Spicy-Savory PB&J (Spicy Peanut Butter Sandwich) Recipe on Food52 (2024)

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Spicy-Savory PB&J (Spicy Peanut Butter Sandwich) Recipe on Food52? ›

Heat the butter or oil in a pan on medium-high heat. Spread the peanut butter onto one slice of bread and the orange marmalade onto the other. Then sprinkle the curry powder onto either piece of bread. Squeeze the Sriracha onto the peanut butter slice, spread it out, and top it with fresh basil.

"Put peanut butter on both slices of the bread with the jelly in the middle," they offer up. "This will keep your bread from soaking up the jelly and getting soggy." Similar with the first tip, the key is minimizing the amount of bread exposed to the jelly for hours on end.

Add Fresh Fruit

You've probably added bananas to your PB&J. But how about blueberries, strawberries (amazing with strawberry jam), apples or even grapes? Give the little ones a chance to build their own sandwich or pack 'em a surprise. This peanut butter and jelly idea makes the perfect lunch for kids.

You can further augment the gustatory potential of the peanut butter by using both vanilla extract and almond extract in your dough—just a splash of the latter is enough to boost your cookies' nuttiness (while remaining subtle enough that no one will cotton onto the presence of drupe essence in your legume dessert).

A coupe of tablespoons of each on each piece of bread is plenty. Cover with plastic if making further ahead of time. These are great to make the night before, but if you want to make your sandwiches further ahead, once cut, wrap them in plastic wrap and keep the refrigerated, then you can just pop them into lunchboxes.

You can also add crunch elements like coconut flakes, granola, or chia seeds. If you're feeling adventurous, try the popular bacon-peanut butter combo, or try Elvis's famous peanut butter, bacon, and banana combination.

So it's not surprising that the average American child eats around 1,500 PB&Js before graduating from high school — or nearly 100 PB&Js per year since birth! — according to the National Peanut Board. Beyond school lunch boxes, PB&Js are the ideal make-ahead sandwich, since they don't need to be refrigerated.

"The secret is putting peanut butter on both halves of the bread," Muñoz said. "There should only be enough jam to taste the fruit, but the peanut butter should be the showcase."

It's hard to resist the nostalgia of a classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich made with grape jelly, but overall more prefer strawberry. Samuel Campbell, owner of Indianapolis-based restaurant PB&J Factory sees this in action daily. "Grape is a classic flavor," admits Campbell.

Which jelly goes best with peanut butter? ›

When it comes to the classic peanut butter and jelly (PB&J) sandwich, there's no doubt that grape jelly reigns supreme. Our research indicates that its sweet, fruity flavor perfectly complements the creamy richness of peanut butter, creating a harmonious blend of taste and texture that's hard to resist.

Make sure you you spread the peanut butter out to the edges of the bread. Apply the jelly to one slice of the bread but keep jelly about a half an inch away from the edge of the bread on all sides. By doing this, the peanut butter will "seal" the sandwich and it will not get soggy.

Some people said the trick to a non-soggy sandwich is putting peanut butter on both slices of bread and then spreading the jelly in the middle. For those who prefer jelly on top of peanut butter, one tweeter suggested loading up both sides for an extra ooey gooey treat.

The Ratios

To my taste, either equal parts or more jam than peanut butter is better, though double the amount of jam to peanut butter is a bit much. My personal preference is right in the middle, about 50% more jam than peanut butter by volume, but if that's too sweet for you, a 1:1 ratio will work too.

Salt: I use sea salt for this recipe. It's optional, but salt does make peanut butter taste better. Sweetener: I always add a little bit of maple syrup or honey when making peanut butter.

Banana shake sounds perfect. Especially good when the grilled pb&j is on a multi-grain bread with chunky pb and apple butter. :) Nutella on a pb&j is pretty awesome too. Thin apple slices, adds some crunch and a bit of sweetness.

It's delicious

Something fruity, something rich and fatty and something to spread it on. Chef and author Justin Warner calls this “the law of peanut butter and jelly.” The fat in peanut butter is mostly good fat, the sweetness comes from the jelly, and the bread is the vehicle that holds all this gloriousness together.