Peanut butter and jelly has been one of my go-to sandwiches for a long, long time. It’s the perfect combination of sweet and salty – and I always have the ingredients to make one on hand. I also like desserts that combine these two staples, like coffee cake and bar cookies, and that means that I instantly picked up a package of Trader Joe’s Peanut Butter Blondies when I spotted them on my last shopping trip to Trader Joe’s.
The Trader Joe’s Peanut Butter Blondies are a dessert found in the frozen section of the store. They’re a triple-layered dessert, with a peanut butter blondie base, a strawberry filling and a topping of more peanut butter and crunchy peanut butter bits. The dessert comes pre-sliced and, although the slices are not large, they are fairly heavy and each piece is packed with plenty of flavor. It is frozen and needs to be defrosted at room temperature or in the refrigerator before serving (although in hot weather, you could probably also eat them cold).
The dessert packs lots of peanut butter flavor. The base is cakier than I would expect for a blondie, but it delivers lots of peanut butter flavor and is sturdy enough to support the top layers of the dessert. The top layer is actually described on the package as being a “crispy peanut butter confection” because it includes a crunchy element that reminds me a bit of the inside of a butterfinger bar. It adds a great textural element to the bar, while amping up the overall peanut butter flavor. The jelly layer is bright, fruity and has a strong strawberry flavor. I appreciated that the jelly is thick enough to hold its shape and not bleed into the other layers at all.
Even though they’re pretty decadent as they are, I still wished that these bars were just a little bit bigger to make them feel even more indulgent. That being said, their smaller size means that they’re easy to share or that you can treat yourself to an extra piece if you’re a big peanut butter and jelly fan. They’re a creative twist on a classic blondie and couldn’t be any easier to enjoy. I still love the more traditionally chewy blondie texture, but these are tasty and you can tell after one bite that they’re going to be a crowd pleaser!
What do you think?