Grilled PB&J

My mom will attest to the fact that for eight years I consumed nothing but peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I’m positive that this strict and rigorous diet is what made me the man I am today. And why not eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches over and over and over? This sandwich is nature’s perfect gift. It’s simply not possible to find three other ingredients that fit together quite the way these do.

Or is it?

My dearest Fridgers, I give you the grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Why? Because there’s no food so perfect that you can’t grill it and make it even perfecter. A bratwurst? Grill it. Steak tartare? Grill it. Graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate? Grill it. And yes, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich too.

So let’s walk through the steps required to bring this miraculous thing of beauty to your lips. [Hey, Charlie! What gives? A grilled PB&J? And what was that last week: salami on toast? And what else did I read on these pages? A fifty pound cheeseburger? The fatty melt? I thought you were on a diet. And even more, I thought you were trying to help us. You call this help? This is torture!] I’m sorry, sir. Please hold all questions until the end of the tour.

Let’s begin with the basic ingredients: peanut butter, jelly, bread, and a big tub of I Can’t Believe This Is That Cheap Butter Substitute:

pbj-01

And carrots too. See? It’s healthy! Now, the first step is to grab the jar of peanut butter. Before you open it, however, take a look at the jar and see if you can guess how much peanut butter you have. Looks full, don’t it?

pbj-02

Nope! That’s the First Law of Peanut Butter: you always have less peanut butter than you think. I highly recommend always having two jars on hand. (Or, conversely, always having your hand in two jars.)

pbj-03

Now grab a knife and spread the butter across the bread, like so:

pbj-04

Next is, of course, the jelly. Wonderful, wonderful grape jelly. Theoretically, you could use a different flavor. Of course, theoretically, you could make a peanut butter and Crisco sandwich too. But that would be wrong.

pbj-05

The next step is crucial: clean off the damn George Foreman grill, will you? It’s gross. You’ve probably cooked bacon on it eighteen times in a row, always telling yourself you’ll clean it “tomorrow.” Well, guess what? It’s finally tomorrow. Scrape away:

pbj-06

Now butter one side of the bread and set it butter-side-down on the grill. Right after that, butter the opposite side while you still have a fighting chance:

pbj-07

Lookin’ good so far!

You may have heard the ugly rumor that peanut butter is high in fat. I’m afraid, my friends, this is indeed true. While it does fall in the “good” fat category (due to its nutty origins) it’s still fat and therefore packs a whollop when it comes to calories. But good news is close at hand in the form of a “Fat Reducing” machine. That’s right, kids. Just put the sandwich on the grill and while it’s cooking, Advanced Magical Foreman Technology sucks fifty percent of the fat right out of the food and sends it to your neighbors.

pbj-08

Let the sandwich cook until it looks nice and toasty. At this point the peanut butter and jelly will have gone through a nuclear fusion process, where the peanut butter atoms have bonded to the jelly atoms to produce a new element: Peanutbutterandjellium. It’s in the Carbon group and has an atomic weight of delicious.

pbj-09

Caution: the sandwich you are about to enjoy is extremely hot. (Ha ha! Now you can’t sue me.) But you can send me money—which is exactly what you’ll feel compelled to do when you bite into sandwich perfection.



24 Responses to “Grilled PB&J”

Jill said
on
November 18, 2008 at 7:24 am

OH. MY. G-D.

I’m totally salivating right now. Seriously.

All 3 of my kids eat PB&J every day. It’s the only sandwich they’ll eat. They are going to FREAK when I introduce this wonder-of-the-new-millenium to them.

I wouldn’t want to live in a world without peanut butter. J’adore le butter des peanuts.

Biz said
on
November 18, 2008 at 8:38 am

Charlie – that brings back memories of me and Jennifer sitting across from you with our hands over our eyes so we didn’t have to witness the gooey mess this sandwich makes.

I do remember the nummy sounds you made though! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Megan said
on
November 18, 2008 at 9:20 am

Peanutbutterand jellium! I love it! I love these sandwiches! I also like grilled peanut butter and banana.

Tom Rooney said
on
November 18, 2008 at 10:04 am

Charlie – I don’t know if this passes the “dietetic diet” test, but if we’re dreaming what about a toasted fluffernutter? Maybe you’d put that on a stick and roast over a camp fire. πŸ™‚

Amy said
on
November 18, 2008 at 10:11 am

I really need to clean my foreman πŸ™‚

That actually sounds pretty good. maybe with a banana in it. (When I grill sandwiches on my foreman, I never use butter – am I missing out?)

seelee live (for the love of peanut butter) said
on
November 18, 2008 at 11:17 am

I love this post. My favorite :
“That’s right, kids. Just put the sandwich on the grill and while it’s cooking, Advanced Magical Foreman Technology sucks fifty percent of the fat right out of the food and sends it to your neighbors.”

