I can’t tell you how happy I was to get to this recipe. Why? Because it doesn’t get much simpler than this (unless someone else makes it for you). And at this point in MoFo, I desperately needed a brainless PB & J recipe. I couldn’t let you go with just the instructions on how to put together a PB & J – that knowledge is pretty much hard-wired in all of us, so I tagged on a recipe for Whole Wheat Maple Cherry Seed Bread (which is what I used as the foundation and roof for these sangies). Without bread, what are sandwiches? A mess, I tell ya!
Team these up with a bowl of tomato soup and I’m back in tween heaven (except back then we called it pre-teen). 29 Ways to Honor the Glory of Peanut Butter & Jelly featured this at Number 11 on their list with a recipe from Chow.
Grilled PB & J Sandwiches
Makes 2
4 slices really good bread (see recipe below)
smooth or chunky natural peanut butter
jam or jelly, your favorite flavor
coconut oil
Slather:
Heat up a skillet and brush a tiny bit of coconut oil in the pan. Generously coat one slice of bread with peanut butter and another with jam. Unite the slices in gooey bliss and gently place in the pan. Brush the exposed slice of bread lightly with coconut oil. When the bottom of the sandwich is nicely browned, carefully flip and brown on the other side.
Slice:
With care, lift the sandwich from the pan and place on a cutting board. It’s going to break your heart a little, but buck up and cut the sandwich in half and be prepared to get splashed with filling.
Serve:
Place the cut sandwiches on plates, pour yourself a giant glass of icy cold nut milk, and devour.
Whole Wheat Maple Cherry Seed Bread
Makes 1 8″ x 4″ loaf
1 cup non-dairy milk, warmed
1/4 cup warm water
3 tbsp. pure maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp. (one packet) regular yeast
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup+ bread flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dried tart cherries, chopped
1/4 cup pepitas
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
Lightly spray a large bowl with cooking oil. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the warm milk, water, maple syrup and yeast. Stir gently and then let sit for about 5 minutes.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flours and salt. With the stand mixer on low, pour the flour mixture into the bowl and using the hook attachment, knead for about 10 minutes. If the dough sticks to your fingers, add more flour – but just enough to make the dough tacky, not dry. Add the cherries, pepitas, and sunflower seeds, and knead until incorporated into the dough.
Place the dough in the oiled bowl, cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise for an hour or so. Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly oil an 8″ x 4″ loaf pan. When the dough has risen, place it on a floured surface and roll into a pudgy log. Place into the prepared pan. Bake the loaf for 30-35 minutes or until a deep brown on top. About 5 minutes before the end of the baking time, I remove the loaf from the pan and place it directly on the oven rack so that the bottom can brown and crisp.
Let loaf cool completely on a rack before slicing and serving.
A classic! When I was about 11 my mum got really ill and she asked me to make her and my sister some dinner because she couldn’t get up. I wasn’t sure what to do so I made a whole loaf full of PB&J sandwiches! Apparently I carried it all in on one plate too like a huge tower
OH my gosh! How cute and funny! I’ll bet your mom was cracking up (but was also touched).
You always have an added little touch to make it exciting
The bread looks fabulous, will have to make some this weekend!
Thanks, Kelli. Bread is one of my favorite things to make – probably for the wonderful smells coming from the oven!
Isn’t that the truth! One of the best smells ever. A long time ago, I decided that I wanted to learn to climb, so a friend and I would go to the indoor climbing gym together – the gym that just happened to be next door to a bread bakery. Somehow we were always starving when we came out of there
Haha! Talk about providing motivation to climb!
I’m making bread this weekend. These PB&J sandwiches will be in my belly by Sunday!
Perfect Sunday food!!
Oh that bread sounds incredible and the perfect base to allow the classic PB&J magic to happen. Nom!
I couldn’t just use plain ol’ bread!
The bread looks absolutely delish! I can just imagine how tasty it must be as a Grilled PB & J sandwich! Absolutely comfortable, like a warm pair of PJ’s on cold fall evening.
There is something very comforting about PB&J, isn’t there?
Great lipsmacking tasty food! Your home-made bread looks amazing too! 😀😀
Thanks, friend!
Brilliant! I’d never have thought to grill PB&J’s, but it sounds like perfection. Especially with that bread!
Yum!!! I love grilled PB & J sandwiches! I learned to make them from a friend years ago and totally forgot! The peanut butter gets so melty. I have to make some this weekend. Plus the bread looks amazing. Thank you!
That bread is amazing! Another remarkable recipe.
Awww! Thanks!
You are killing me with the bread recipes! I am glad that fall has arrived and I can turn my oven back on, let the bread making begin!
Let the cool, bread weather begin!
Grilled is always better – except for grilled bologna, of course! Celeste
I never thought about something like it!!!!
I hadn’t either!
I tasted peanut butter and pb & j sandwiches for the first time only 10 years ago, when lived in the US for a while. Can you believe I’ve never tried the grilled version? After looking at your ooey gooey lovelies, I have decided that I have to redeem that really soon.
I’d never tried a grilled PB&J before either – amazing!
Oh yeah, a grilled PB & J sounds awesome! I can’t believe that I’ve never tried this.
Grilled PB & J is without a doubt the best way to enjoy it. And that bread- well that just takes it to a whole new level!
Never would have paired it with tomato soup but now I clearly have to try it. My taste buds are tingling