Strawberry-Peanut Butter Tart! If you're looking for easy peanut butter dessert recipes, look no further! This All-American tart boasts the flavors of a classic PB & J in tart form! A great take-along for summer potlucks, Memorial Day and the 4th of July. 

Note: This post was originally posted on August 1, 2012 and updated on May 21, 2019. This post contains affiliate links.

Strawberry-Peanut Butter Tart

I'm not gonna lie, folks, the recipe I'm sharing today is from the 4th of July. {Hence the stars.}

Why has it taken me so long, you ask? Well, things have been busy around here. Between opening the husband's new office, working there, working my old job, working for myself, and hardly ever being around during the weekends, there hasn't been a whole lot of extra time laying around. I have also been eating nothing but leaves, seeds, vegetables, and fruits for the past week thanks to the silent threats of my {extremely} tight jeans... and while I thoroughly enjoy all of the above food categories, I will spare you from my self-inflicted restrictions.

The irony here is that, during times when I'm on my best nutritional behavior, I tend to have the most creative, most decadent recipe ideas. {There are a handful I'm thinking of at this very moment that I can't wait to try out once my jeans and butt start to get along again}. I liken it to roaming through the blazing desert and having hallucinations of an oasis. A body deprived of sugar will start to imagine all kinds of good stuff. The mind is a funny thing.

Anyway, this Strawberry-Peanut Butter Tart is no hallucination. It's real, it's easy, and it's good. Like a giant peanut butter cookie slathered with strawberry jam, this tart is just another {delicious} way to get a PB & J fix. Sometimes simple really is best.

A Few Tips

This easy peanut butter dessert is really just made up of two parts -- a peanut butter "cookie" dough for the tart shell and jam for the filling. This makes it an extremely {sometimes dangerously!} easy recipe to whip up on the fly if you need something to bring along to a pot luck or patriotic summer party.

Here are a few tips for success:

• You can use creamy or crunchy peanut butter. If you use all-natural peanut butter, make sure to stir it thoroughly to combine the oil that settles at the top so that it's not too runny. {This could affect the "wetness" of the dough.}
• Any jam goes! I used strawberry, but raspberry, blueberry or classic grape would work, too.
• Using a tart pan makes it easy to pop the finished product out, but you can also use a pie plate or cast iron skillet as I did, and simply cut the slices. Waiting until the tart is slightly cooled will help make sure the slices don't crumble.
• I created small star shapes by lightly flattening the dough and then cutting out the shapes with small cookie or fondant cutters, then rolled small bits of dough into little balls. If you don't have small cookie cutters you can just crumble or scoop bits of dough onto the top abstractly -- it will still taste great!
• Try not to over-bake the tart as this will make the dough tough and crunchy. Remove from the oven when the edges are slightly golden; the crust will harden a bit as it cools.

I'll be sure to write down all of my recipe fantasies this week so I'll have some fun stuff to share once I am out of the desert I allow myself to indulge a little again. In the meantime, hold yourself over with this tart. 🙂

Strawberry-Peanut Butter Tart

The Kitchen Prep

Strawberry-Peanut Butter Tart! If you’re looking for easy peanut butter dessert recipes, look no further! This All-American tart boasts the flavors of a classic PB & J in tart form! A great take-along for summer potlucks, Memorial Day and the 4th of July. 

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 1 9-inch tart, 10-12 servings

Ingredients

  

• 1 ½ sticks butter {12 tablespoons} softened
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour {you may need a bit more if dough is not stiff enough}
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup peanut butter {creamy or crunchy whichever you prefer}
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ - ¾ cup strawberry jam

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a fluted tart pan {with removal bottom} or pie plate with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter, peanut butter, granulated and confectioners' sugars, beating until well incorporated and smooth.
• Mix in egg and vanilla until fully incorporated. Add flour mixture to peanut butter mixture a little at a time and combine until a soft dough forms.
• Take half of the dough, and press into bottom of greased tart pan and up the sides. Spoon strawberry jam in the center of the dough, and spread carefully, leaving a ½ inch border all the way around.
• With half of the remaining dough, create a rim around the tart, pressing carefully to adhere. Using the rest of the dough, create shapes {if desired}, balls, or dollop by the spoonful over the top of the jam.
• Bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden around the edge of the crust. Remove from oven and allow tart to cool for about 15-20 minute to allow the jam to set. Carefully remove ring and transfer to a serving plate. {Or cut directly in the pie plate.}

Notes

Adapted from Food Network Magazine

Original photos from 2012: