Sans Gluten-Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

Creative ways to spruce up an American classic

Oh, peanut butter and jelly. Oh, how we love thee. Peanut butter and jelly has been an all-American favorite. So much so that there’s a national peanut butter and jelly holiday…April 2, to be exact. According to the National Peanut Board, peanut butter was actually considered a delicacy in the early 1900s. Peanut butter and watercress sandwicheswere served in tea rooms across the country. After its debut at the St. Louis World’s Fair, peanut butter became more affordable. Pre-sliced bread was created soon after and Paul Welch of the well-known Welch’s grape brand, patented grape jelly. The peanut butter and jelly phenomenon grew in popularity during the Great Depression. The sandwich was also on the WWII ration list due to the cheap ingredients and the ability to be set out at room temperature. When the soldiers came home, they continued to eat PB&J and that’s when the peanut butter and jelly craze soared.

In the spirit of Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, I tried to come up with creative ways my daughter TiTi and I could make peanut butter and jelly. During our experiment, we used gluten-free Hawaiian bread since it’s so delicious! We also used natural peanut butter and gluten-free jelly. If you are allergic to peanut butter, I would suggest sunflower butter, which is free of most allergens and just as good.

So, without further adieu, here is what we whipped up in the kitchen.

Sweet, Salty, and Crunchy I tried to incorporate all of TiTi’s favorite things during this experiment. One of the many things she loves is gluten-free pretzels. I like to dip them in peanut butter too for a quick snack. Actually, since we both like pretzels, we almost didn’t have enough left to make our sandwich. I mean who can resist the salty crunchiness? Apparently, not TiTi and I. HA!

Sour and Sweet I had my mom join in on the fun by making her own PB&J concoction. She chose her favorite candy…Sour Patch Kids. It was really a great idea. The sour candy coating gave the PB&J a biting zing while eating it, but turned to sweet at the end.

Just Add Fruit Any kind of fruit will do if you want to spruce up your peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I used dried cranberries because I’ve had them since Thanksgiving and I got tired of looking at them in my cupboard. Basically, I wanted them GONE! So what better way to use them than by sprinkling a few on a sandwich. It actually didn’t turn out bad. The sandwich had a sweet and tart flavor.

Fun at the Zoo TiTi loves her gluten-free animal crackers just as much as pretzels. It was her idea to put the cute, sweet little animals on the creamy PB&J. I loved her idea because it gave the sandwich a nice crunchy texture with a delicately sweet flavor.

PB&J for the Win Drumroll please…the winner of our PB&J kitchen experiment is the peanut butter and jelly with pretzels. I had a feeling TiTi would like it because it was a mix of sweet and salty and not overly sweet. I actually enjoyed the dried cranberry PB&J because of the sweet tartness.

Do you have a favorite peanut butter and jelly recipe you would like to share? If so, send your ideas to specialneedslivingindy@n2pub.com

***Disclaimer: I’m not a nutritionist or a doctor. I’m just a loving mama supporting her daughter and others through their gluten-free journey. If you have questions about the gluten-free diet or celiac disease, please contact your medical professional.***

If you would like to share gluten-free tips, tricks, info, etc. in an upcoming issue of Special Needs Living, email us at SpecialNeedsLivingIndy@n2pub.com.