It’s peanut butter jelly time, peanut butter jelly time, peanut butter jelly time!
Growing up, my mom always packed me a peanut butter sandwich, raisins, pretzels or chips, and a cookie for lunch, and then I picked up a carton of milk at school. I was such a picky eater that I wouldn’t eat anything else! Surprisingly, I never got tired of peanut butter – it’s just so good! No jelly ever touched my sandwiches though. I actually still leave the jelly off my PB&Js (ahem, or PBs more accurately), mostly out of habit, since I’ve come to my senses and like jelly now. I often think about how some schools now ban peanut butter due to peanut allergies – I think I would have starved!
Peanut butter and jelly are just perfect together, so I decided to make a dessert tart featuring a peanut butter cookie crust and layers of peanut butter mousse and strawberry jam. If only I could eat this for lunch every day now!
Peanut Butter and Jelly Tart
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
Peanut Butter Cookie Crust:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
Peanut Butter and Jelly Filling and Topping:
1 (3.4-oz) package instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 cups low sugar strawberry jam
1/4 cup lightly salted roasted peanuts, chopped
Directions:
To make the peanut butter cookie crust, heat oven to 350˚F. Mix butter and sugar until creamed in a large bowl. Mix in egg and peanut butter until smooth; stir in flour and salt. Grease a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom; press cookie dough evenly over bottom and up the sides of the tart pan. Bake at 350˚F for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. With back of spoon, press down crust so bottom and sides are evenly covered; bake 2 to 3 minutes longer, or until deep golden brown and a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Press down crust again with spoon, if needed. Completely cool the crust, about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, make the peanut butter filling by placing instant vanilla pudding, milk, and sweetened condensed milk in a large bowl and mix until smooth. Stir in peanut butter until smooth.
To assemble the tart, pour 1/2 cup of the jam into the cooled peanut butter cookie crust and spread evenly with the back of a spoon. Top jam layer with peanut butter mousse. Spread remaining 1 cup jam evenly on top of the peanut butter mousse and top evenly with chopped peanuts. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Remove from tart pan (use a toothpick to gently remove any parts of the cookie crust stuck to the top edges of the tart pan, if needed) and cut into 16 wedges.
Nutrition: 460 calories, 24.9g fat, 2.7g fiber, 11.6g protein per serving
Cost: $0.54 per serving