Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

In case you haven't noticed, I love peanut butter! I thought these bars cookies were delicious. Make sure you have a glass of milk handy!

Makes about 3 dozen

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups strawberry jam, or other flavor (I used blackberry)
2/3 cup salted peanuts, roughly chopped

Directions
1.Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan with butter, and line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease the parchment, and coat inside of pan with flour; set aside. Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. On medium speed, add eggs and peanut butter; beat until combined, about 2 minutes.

2.Whisk together salt, baking powder, and flour. Add to bowl of mixer on low speed; combine. Add vanilla. Transfer two-thirds of mixture to prepared pan; spread evenly with offset spatula. Using offset spatula, spread jam on top of peanut-butter mixture. Dollop remaining third of peanut-butter mixture on top of jam. Sprinkle with peanuts.

3.Bake until golden, about 45 minutes. Cover top with a loose tent of aluminum foil if top is browning too quickly. Transfer to a wire rack to cool; cut into about thirty-six 1 1/2-by-2-inch pieces.