I’m filing this one under inspired by childhood favorites. I was definitely one of those picky-eater kids who likely drove my parents completely insane as I refused to eat much besides peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

I am not proud of this era of my life, but I must admit that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are still totally OK in my book. 🙂

These cookies are the dessert version, with a cookie base somewhat resembling white bread, and then a peanut butter and jelly jam glaze top. They pair well with milk, as you can probably imagine.

They are also a twist on the classic black and white cookies. I grew up watching Seinfeld after school and always loved the black and white cookie episode. Surprise, the girl with a sweet tooth likes the episode that revolves around being in a bakery. Ha!

And the very first time I visited NYC when I was nineteen or twenty years old, I promptly walked into a random corner bakery and bought a black and white cookie like a total tourist. No shame, no regrets. I mean, who could regret buying a cookie?

If you want to make a homemade version of the classic, then check out the two recipes I used to create this twist version. They both rule and come from sites I love. 🙂

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies, makes 12-15
Adapted from Annie’s Eats and Smitten Kitchen Black and White Cookies 

2 cups cake flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder (aluminum-free)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 cup whole milk

For the glazes:
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons jelly or jam
2-3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk well to remove any clumps in the cake flour, set aside.

In a large bowl combine the softened butter and sugar, cream well. Then stir in the egg and extracts. Then stir in the milk until combined. Now add the cake flour mix to the bowl and stir until your cookie batter forms. The batter will kind of be a cross between cake batter and most cookie batters, soft but won’t spread much as you spoon it onto a baking sheet covered in parchment or a baking mat.

Bake at 350°F for 18-20 minutes. The bottom edges of the cookies will begin to brown and the centers should look cooked (and not gooey). Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack.

In the meantime, make the glazes. For each, in a microwave safe bowl or small pot, combine 3 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of light corn syrup. Stir together well as you heat (or, if microwaving, cook for 30 seconds on high and then stir to combine well).

Then, stir in 1 cup of powdered sugar. Then, stir in either 2 tablespoons of jelly or peanut butter, and if the consistency seems too thin and runny, add another tablespoon of jelly or jam.

Flip all the cookies over, as you want to glaze the flat bottoms. Add some wax paper under the cooling rack to catch any run off glaze. Then spoon the glazes over half of each cookie.

Enjoy! Personally, I like to get a little bit of peanut butter and jelly in each bite, but you can eat these however you like. Just a couple notes here:

-I used a no-sugar added blueberry jam that I love, but if you want your jelly glaze to have a super uniform and smooth consistency, then you might consider going with the real deal childhood grape jelly.

I liked the little specks of blueberry you could see in my glaze, and I didn’t want to buy a different jelly just for this one recipe, but if the look bothers you, just use something more uniform in texture.

-You may have some leftover glaze after icing all the cookies. I worked on this adaptation a couple times and found it hard to make just the right amount of glaze. This was as close as I got.

The original recipes have you make twice this many cookies, which is great if you want to make that many, but I was aiming to make around a dozen so worked up glaze recipes that corresponded. See what you think and let us know how it went for you.

Thanks and happy baking! xo. Emma

Print Pin

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour cake
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder aluminum-free
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup butter softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon lemon extract
• ½ cup milk whole

For the glazes:

• ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup light
• 2 cups sugar powdered
• 2-3 tablespoons jelly or jam
• 2-3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter creamy

Instructions

• In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk well to remove any clumps in the cake flour, set aside.
• In a large bowl combine the softened butter and sugar, cream well. Then stir in the egg and extracts. Then, stir in the milk until combined. Now, add the cake flour mix to the bowl and stir until your cookie batter forms.

  The batter will kind of be a cross between cake batter and most cookie batters, soft but won’t spread much as you spoon it onto a baking sheet covered in parchment or a baking mat.
• Bake at 350°F for 18-20 minutes. The bottom edges of the cookies will begin to brown and the centers should look cooked (and not gooey). Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack.
• In the meantime make the glazes. For each, in a microwave safe bowl or small pot, combine 3 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of light corn syrup. Stir together well as you heat (or, if microwaving, cook for 30 seconds on high and then stir to combine well).

  Then, stir in 1 cup of powdered sugar. Then, stir in either 2 tablespoons of jelly or peanut butter, and if the consistency seems too thin and runny, add another tablespoon of jelly or jam.
• Flip all the cookies over, as you want to glaze the flat bottoms. Add some wax paper under the cooling rack to catch any run off glaze. Then, spoon the glazes over half of each cookie.

Notes

-I used a no-sugar added blueberry jam that I love, but if you want your jelly glaze to have a super uniform and smooth consistency, then you might consider going with the real deal childhood grape jelly.

I liked the little specks of blueberry you could see in my glaze, and I didn't want to buy a different jelly just for this one recipe, but if the look bothers you, just use something more uniform in texture.

-You may have some leftover glaze after icing all the cookies. I worked on this adaptation a couple times and found it hard to make just the right amount of glaze. This was as close as I got.

The original recipes have you make twice this many cookies, which is great if you want to make that many, but I was aiming to make around a dozen so worked up glaze recipes that corresponded. See what you think and let us know how it went for you.

Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman.