Peanut Butter And Jelly Traybake Cake
Peanut butter and jelly is a classic American flavour combination. This traybake recipe is a riff on the beloved peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Simple to make and delicious to eat, it’s a great way to use up leftover jelly or jam.
Dive Right In
- Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwich
- Why Make Peanut Butter And Jelly Traybake?
- Peanut Butter And Jelly Traybake Cake
- Ingredients
- How To Make Peanut Butter And Jelly Traybake
- Bran In Wholemeal Flour
- Other Recipes Using Jam You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- The Recipe
Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwich
The peanut butter and jelly sandwich (PB&J is a staple in many American households. It’s especially popular amongst families with children as it’s such an easy sandwich to make. There’s even an annual peanut butter and jelly day in the States on the 2nd April.
The classic jelly to use in a PB&J is grape, although the first ever sandwich recipe recommended currant or crabapple jelly. These days pretty much anything goes and either jelly or jam is acceptable. But grape jelly, raspberry jam and strawberry jam are the general favourites.
Incidentally, that first ever recipe appeared in the Boston Cooking School Magazine in 1901. It’s popularity grew when sliced bread was invented in the 1920s and then in the 1930s during the depression when money was tight and food was scarce.
It didn’t become widespread though until the Second World War when American soldiers received nutritious and easily portable peanut butter as part of their rations.
Grape jelly was already on the ration book from the First World War. So it was an easy step to combine the two together in a sandwich. They enjoyed it so much, they bought the concept home with them. And the rest, so they say, is history.
Why Make Peanut Butter And Jelly Traybake?
There’s no better reason to make this peanut butter and jelly traybake other than it’s easy, fun and delicious. But in case you need a bit more persuading, here are a few more reasons why you might like to bake it.
- Child-Friendly – As it’s such a simple bake, it’s a good one to get kids involved in kitchen activities. They’ll enjoy blobbing jam onto the batter and swirling it around as well as the eating.
- Great for Sharing – A traybake is ideal for gatherings, parties, picnics and potlucks. It’s a shareable bake that’s likely to be a hit with both kids and adults. And it’s easy to transport too.
- Nostalgic Flavours – This traybake offers a creative twist on a classic American childhood favourite which is likely to evoke fond memories of enjoying peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
- Nutritious – Despite the sugar in this bake, it’s actually quite a nutritious one. Peanut butter and eggs are full of protein as well as any number of vitamins and minerals and the cake is made with wholemeal flour, so it’s rich in fibre too. The fruit in jam gives additional benefits in the form of fibre, vitamins and antioxidants.
- Quick And Easy – Traybakes are one of the easiest bakes to make. This peanut butter and jelly version is no exception. In fact, it’s easier than most as there’s no need to cream the butter. You just melt it. It’s an accessible cake recipe for all levels of bakers.
Peanut Butter And Jelly Traybake Cake
I always thought peanut butter and jelly was a bit of an odd combination – until I tried it. Sandwiches don’t quite do it for me, but wow is it good in this cake. Rhetorical question. It absolutley is.
The peanut butter gives umami notes to the bake which make it feel surprisingly grown up. And the pairing of salt and sweet is a firm favourite. Jelly or jam give bursts of fruity delight and the sponge is both moist and light. The inclusion of kefir provides faint notes of tartness which tempers some of the sweetness.
Ingredients
This peanut butter and jelly traybake is quite a simple cake. As long as you have peanut butter and jam or jelly in the cupboard, you should be good to go.
Flour
If you’ve made any of my cakes before, you’ll know my preferred baking flour is wholemeal spelt flour. Click on the link to find out why I think it’s so good. However, it’s fine to use ordinary wholemeal flour or indeed any ancient grain flour.
Jelly
I’ve used jelly in this traybake rather than jam. My hedgerow jelly was the first jar that came to hand when I opened the cupboard. But you don’t have to use jelly; any smoothish jam will do the trick. It does look better if you use a dark coloured jam rather than a pale one though, for contrast. The swirls are more defined.
Kefir
This cake is another good way of using up kefir. If you make it yourself you’ll know there’s usually more than you can use. Kefir works really well in baked goods, but if you don’t have any use buttermilk or watered down yoghurt instead. It needs to be runny rather than firm.
Peanut Butter
Try to use a good quality smooth peanut butter that has no added oil, sugar or anything other than salt. If it’s an unsalted variety, just add an additional pinch of salt to the cake batter.
How To Make Peanut Butter And Jelly Traybake
As already mentioned, this peanut butter and jelly traybake is a quick and easy bake to prepare. All that’s really required is a bit of stirring. You really don’t need electric beaters or a stand mixer.
Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions, timings and quantities of ingredients used.
Step 1. Melt Butter
Take a large saucepan and melt the butter in it over a gentle heat. As soon as it’s melted, remove from the heat. Add the peanut butter and stir until smooth.
Step 2. Add Sugar And Eggs
Add the sugar and salt to the pan and stir well.
Then beat in the eggs, one by one until they’re both fully incorporated.
Step 3. Sieve Flour
Using a wide gauge sieve, sift the flour and baking powder into the saucepan. If there are any large pieces of bran left in the sieve, either throw them back into the bowl or transfer them to the compost bin. (see section on bran below)
Stir in the flour until it’s just combined, than stir in the kefir, buttermilk or watered down yoghurt until that’s combined too.
Scrape the batter into a lined 20cm (8 inch) sq. tin or greased silicone mould. Level it with the back of a spoon or give the pan a couple of sharp bangs on the counter top.
Give the jam or jelly a good stir to loosen it. If it’s really thick though, you might need to partially melt it over a low heat. But be careful not to make it too runny either.
Then add teaspoonfuls of the jam on top of the cake batter and swirl it through using a skewer or a teaspoon handle. Try not to over swirl or the traybake will look muddy rather than pretty. You want to see those swirls.
Bake in the centre of the oven. You’ll know it’s done when the cake is well risen and the top is firm to the touch.
Transfer the tin to a wire rack and leave to cool. Once the cake is completely cool, cut it into nine squares and remove from the tin with a palette knife.
Top Tips
To make a larger version, double the ingredients and use a larger pan. You may need to bake it for a little longer though.
The cake is at it’s best served on the day of baking. However, it’s still nearly as good on day two, day three and even day four if kept in an air tight container.
Bran In Wholemeal Flour
The bran in wholemeal flour is one of the elements that makes it so good for you. Bran contains a mahoosive amount of fibre. However, some wholemeal flours, usually the stone ground ones, often include bits of chaff as well as particularly large pieces of bran.
This doesn’t really matter if you’re baking bread, biscuits or fruit cakes, but if you want a light sponge, they can be a bit of a nuisance. So when I’m making lighter bakes, I remove them.
To do this, I use a wide gauge sieve so I can get as much of the bran through as possible, but if there’s anything left in the sieve, it either gets used in another bake, goes into a smoothie or gets thrown into the compost bin.
Wheat bran is a powerhouse of nutrition. It’s very high in insoluble fibre which is good for both gut and bowel health. However, it also contains a whole heap of minerals. Copper, zinc, selenium and manganese are particularly noteworthy. (Ref: Dr Axe)
So, if you have any bits of bran left in your sieve, try to use them in something else if you can.
Other Recipes Using Jam You Might Like
- Chocolate buttercream Victoria sponge cake
- Jam almond cake
- Jam coconut slice
- Jam doughnut muffins
- Jam turnovers (hand pies)
- Jammy flapjacks (only three ingredients)
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this peanut butter and jelly traybake cake, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or advice for making traybakes?
Please rate the recipe. If you post pictures of your creations on social media, use the hashtag #tinandthyme so I can see them.
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If you’d like more peanut butter recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Peanut Butter And Jelly Traybake. PIN IT.
Peanut Butter And Jelly Traybake Cake
Ingredients
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 80 g smooth peanut butter (4 tbsp)
- 125 g golden caster sugar
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
- 2 medium eggs
- 140 g wholemeal spelt flour or swap for wholemeal flour
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- 60 ml kefir, buttermilk, sour milk or watered down yoghurt
- 60 g jam of your choice (3 tbsp) or jelly (I used my hedgerow jelly)
Instructions
- Set the oven to 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4).
- In a large saucepan, melt the butter over a gentle heat.100 g unsalted butter
- Remove from the heat, add the peanut butter and stir until smooth.80 g smooth peanut butter
- Add the sugar and salt and stir well.125 g golden caster sugar
- Beat in the eggs, one by one.2 medium eggs
- Using a wide gauge sieve, sift in the flour and baking powder. If there are any large pieces of bran left in the sieve, either keep them for something else or transfer them to the compost bin.140 g wholemeal spelt flour, 1 ¼ tsp baking powder, 1 pinch fine sea salt
- Stir in the flour until it’s just combined, than stir in the kefir until that’s combined too.60 ml kefir, buttermilk, sour milk or watered down yoghurt
- Scrape the batter into a lined 20cm (8 inch) sq. tin or greased silicone mould. Level it, then add teaspoonfuls of the jam* on top and swirl it into the cake batter using a skewer or a teaspoon handle. Try not to over swirl or the traybake will look muddy rather than pretty. You want to see those swirls.60 g jam of your choice
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 35-40 minutes or until the cake is well risen and the top is firm to the touch.
- Allow to cool in the tin, then cut into nine even squares.
This is the perfect cake to take to a picnic or bbq party. The combination of peanut butter and jelly is always a hit with kids and adults. Easy to transport too.
Thank you Gloria. It’s always popular for sure, even if people here in the UK are a bit bemused by the combination. Enjoy your picnics and bbq.