Jason was musing about a peanut butter and bannana sandwich that he had the other day. He seemed to quite enjoy it, so I asked him about it:
Alex: Seriously, are they any good? I’ve never tried peanut butter and banana together, so I have no idea :-/. Neither product is particularly sweet, though I imagine the slight saltiness of the peanut butter might act as a sort of “seasoning” to the banana?
Jason: Well… I like it. It’s probably just something you have to try and see if you like it yourself. Actually it’s pretty similar to the old stand-by of peanut butter and jelly, except the jelly part is a bit firmer and not quite as sweet ;-)
Alex: So, how much peanut butter do I apply? Just enough to cover the bread, or do I slather it on?
Jason: Um... somewhere in between, I guess :-/ …probably another “personal preference” thing.
Alex: And, about 1/4“ slices for the banana, eh?
Jason: I’ve found that slicing the banana once lengthwise, and then each of those pieces in half, gives you four pieces that fit nicely on a slice of bread, and is easier than cutting it into many coin-shaped slices. Not sure if that makes sense... wish I could do banana-slicing diagrams in ASCII.
Alex: I’m not used to typing “banana”, and you wouldn’t believe how many times I ran into the banana problem during this e-mail <g>.
So, that covers the exposition. Fast forward to the present: I’m jonesing for a peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich. And, I’m stoked because I see that there’s still a banana left on the countertop. So, I trod downstairs and open the fridge — but, there’ no peanut butter! Feh. My hopes are dashed. (Well, ok, there was a smidgen of peanut butter left, but still not enough to make a sandwich)
So, if I go to Kroger tomorrow or within the next few days, maybe I’ll buy some more peanut butter. I'll have to ask Jason which kind he prefers. Really, I haven’t had peanut butter since I was a kid, primarily because of its high fat content (16g/serving, yikes!). However, most of that (13g) is actually unsaturated fat (the less-bad fat) and peanut butter apparently has no trans fatty acids either (the hella-bad fat). So, maybe I’ll have to give peanut butter another chance.
Thinking it over, I recall Jason saying that I could add condiment x to make the peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich even better. Now, what was it? Salt? Sugar? Cinnamon, or something? Maybe I just have peanut butter on the brain, but I just can’t think of it at the moment. Hmm.
Update: In the comments, Jason mentions that condiment x == honey. Aha.
Oh what you’re talking about is child’s play here, people. You’ve really got to take it the one step further and make a Velvet Elvis, which is what the former Deli Haus restaurant in Boston used to call a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich. It’s made like a grilled cheese except instead of putting cheese between the buttered pieces of bread–butter face out–you put peanut butter and banana.
As far as either that or a regular peanut butter and banana sandwhich, I would agree with the idea that you don’t skimp but don’t slather, but that it’s worth the time to put the many man coin shaped (3/8″ maybe) slices.
Round banana slices on a PB&B? No way – slice laterally, dude. Only way to go.
I do concurr, however, with Adrian’s amount recommendation – you need a reasonable amount to hold the banana in place during consumption. You might even try PB’ing both pieces of bread and see how you like that. :)
condiment x = honey
I would also have to go with the lateral slicing method.
However, if you have any marshmellow fluff lying about, you may want to make the banana fluffer-nutter. They are, in my opinion, rather tasty. Or you could also go the healthier route, melding the PB and raisin with the PB and banana, making a PB, raisin, and banana sandwich.
yum.
“trans fatty acids (the hella-bad fat)” … hehehe
The next question is, of course, creamy or crunchy?
Yum! I sometimes add mayonnaise to my pb&b. And I always slice the banana into coin-shaped pieces – an old habit.
I have made these using peanut butter on one side of bread and Miracle Whip (not mayonnaise) on the other. I thought that’s what y’all meant by “condiment x,” but since you didn’t, I thought I’d throw it in there.
This is so great, Who would have thought there were so many comments on Banana sandwiches. I am going to try the VELVET ELVIS. Only I am going to add sesame seed to the outside when I grill it. Maybe bacon with the peanut butter. I once knew this lady who made a peanutbutter, banana, sardine and mayo sandwich . All our co-workers wanted to barf. But she love it. I just don’t have the courage to give it a go.
Scrap the bread! Throw 1 serving of PB (2Tbs.), 1/2 banana, 1 serving skim milk, 1 serving non-fat frozen yogurt and 3-4 ice cubes in a blender. Best milkshake you’ll ever have!
Just tried a peanutbutter(PB)+mayonaise+banana sandwich…had been eyeing a teacher making this thing and thought man thats gotta be sick…but finally after bout a week of seein her do it i made one…basically a PB and banana sandwich mixed with random bursts of sour.
personally i break about an inch off the top of my banana squeeze the remaining banana a lil and it breaks along the veins into 3 nice slices.
they are awesome . if you didn’t try them you got to.
i man peanutbtter is not sweet jelly ius all sloppy but them together they you feel like you are in heaven. then drink them with milk.
If you want a REAL fluffernutter:
Peanutbutter, bananas, and marshmellows.
Oh, I just remebered if you don’t give a #### about you cholersterol: DEEP-FRY this puppy.
I’m a fan of the peanut butter and mayonnaise myself. Another good combo is the peanut butter, mayonnaise, honey, and tabasco, but by far the best is the PB&J fried in a pan of bacon grease. Bananas are fine when added to any of these.
As you might be able to gather, I used to be a long-distance runner.
yeah i was raised on pb and mayo never tried it with banana but am going to now WOW cant belive theres so mant pb and mayo lovers out there way to go!!
best version is the peanut butter, banana, and bacon, grilled to perfection! However the milkshake above sounds damn great.