Monday, December 22, 2008

Recipe: Peanut butter and fig jam shortbread bars

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No one in my house actually likes peanut butter much, so why the peanut butter dessert section from the latest Bon Appetit appealed to me is a mystery. Still, their peanut butter and jelly shortbread wedges looked good, so I gave them a try this afternoon.

I didn't have any blackberry jam, but due to the wonderful fig trees behind the studio where I did Pilates this past summer, my cupboards are full of homemade fig preserves. The fig jam doesn't have the tartness of a berry jam, so I added a little extra lemon zest. The end result is crumbly and salty-sweet, and for someone who doesn't like peanut butter desserts, I'm hooked.

Peanut butter and fig jam shortbread bars
adapted from Bon Appetit

1 stick butter, softened (I used salted and omitted the added salt in the original recipe)
1/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup fig jam
2 Tbsp lemon zest

Spray 8-inch square pan with cooking spray.

Cream butter and peanut butter in stand mixer until creamy, a couple of minutes. Add sugar and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Slow down mixer and add flour until just combined.

Take out a quarter of the dough, put it on a plate, and put it in the freezer for an hour.
Press remaining dough into prepared pan evenly. Cover the dough with fig jam, leaving a small border around the edges. Sprinkle lemon zest over jam. Put in refrigerator until small dough clump is frozen.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Take frozen dough and stab it with a fork to break it into crumbs. Sprinkle the crumbs over the jam and dough in the pan. Bake about 50 minutes, until dough looks dry and light brownish. Cool completely in the pan; cut into squares and lift out with an offset spatula.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Just made these with strawberry jelly and we loved them. Thanks for recipe!

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