White Chocolate Peanut Butter Panini
February 22, 2008
Being that the filling in this sandwich is so soft, it’s best to use a hearty bread for a bit of contrast of textures. But if you can’t get your hands on a crusty italian bread from the bakery, one of the nuttier breads from the grocery store will do nicely as well. Try a 9 grain or nut bread. This is one peanut butter sandwich you won’t want to cut the crusts off of.
Also, if you don’t have white chocolate peanut butter (though you should!) regular peanut butter works just fine. I used white chocolate peanut butter because I think the white chocolate matches up with the cranberry really well.
(makes 1 sandwich)
Ingredients
2 slices of thick crusted, nutty or whole grain bread
1 1/2 Tbsp white chocolate peanut butter
1/2 Tbsp salted butter
1 medium banana, sliced on the diagonal into about 16 - 1/4 inch thick slices
1 tsp mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 Tbsp whole dried cranberries
butter, for grilling the sandwich
sprinkle of salt
Directions
1. Caramelize the bananas. Melt 1/2 Tbsp of butter over low heat in a skillet large enough to fit all the banana slices at once. Add the banana slices and brown on both sides. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Rehydrate the dried cranberries. Put them in a small bowl and cover with water. Microwave on high for 30 to 60 seconds. Let stand for 3 minutes and then remove from water and pat dry before using.
3. Meanwhile, spread the white chocolate peanut butter on one side of one slice of bread. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips and re-hydrated cranberries on top of the peanut butter layer. Top with caramelized bananas, then with the second slice of bread.
4. Spread butter on one side of the sandwich, sprinkle with salt and grill, butter side down until it has visible brown grill marks. While the first side is grilling, butter and lightly salt the other side of the sandwich. Flip and grill. Slice the finished sandwich and top with powdered sugar.
Sometimes it’s hard to differentiate peanut butter sandwiches with lunch or dessert. With this recipe you get two different types of fruit, protein from the peanuts and some carbohydrate energy from the hearty bread. That’s plenty nutritious, right? I like to think so.