12 Peanut Butter and Jelly Recipes That Go Way Beyond a Sandwich (2024)

FAQs

What can I eat peanut butter and jelly on besides bread? ›

Yes, you can enjoy peanut butter and jelly without carbs by using lettuce wraps instead of bread or by simply spreading the peanut butter and jelly on celery sticks or apple slices for a low-carb snack.

For a fresh take on the standard PB&J, try a Pita Pocket PB&J layered with the great taste of Jif Peanut Butter, Smucker's Jam, and fresh strawberries and bananas. Be creative! Swap out strawberries and strawberry jam for blueberries and blueberry jam, or raspberries and raspberry jam.

Make your sandwich as usual, then top it with chopped nuts or granola. Make homemade granola to customize your upgrade even more. Another way to give your sandwich some texture is by adding potato chips or crushed pretzels. This adds salt to bump up the sweetness of a classic peanut butter and jelly.

Using the knife, scoop a large dollop of peanut butter and spread it onto the top of each slice of bread. Use as much peanut butter as desired. Putting peanut butter on each side will prevent the bread from getting soggy from the jelly- this is especially important if preparing the sandwich ahead of time.

Instead of jelly, add fresh banana slices to your peanut butter sandwich. If you want to be like Elvis, grill both sides of your sandwich on a skillet in a bit of butter. You can also even add a few slices of bacon!

Smooth, generic pb is the standard. On the perfect ratio, Morning Edition consulted an expert: Kevin Pang from the PBS TV show "America's Test Kitchen" suggests that a 5-to-4 is the optimum ratio of peanut butter to jelly. "You really don't need too much of the jelly for it to poke through," Pang said.

Weight gain is a possibility

And unfortunately, eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day could prompt weight gain. "Peanuts, while high in healthy fats, are also higher in calories, and overdoing it on peanut butter may lead to weight gain with overconsumption," Geiger says.

When it comes to the classic peanut butter and jelly (PB&J) sandwich, there's no doubt that grape jelly reigns supreme.

It's power packed

Athletes love PB&Js for all of the reasons listed here and because it provides amazing nutritional benefits. A PB&J has 15 grams of protein per serving, 13 grams of plant-based unsaturated fat and 5 grams of fiber. That keeps you full and helps build muscle.

DEAR JENELLE: You can add grape jelly to smoothies, yogurt, pancakes, French toast, waffles, cottage cheese, oatmeal, ice cream or muffins. Or add it to cream cheese to top a bagel, cornbread, biscuit or toast.