Recipe Friday: PB&J Three Ways

Happy National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day! The average American will have eaten more than 2,000 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by the time they graduate from high school. 

Here are three different takes on the classic flavor combination. 

Grown-Up PB&J Toast

Ingredients

2 slices of bread
1 ½ T unsalted peanut butter
½ ripe medium nectarine, diced
8–10 large blackberries, chopped
2 tsp honey (or add more to taste)

Method

1. Toast the bread, and spread peanut butter on each toast.

2. In a small bowl, mix the nectarines and blackberries. Spoon the fruit mixture on top of the toast.

3. Drizzle a teaspoon of honey on top of each slice of toast.

Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly Chicken Wings

Recipe courtesy National Peanut Board

Ingredients

3-4 lb. organic chicken wings, cut into two pieces - drumstick and wing
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and black pepper

Ingredietns for Peanut Butter and Jelly Sauce:

½ cup creamy organic peanut butter, salted and unsweetened (room temperature)
1/3 cup high quality concord grape jelly or jam (1/2 cup for sweeter)
3 cloves minced garlic
3-4 T water, as needed
salt and pepper, to taste
red pepper flakes, optional

To Serve

Chopped roasted peanuts
thinly sliced scallions
red pepper flakes

Method

1. Preheat your grill to hot. All the burners. Close the cover to allow to heat up. Rinse and pat dry the wings. Drizzle the wings with olive oil and coat evenly on all sides. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Turn off center two burners (or one, depending on grill). Leave outside burners set to hot. Place wings on the hot grill over center burners (that should be off) and/or on top shelf rack. Note the wings on the top rack will cook faster. Close the grill. At no time should the wings ever be over direct heat/flame. We are indirect cooking them.

2. Check the wings at 15 minutes, just to be sure there are no wings too close to the direct flame, you can move around as needed if some get more heat, but don't flip yet. At this point the wings should still look somewhat pale, but not raw. Check again at 30 minutes. At this point the top of the wings should have a nice, very light brown color. Flip all the wings over, the bottoms should be golden brown. Any wing that you can't pick up (stuck to the grill still) these may need another five minutes or so. Check the wings at 45 minutes. Just to be sure nothing is getting too much heat. Swap any around as needed, if some are getting too much.

3. Meanwhile in a medium bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the sauce. Add water, as needed, the sauce should be thick, but not so thick it won’t mix together. Whisk until well blended. At 1 hour, have a medium sized bowl ready. Remove the wings in groups of four to eight. Place into the bowl and add several tablespoons of the sauce. Shake / stir well to coat. Make as saucy as you’d like.

4. Place the coated wings on the top rack. If your grill doesn't have a top rack, place back in the center of the grill where the burners are off. Continue with remaining wings until all are sauced and added back to the grill. If all the wings are on the top rack turn on all burners to high. (If not, leave off the burners where the wings are) close the cover and in increments of three to five minutes, check the wings you are cooking until desired crispness and char is achieved. Remove from the grill. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts, scallions and/or red pepper flakes as desired.

Peanut Butter Jelly Cake Pops

Recipe coutesy National Peanut Board

Ingredients

1 dark chocolate sponge cake mix made in a 13x9 inch pan
1 cup smooth or crunchy peanut buter
½ cup grape jelly
3 3½ oz bars dark chocolate, melted
24 cake pop sticks
assorted sprinkles for decoration

Method

1. Bake the cake as directed and let cool for 15 minutes.

2. In a large bowl crumble the baked cake with your hands until it resembles breadcrumbs. Transfer the crumbs to a stand mixer and add the peanut butter and jelly. Mix on low speed until the cake comes together like a soft dough.

3. Line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper. Take a small amount of the cake mixture, about 2-3 T and roll it into a ball. Place on the parchment paper. Repeat with the rest of the mixture and then transfer the pan to your freezer.

4. Melt the chocolate in the microwave making sure to do it in small stages or it can burn. Once the chocolate has melted and has no lumps, dip each cake pop and then let the excess chocolate run back into the chocolate bowl. Decorate with your sprinkles and place on the parchment paper to harden.