PB and Amaretto Peach Pecan Preserve Bars

Eeek! School is going to start! Oh my gosh, so much to do and so little time! Sorry if the post start to space out a little, I have all my photos and recipes ready, just not enough time to write them all down! But don't worry, I have a lot of recipes!!

yum :)

Did you guys check out the new page I added? I called it my "wishlist". It's everything (at least the stuff I could think of) that I want to make and/need to buy. While I was making the list I realized I never made anything with peanut butter and jelly. Nothing with peanut butter and jelly?! OMG that needed to be fixed right away! Plus, I had a craving for creamy peanut butter and sweet jelly! I made these bars to satisfy my craving!

lookit those pecans and jelly!

chewy, sorta soft peanut butter base

As you can see from the title of this post...I couldn't find any jelly in my house. I know, what is wrong with me?! But, lucky for me, I had a jar of amaretto peach pecan preserves from Fischer and Wieser (Remember the contest?) So instead of PB&J bars, I made PB and Amaretto Peach Pecan Preserve Bars!! Woo hoo! Now that's a mouthful :) And boy, did they satisfy my cravings! They had the perfect balance of peanut butter and preserve. (Side note: I hate it when my sandwich has too much peanut butter or too much jelly/preserve. It needs the perfect amount to be a good sandwich! Don'tcha think?)

studded with pecans... :)

I think the additions of the pecans and the subtraction of the salted peanuts was for the better. The pecans complimented the preserves, and made the peanut butter flavor a lot more stronger in the dough. So basically they were yummy, and they are perfect to take to school as a snack...or eaten at home in one sitting with a big glass of milk.... :)

View from the top!

Peanut Butter and Amaretto Peach Pecan Preserve Bars
Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies
Ingredients:
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 Ameretto Peach Pecan Preserves, or other flavor
2/3 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan
2. Beat sugar and butter until fluffy. Add eggs and peanut butter; beat until combined, about 2 minutes. 

3. Whisk together salt, baking powder, and flour. Slowly add to butter mixture. Add extract.
4. Transfer two-thirds of mixture to prepared pan; spread evenly. Spread preserve on top of peanut-butter mixture. Crumble remaining third of peanut-butter mixture on top of jam. Sprinkle with pecans.
5. Bake until golden, about 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool; cut into about desired size
6. Enjoy!

and the side...

and another side...