PB & J Grilled Cheese Recipe

We’re always up for trying new flavor combos, and this sandwich is definitely a winner. The recipe comes from the Half Baked Harvest Cookbook: Recipes from My Barn in the Mountain, which is filled with meals inspired by Tieghan Gerard’s childhood in Colorado.

“Here’s a food pairing that sounds like it wouldn’t work, but totally does. Actually, not only does it work, it’s EPIC. This grilled cheese is everything. There are three essentials. Essential 1: Real peanut butter, meaning no sugar added. There is a time and a place for the creamy peanut butter we all had as kids (most baking recipes), but this is not it. All you need here are ground-up peanuts (with some salt). Essential 2: Sharp cheddar. Nothing fake and no slices wrapped in plastic. Use real cheddar. Essential 3: A glass of ice-cold milk for washing it all down. Mmmm.”

—Tieghan Gerard, fromHalf Baked Harvest Cookbook: Recipes from My Barn in the Mountain

PB & J Grilled Cheese

Yield: 2 servings
Active Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

4 tablespoons (½ stick) salted butter
4 slices crusty whole-wheat or sourdough bread
4 tablespoons Crofter’s Biodynamic Blueberry Spread
4 tablespoons Justin’s Classic Peanut Butter
2 slices sharp cheddar cheese

Instructions

Using 3 tablespoons of the butter, coat one side of each bread slice. Spread the non-buttered side of the two pieces with jam. Spread the non-buttered side of the other two pieces with peanut butter. Place a slice of cheddar on the peanut butter sides and close up the halves to make sandwiches.

Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the sandwiches and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until the bread is golden-brown and the cheese has melted. Serve immediately.

Reprinted from Half Baked Harvest Cookbook. Copyright (c) 2017 by Tieghan Gerard. Photographs copyright (c) 2017 by Tieghan Gerard. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

Recipe credit: Tieghan Gerard