Skip the oven for this No Bake Peanut Butter & Jelly Tart – it’s an easy and refreshing dessert made with just seven ingredients! It has a peanut date crust filled with berry chia jam. This rich and fruity tart is gluten-free, grain-free, refined sugar-free and vegan.
When I started making this tart, it was going to be something else entirely. An almond-crusted tart, with chocolate and berries. Alas, I made a last minute switch to peanuts in the crust, and after tasting the peanut butter-y deliciousness, that idea was scrapped and this one was born, being built as I went.
Oh man, what an amazing creation it turned out to be! This is peanut butter & jelly at it’s finest – and perfect for these warmer days, since there’s NO baking required.
Let’s go back to that crust, though. It’s made with just two ingredients: roasted peanuts and dates. I added a little salt too, but that doesn’t really count. They’re blended up in a food processor or high powered blender until a sticky, nutty dough is formed.
After making the crust, I realized I had essentially made peanut butter cookie larabars by accident. So tasty, you could just stop there! But we have so much goodness to put on top, so instead we’re going to press that crust into the pan. I won’t tell if you snack on the crust a bit, though ;)
The filling is SO easy and takes just a few minutes to come together. The berries are microwaved to soften them, mashed and mixed with chia seeds, and microwaved for another minute. A little coconut oil is stirred in to firm up the filling and help it slice easier when it’s chilled. You can also add a bit of vanilla extract here, if you’d like.
Fresh strawberries are arranged on top of the berry chia filling. Mine are halved, which resulted in a big chunk of strawberry in every bite – you can’t beat that. You could do slices instead, or if you can find little teeny strawberries, you could even leave them whole! Destemmed, of course.
And on top of it all, a nice drizzle of creamy peanut butter to really sandwich in that peanut butter & jelly flavor. Swoooon. Now, the hardest part – letting it set in the fridge, about an hour or so.
You really could dig in immediately, but the jam will be soft. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just messier! I like this one best chilled, though. When you dig your fork in, you get that soft, chewy peanut date crust with bits of crunch, topped with the bright and fresh berry chia filling and those fresh berries…all topped with drippy peanut butter.
It’s peanut butter lover heaven if you ask me, and if you even like PB&J, you’re going to LOVE this. I brought some to a lunch date with my friend Lindsay from Weeknight Bite and when I got home, after she had tried it, I got a text freaking out about this PB&J tart and asking for the recipe.
That same night, Jesse demolished what was left of it in the fridge. It got huge thumbs ups all around – you can’t go wrong with a treat that’s SO easy and SO good! You’ve got to try this one out. Oh, and if you’re Paleo, just sub in almonds/almond butter and you’re good to go. Enjoy :)
- Take PB&J on the go with these GF + Vegan Peanut Butter & Jelly Crumb Bars!
- Get some chocolate in there with these Chocolate Peanut Butter & Jelly Cups – they’re too good!
- Get your PB&J on for breakfast with this Peanut Butter & Jelly Oatmeal.
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Remember to #bakerita if you try the recipe!
- 1½ cups roasted peanuts
- ¾ cup pitted dates (I used 9)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 10 oz. mixed berries (I used strawberries and raspberries)
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
- 21 strawberries, halved (this amount may vary, based on how you want to arrange the strawberries/which pan you use)
- 2 tablespoons creamy natural peanut butter
- Lightly grease a 14x5" rectangular tart pan or 9" tart pan with coconut oil. Set aside.
- Add the pitted dates and roasted peanuts to a food processor or high-powered blender and pulverize until it comes together into a "dough", with small peanut bits remaining. If using a blender, you may want to do it in two batches so you don't burn out the engine of your blender. Press the dough evenly along the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pan.
- Place the berries in a microwave proof bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Mash the berries and stir in the chia seeds, and microwave for another minute. Stir in the coconut oil and vanilla extract, if using. Spread the berry chia filling evenly in the crust.
- Arrange the strawberry halves over the berry jam as desired and drizzle with peanut butter. Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour to set before slicing and serving.
What you’ll need to make this tart…
There's more where that came from!
No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars… No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart (GF & Vegan) Peanut Butter & Jelly Blondies (Gluten Free +… Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart with Pretzel Crust… Chocolate Peanut Butter & Jelly Cups Peanut Butter & Jelly Crumb Bars (GF + Vegan)