Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

This is a recipe I got from mom, but I'm not sure where she got it from. It's simple...no mixer required. PB&J was never my favorite sammich, but these are good, and they capture that rich, salty/sweet soft and slightly squishy essence. Been feeling more than a little nostalgic lately with these funerals and sorting of worldly goods, so I suppose it's no surprise I'm reaching for good old comfort-food things. I made these for a bake sale last week.

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 C packed brown sugar
1 C (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C grape jelly
1/2 C chunky peanut butter

Heat oven to 375F. Generously grease a 9 X 13 pan. Mix flour, baking powder and sugar in a large bowl until well blended. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat eggs and vanilla with fork or whisk in a small bowl until foamy; stir into flour mixture until well blended. Drop half of dough by heaping spoonfuls into prepared pan. Pat into a flat layer with greased fingers (dough will be sticky). Spread evenly with jelly; drop 1/2 teaspoonfuls of peanut butter over jelly. Spoon remaining dough over top. Bake 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Cool in pan on rack. Cut into bars. Store covered. Makes about 48.

Notes:

I used more than 1/2 cup jelly and peanut butter. And I used homemade grape jelly, but any kind will do. I also used creamy instead of chunky, since that's all we ever have in the house.

I stir just a little extra peanut butter right into the dough, too. Just because.

Blobs of dough will puff and spread out to cover the pb and jelly, so don't worry if there are gaps between them.