Your a character! This seems like something PB&CO would make in NYC. ever been there?

For the love of peanut butter—AMEN!!

honi said
on
November 18, 2008 at 11:41 am

OHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GOD>. MY PEANUTBUTTER WORSHIPPING GOD>. lol that looks wonderful

Jennifer said
on
November 18, 2008 at 11:42 am

I don’t know how I am your sister and I have never liked PB & J! I never liked it and never will! But, my kids like it, so I may have to try this on my baby George Foreman!

Charlie said
on
November 18, 2008 at 11:49 am

Tom: Fluffernutter! Sorry, no can do. That brings back memories that just may make it into a future post.

Jennifer: You named one of your children George Foreman?

Kyddryn said
on
November 18, 2008 at 11:52 am

Mmm…I’ve made these before.

Hey – ever get those crescent roll thingies and dollop peanut butter and jelly into them before rolling, sealing the ends, and baking? Its amazing, the things you can put into those crescent roll thingies for dinner, desert, or just because you need to compromise your circulation a little…

Shade and Sweetwater,
K

Deborah said
on
November 18, 2008 at 1:38 pm

Now, you’ve gone and done it.

I crave PB&J sandwiches every night and now I have a new one to try! WooHoo!!

So far my fav has been a toasted one with butter (light butter of course) and jelly on one slice and peanutbutter on the other.

When there’s nothing else that sounds good PB&J always works for me!!

Stems said
on
November 18, 2008 at 2:18 pm

i clean my foreman every time i use it… and now feel like a schmuck for doing so.

runjess said
on
November 18, 2008 at 2:33 pm

That looks amazing.

I too survived off pb&j for years. I’ve moved on to peanut butter and banana, sometimes rekindling with jelly now and then. I toast my pb&b, which is kind of like grilling, except your method looks even better.

Vicki said
on
November 18, 2008 at 10:22 pm

All my brother, some friends and I have to say is “You know, the summer of the pb&jelly sandwiches” and we know exactly what summer it was. We weren’t very smart, we never tried them fried.

Stems~I clean mine every time too. I can’t stand to wait, it’s harder to clean. I know, heat it then lay wet some paper towels on it, it’s still easier just to do it when you’re done cooking on it. I might forget about it and then it’d gag me when I opened it again. I’m not fond of gagging.

Stephanie Quilao said
on
November 20, 2008 at 1:58 pm

LOL! I used to eat the grilled PB&J all the time back in high school. You’ve brought back some happy memories. Nowadays, I use organic butter, and PB &J on Ezekiel bread. What a fun way to get some MUFAs!

Other Blogs Roundup for the Week said
on
November 21, 2008 at 1:20 am

[…] First up is a blog I discovered by a guest post on MizFit’s site (see below), this is Charlie Hills site and a very funny post dealing with grilled peanut butter and jelly http://www.backtothefridge.com/blog/grilled-pbj/. […]

Anonymous said
on
November 21, 2008 at 6:29 am

Awesome! I usually get weird looks when I mention my fondness for grilled PB&J that goes back to childhood. You brought some nice warm fuzzies. And I know what I am having for lunch on Saturday…and mabye dinner too πŸ™‚

Mara said
on
November 21, 2008 at 7:29 am

OMG YUM!!!
I love love love grilled PB&Js… thanks for the nostalgia!

Peanut Butter Lovers Roundup | The Peanut Butter Boy said
on
November 30, 2008 at 11:19 pm

[…] Grilled PB&J from Back to the Fridge […]

bibixs said
on
December 15, 2008 at 9:46 pm

man i just found this website and now my mouth is watering!!!
to bad i just had dinner buuu πŸ™

bibixs said
on
December 15, 2008 at 9:48 pm

have you tried peanut butter and jelly with banana slices?
its my fave and ill bet it tastes good on the grill

Charlie said
on
December 15, 2008 at 10:11 pm

You know, I actually have never had a peanut butter and banana sandwich. And I’ve heard so many good things about it, I don’t know why I haven’t.

Maybe that will be one of my 2009 resolutions.

Back to the Fridge » PB&B Sammies said
on
April 7, 2009 at 12:02 am

[…] grew up on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I like them “regular” and I like them grilled. And although I’ve never tried it, I’m sure I’d like them broiled or even […]

Best No Salt Bread and New Shoes | My Bizzy Kitchen said
on
February 12, 2014 at 2:59 pm

[…] If you haven’t read it, check out his blog post about one of his favorite sandwiches – the grilled peanut butter and sandwich.  This was so gross because the peanut butter got so melty it would ooze out of the sandwich […]