How to make Trisha Yearwood's peanut butter and jelly cookie bars
To help whip up some more festive treats, country music singer and cookbook author Trisha Yearwood joined "Good Morning America" with a recipe for the 12 Days of Cookies.
She shared her favorite comfort food combo-turned-dessert: peanut butter and jelly cookie bars. Yearwood, who celebrated her 16th wedding anniversary with Garth Brooks this month, said the recipe is inspired by the holiday movie, "A Charlie Brown Christmas."
"I love these because everybody loves peanut butter and jelly, we’re all kids at heart," said Yearwood. "And also Garth and I actually walked down the aisle to the music from “Charlie Brown Christmas,’ so it’s very sentimental for me. It’s very Christmas for me."
"It's just special to me," she explained.
Check out her full recipe for the cookie bars below.
PB&J Cookie Bars
Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup smooth grape jelly
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a large (13 x 18-inch) rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and spray the parchment with cooking spray.
On a sheet of waxed paper, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until completely incorporated.
Dollop the dough in big spoonfuls all over the prepared baking sheet. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and press the dough into an even layer, filling the baking sheet. Remove the plastic wrap.
Spoon the peanut butter and jelly all over the cookie dough. Use the back of the spoon to swirl the peanut butter and jelly together, gently pushing into the surface of the dough.
Bake until the cookie is lightly puffed and golden brown at the edges, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan before cutting into squares.
Tip: To keep the parchment in place while you’re dolloping the cookie dough, dab a little bit of the dough under each corner of the parchment and press down to adhere it to the pan.
