Peanut Butter and Jelly Shortbread

I’ve been back at my apartment for almost a week now, and let me tell you, it has been bor-ing! Seriously. My roommates didn’t get back until Saturday and I’ve been here since Wednesday afternoon. And since I don’t really know anyone because I’m basically antisocial/shut-in I haven’t gone much anywhere except to get groceries and pick up text books. So because there is no way I’m going to put myself out there, I fill my time with baking.

I went through a few of my cookbooks I brought with me to college to get some ideas on something quick and easy to bake. Then I happened upon these peanut butter and jelly bars in Martha Stewart’s cookie book and I had a hankering for peanut butter and jelly bars.

I looked at a few different recipes other than Martha’s and then I found Peabody’s Peanut Butter and Jelly Shortbread recipe in my “To Bake” list. They looked so good I just had to make them.

These shortbread wedges are really nice. The peanut butter flavor comes in in a subtle way, but it’s very nice. The wedges are crunchy and kind of chewy thanks to the baked jelly on the top. I really liked these with some milk. The pointed edge of the wedge makes it easy to dunk in the glass. The milk makes the shortbread kind of soggy and crumbly, but that’s fine with me.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Shortbread

From Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Makes one 9-inch round

Ingredients

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

¼ cup (64 g) creamy peanut butter

½ cup (96 g) sugar

¼ tsp. salt

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 ¼ cup (150 g) unbleached all-purpose flour 

1/3 cup (100 g) grape jelly (or jelly of your choice)

Directions

Grease the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray.

Beat the butter and peanut butter together until smooth. Gently pour in the sugar and salt. Cream the mixture until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract. Gently add the flour and mix until completely incorporated. The dough should be soft.

Shape 1/3 of the dough into a thick disk. Place in plastic wrap and freeze until hard, about one hour. Press the remaining dough evenly along the bottom of the greased pan. Spread the jelly on top of the dough, leaving a small border around the edge. Set the pan in the fridge until the dough in the freezer has hardened.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Take the pan out of the fridge and take the dough out of the freezer. Grate the frozen dough over the jelly (chopping or breaking it up works too). Place the pan in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the shortbread has become a golden brown. Cut into wedges and enjoy.   

Grape Jelly Roly-Poly Pastry

He’s Rolie Polie Olie

He’s small and smart and round
And in the land of curves and curls
He’s the swellest kid around!

Ok, who remembers that show when it aired on Disney? Or is it still airing? I don’t know I don’t watch that channel anymore because- well I wont get into that rant today. The point is, it was an awesome show when I was a kid. And why am I telling you this, you ask? Well it has to do with this jam roll up thing that I made.

I got this cookbook about two weeks ago from Borders. (Did you guys hear? It’s closing forever!!! ;-; Everything is on sale and there are chalk outlines made of duct tape of “dead people” and it’s all just so sad.) It was in the bargain aisle for $2.99 and I figured why the heck not? This book is called Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey Treats for Kids. Now you see where I’m getting at with the whole children’s programming and television shows?

The book itself is just so fun and adorable. The pages are cut in little ridges and each page is filled with so many colors. It’s a book that makes you feel all happy and giddy inside! There are three sections to this book: What’s Your Story, Morning Glory (treats for breakfast), Everyday’s a Holiday (simple, yet special treats), and Get This Party Started (cute sounding desserts). After flipped through and reading all of the recipes, a couple stuck in my mind that I know I have to bake at some point in my life, but this particular one stuck out even more.

It’s supposed to be called Holy Moly! Strawberry Jam Roly-Poly, but I changed that to Grape Jelly because that is the type of jelly I used, it’s my favorite. To be honest, I had a little trouble with this recipe, but I think it was mostly my fault. It calls for frozen butter, and I knew this, but I put the butter into the freezer only an hour before baking, so I don’t think it was completely frozen when I started grating it. The butter started getting soft in my hands and they turned into a slick, greasy mess. However, putting the grated butter and flour mixture in the freezer while I unloaded the dishwasher for ten minutes helped it a bit. The second problem was that I didn’t put enough flour on the counter, so when I went to roll out the dough, it was a little sticky, but nothing I couldn’t handle. Everything else went very smoothly, except when I was getting hungry and I didn’t wait long enough (only 30 minutes) for the roll to fully cool and the slices didn’t turn out at neat as they should have, but that’s ok.

Now, I will stop with the negatives and talk about how awesome this Jelly Roll thing is. I say it tasts pretty darned good. The crusty bit (is there another adjective that makes that sound, I don’t know, not weird?) on the outside is very crumbly and is fun to pick off and just eat. Then you get to the dough on the inside and it is so soft and chewy (in a good way). Finally, you get the hint of the sweet Grape Jelly rolled all around the dough. I was a little afraid I had squeezed all of the filling to the very end when I was rolling it, but no, it all stayed in a pretty even swirl. I just wish I had put a little more jelly as the filling because that would have made it even more “swell”.

Grape Jelly Roly-Poly
slightly adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey Treats for Kids

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, frozen
2/3 cup ice cold water (or more if needed)
½ cup grape jelly (or whatever jelly/jam you prefer)
1 tbsp milk for brushing

Directions

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Set aside.
3. Using the large holes of a grater, grate the frozen butter into the flour mixture. Be careful, because the butter may become slippery in your hands and no one wants skin chunks in their pastry, not to mention you could hurt yourself. Once butter has been grated it, lightly toss the flour and the butter together. If the butter starts getting a little soft, put the whole bowl into the freezer for 5-10 minutes.
4. Stir in the ice cold water into the flour and butter mixture and gently work it with your hands until it forms a loose ball. Add more water a little bit at a time if the dough is too dry.
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead the dough for 5 or 6 turns. Roll the dough out do it measures roughly 9 inches by 13 inches. Spread the jelly or jam in the center of the dough, leaving a 1 inch border on all sides. Take the long end of the dough and roll it up. Place the seam side down onto the parchment paper. Brush the top with a little milk and if desired, sprinkle a little bit of sugar on top for added sweetness.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the pastry has puffed and turned golden brown. Cool on the baking pan for a few minutes before removing it onto a cooling rack. Let the pastry cool completely before slicing. Use a serrated knife and cut diagonally to get 6 portions. Serve, and enjoy. Maybe warm up some more of the same jelly or jam and pour over the top, or possibly add some fresh whipped cream?