SWEET, SALTY, STICKY!

This was the first time I had ever tried peanut butter and jam, but I figured since I’m a bacon and maple syrup convert that these flavours would be right up my alley. I think ‘Grape Jelly’ is traditional in the US, but I couldn’t get my hands on that here, so I tried mine with Strawberry jam as that’s what I had in the store-cupboard. And it was delicious!

RECIPE: PB&J BLONDIES

MAKES: 20X30CM TRAY (ROUGHLY 12 SQUARES)

INGREDIENTS:

• 130g BUTTER, diced
• 200g GOLDEN SUGAR
• 40g GOLDEN SYRUP
• 75g WHITE CHOCOLATE, roughly chopped
• 2 EGGS
• 1 tsp. VANILLA PASTE
• 185g PLAIN FLOUR
• ^_1/2 tsp. BAKING POWDER
• Pinch SALT
• 140g PEANUT BUTTER (70g for the mixture, 70g to swirl on top)
• 80g STRAWBERRY JAM

METHOD:

1. Heat the BUTTER in a saucepan over a medium heat until golden brown. This will take about 5 minutes.
2. Add the GOLDEN SUGAR, GOLDEN SYRUP, WHITE CHOCOLATE, and 70g PEANUT BUTTER. Stir until melted, then remove from the heat and leave it to cool for a couple of minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 190c and line a 20cmx30cm tin with baking paper. Transfer the sugar-chocolate mixture into a mixing bowl and, with an electric whisk running, mix in the EGGS one at a time. Then add the VANILLA PASTE.
4. Fold in the FLOUR, BAKING POWDER, and SALT until there are no white streaks remaining.
5. Pour into the prepared tin and push into the edges, levelling the top. Microwave the STRAWBERRY JAM and the remaining 70g PEANUT BUTTER separately just to loosen them up for swirling – about 10 seconds each. Then drop teaspoons randomly on top and swirl with a skewer. Don’t swirl too much – as you don’t want it to blend in with the mixture.
6. Bake for 25 minutes. Leave to cool completely in the tin. Then, remove and cut into squares.