Peanut Butter and Jelly Scones - Project PB& J

Peanut Butter and Jelly Scones! Peanut Butter and Jelly Scones?  Yep, you heard right.  I don't believe I've ever heard of a peanut butter and jelly scone, but I decided to make them come to fruition this week. You see next Monday April 2, is National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day and my friends over at Once Upon a Loaf and She Runs, She Eats are celebrating by sponsoring Project PB&J. Project PB&J is a contest where bloggers enter peanut butter and jelly recipes in either the form of  baked goods or a sandwich.  You can find out more information about Project PB&J here. I created this scone recipe for contest! Being a scone lover, I decided to give it a whirl!  My scones incorporate peanut butter into the batter.  Strawberry jam is spooned between the layers of dough and then baked.  The result was oh so good!  Go ahead and pour yourself a glass of cold milk.  Make a batch of these and dig in.  It's a childhood favorite, just a little more refined.

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick of cold butter cut into tiny cubes or grated on a grater
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
3-4 Tbs. Strawberry Jam

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Toss the pieces of butter with the flour mixture making sure all of the butter is coated with flour.  (I find it easiest to do this with my hands rather than a spoon.) Heat the peanut butter in the microwave for 30 seconds on high.  Pour the peanut butter into the flour mixture. Add the egg.  Mix all of the ingredients together, until well blended. You may need to add up to a tablespoon of milk to help the mixture come together.  Shape the dough into a ball and divide in half. On a floured surface pat out each half of dough into a circle roughly 7-inches in diameter and 1/2-inch thick. Divide each circle into 8 wedges. Place 8 wedges onto the baking sheet. Top each wedge with strawberry jam.  Spread the jam, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edges.  Top each wedge with the remaining 8 wedges. Press the edge of each scone gently to seal and prevent the jam filling from escaping. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Serve warm. Dust with powdered sugar and drizzle with warmed strawberry jam, if desired.

Notes: I used a combination of homemade jam and preserves that I made last summer.  I used jam as the filling because the strawberries were smaller.  I topped the scones with warmed preserves.