour the pan.
2 In a large bowl or your mixer bowl cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, a couple minutes.
Add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix on low until all ingredients are combined.
3. 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.

If you also happen to miss all the scrumptious posts from my shower as I failed to give them a proper post of shout outs... Please check them out now as well.

Robyn from Whats Cooking on Planet Byn : Strawberry Sprinkle Ice Cream Sandwiches
Christina from Strawberries for Supper: Fudgey Teff Brownies
Heather from The Tasty Gardener: Banana Bundt Cake with Pecan, Banana, Caramel Sauce
Jenny from The Brunette Baker: Bananas Foster Banana Bread
Lou from Living Lou: Easy Banana Cupcakes