A twist on the PB&J: PB&B, PB&S & nut butter medley 1

Peanut butter is a semi-solid and can therefore hold peaks. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I love Peanut Butter and Jelly. It’s a treat, especially when it’s made with super crunchy peanut butter and real preserves where the fruit still has some of its texture, shape and deep flavor. I like mine on lightly toasted 12 grain bread, with about a tablespoon each of peanut butter and strawberry preserves. However, I like the taste of real fruit so very much that I prefer it to preserves, even when it is not nearly as sweet. So here are some ideas I’ve tried for improving on a classic:

Peanut Butter & Strawberries (PB&S) and Peanut Butter & Banana (PB&B)

Top your bed of nuts with chopped fruit! Here I’m sharing the ideas of strawberries and bananas, but that’s just a start. Try thinly sliced granny smith apples, strips of ripe peaches, chopped raisins, or crushed blackberries.

Add more nuts to your nuts: Nut Butter Medley

I always use natural peanut butter, almond butter, or cashew butter for these sandwiches, meaning that the ingredients list says “nuts, a little salt” and nothing else. If your label reads differently, skip it. The original marketing concern with natural nut butters was that people would see the oil sitting at the top of the jar (perfectly normal) and think there was something wrong with the concoction. The trans fat and other ‘ingredients’ are unnecessary and unnatural except to keep the look and feel of fake nut butters, and so why have them there? Extra points if you grind your own in the store, as you can at places like WholeFoods Markets. I like to take it a step further and make a sort of nut butter medley by adding my own walnuts, cashews, peanuts, hazelnuts, and almonds fresh from the shell, on the spot, per sandwich.

Related articles

• The Nut Butter Face-Off: Almond Butter vs Peanut Butter (empowernetwork.com)
• Peanut Butter Waffles (thefinishedplate.wordpress.com)
• Get Out of Your Nut Rut! 8 Alternatives to Peanut Butter (thekitchn.com)

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