Hot and Spicy PB & J

One of the many things I like about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are all the permutations I can make of this sandwich. I can choose from so many different breads (white, whole wheat, rye, toasted, not toasted, grilled), and different kinds of peanut butter (crunchy, creamy, natural, homogenized, Jif, Skippy) and different kinds of jelly (too many to list) that each sandwich can fit your mood perfectly. Just three ingredients, but the variety found within that multitude can be endlessly combined in diverse combinations to make new taste sensations.

So while enjoying some Kroger Hot and Spicy Peanuts one day, I came up with the idea of Hot and Spicy Peanut Butter. And why not make every ingredient a little hot? Kroger also sells hot pepper jam and jalapeno bagels. That would be a wild combo I hadn’t tried before. If you are not fortunate enough to live near a Kroger grocery, you may need to search around for similar ingredients at other fine establishments. I routinely buy these ingredients but had never put them together in one meal before. But first I had to make some Hot and Spicy Peanut Butter.

Hot and Spicy Peanuts (12 oz. can)

Canola oil or peanut oil (1 tbsp.)

Hot Pepper and Bacon Jelly (amount to your taste)

Jalapeno Bagel

Put 12 ounces of peanuts into a food processer. Grind for about 30 seconds. At this stage, the consistency is chunky and clumped.

Drizzle oil over ground peanuts.

Pulse for a few minutes until desired consistency. It generally only takes about three minutes, but it will vary depending on your food processor and type of peanuts. The peanut butter won’t look like most processed brands, as there’s no emulsifier in the recipe.

Anyway, you now have Hot and Spicy Peanut Butter.

Toast half a bagel.(or two halves if that's the way yo want to try it.)

Spread with Hot and Spicy Peanut Butter.

Spread Hot Pepper Bacon Jam on top.

Enjoy this new variation in the peanut butter and jelly sandwich pantheon.