Easy PB&J Crumble Bars
what to expect:
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 16 bars
Sweet and nostalgic PB&J crumble bars that have a peanut butter cookie crust and crumble and use your favorite store-bought jelly.
I was practically raised on PB&J so it was only a matter of time until I created a dessert recipe using the famous pair! These PB&J crumble bars use a peanut butter cookie crust that also becomes the crumble on top. This dessert comes together quickly, uses minimal dishes, and is great to share with family and friends!
What You’ll Find in This Post
- What You’ll Need (Ingredients & Tools)
- Helpful Tip: Pick the Perfect Jelly
- Helpful Tip: How to Get the Perfect Crumbles
What You’ll Need to Make PB&J Crumble Bars
Ingredients for PB&J Crumble Bars
- Peanut Butter Powder
- All-Purpose Flour
- Granulated Sugar
- Baking Powder
- Kosher Salt
- Unsalted Butter
- Creamy Peanut Butter
- Jelly of your choice
Tools & Equipment for PB&J Crumble Bars
The equipment list for these bars is pretty simple: you’ll need a medium-sized mixing bowl, a microwave-safe bowl, a spoon, and an 8-inch x 8-inch glass baking dish.
Pick the Perfect Jelly
The jelly you should use is a jelly you like! I personally was always a strawberry jelly fan on my PB&Js, so I use a mixture of strawberry and raspberry jellies for the perfect sweet and tart combination. But grape jelly would be excellent in these PB&J crumble bars as well!
If you like a PB&J with a lot of jelly, you can use up to 2/3 of a cup, otherwise 1/2 a cup should be just about perfect. If you’re using fruit preserves as opposed to jelly, I recommend using 2/3 of a cup since the fruit pieces take up some extra space.
How to Get the Perfect Crumbles
These PB&J crumble bars use a streusel-esque peanut butter cookie mixture that acts as both the crust for the bars and the crumble that goes on top.
Once you’ve added your melted butter and peanut butter mixture to your dry ingredients, you’ll combine it all using a pinching motion with your hands. You’ll continue this motion until you’ve got a bowl full of crumbles and no dry flour patches.
If you make these PB&J crumble bars, let me know how they turned out by leaving a review! And if you post on Instagram, be sure to tag me @ficklebea. I can’t wait to see what you make – happy baking!
If you are new to baking or nervous about spending time in the kitchen, check out My Kitchen Commandments for some helpful tips!
PrintPB&J Crumble Bars
Sweet and nostalgic PB&J crumble bars that have a peanut butter cookie crust and crumble and use your favorite store-bought jelly.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 9 – 16 bars 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
1/4 cup Peanut Butter Powder
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
8 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter – cut into tablespoons
1 Tablespoon Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 – 2/3 cup Jelly of your choice – I use a combination of strawberry and raspberry *
Instructions
preheat your oven to 350 Fahrenheit
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add the peanut butter powder (1/4 cup), all-purpose flour (2 cups), granulated sugar (1/3 cup), baking powder (1/4 teaspoon), and kosher salt (1/2 teaspoon). Whisk until fully combined – about 1 minute. Set aside.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the unsalted butter (8 Tablespoons, cut into slices) and creamy peanut butter (1 Tablespoon) and then stir to combine. Microwave it in 15 to 30 second intervals to avoid the butter splattering.
- Allow the butter and peanut butter to cool for about 5 minutes before pouring it into the flour mixture (make sure it’s not too hot before adding it as you’ll be combining everything with your hands)
- Using your hands or a fork, gently combine until you get a crumbly texture and there are no dry flour patches. Set aside 1/2 a cup of the crumble.
- Add the remaining crumble to an 8×8 glass baking dish and press the mixture until you get a flattened, even crust.
- Spread the jelly (1/2 – 2/3 cup, see note) on top of the crust using the back of a spoon. If if looks too thick to spread, you can warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds before adding it to the crust.
- Top the jelly with the reserved crumble, sprinkling evenly over the whole thing.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until the jelly is bubbling around the edges.
- Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.
Notes
*For a more jelly-heavy bar, or if using fruit preserves, use up to 2/3 cup jelly.
To help with your grocery shopping, I’ve provided the ingredients for this recipe below and organized them by where they’re generally located in the store:
Dairy
- Unsalted Butter
Pantry
- Peanut Butter Powder (typically found in the health foods aisle)
- All-Purpose Flour
- Granulated Sugar
- Baking Powder
- Kosher Salt
- Creamy Peanut Butter
- Jelly – your preferred flavor
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