PB&J 3 Ways

Mom’s peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches may now be a distant lunchroom memory, but there are still grownup ways to embrace the grade-school classic. Krema Nut Co. serves a dozen fun spins on peanut butter and jelly at its Krema Kitchen retail and sandwich store, located at the company’s Columbus headquarters.

Since 1898, the business has been grinding up Spanish peanuts free of salt, sugar and hydrogenated oils for a food innovation that Krema Nut Co. senior vice president Brian Giunta says was born in the late 19th century as a solution to an Old World problem. “Way back then, folks didn’t have the best dental work, and they needed protein,” he says. 

With National Peanut Butter Day set for Jan. 24, we asked Giunta how to make a few of his favorite peanut-butter-and-jelly reinventions found at Krema Kitchen. 

Orangecicle: To brighten up a winter lunch, build your sandwich with Sarabeth’s orange apricot marmalade. The crisp citrus flavor adds a different dimension to the classic. “With creamy peanut butter, you can really taste the bite of the orange rind they put in there,” says Giunta. “It adds a little texture to the sandwich.” 

Classic Old Timer: Strawberry jam with peanut butter is a steadfast pairing that’s enjoyable on white or wheat bread, but Giunta suggests going with crunchy peanut butter over creamy. “We use crunchy peanut butter to help hold the sandwich together, then we add fresh sliced strawberries as well as strawberry preserves,” he says. “It’s such a fresh, just-made kind of delicious.”

Buckeye: The classic peanut-butter-and-chocolate combo gets reinvented, with a two-to-one peanut butter to Nutella ratio. Even if you usually go for whole-grain bread, be sure to make this one on white. “It has that nice, bright flavor,” says Giunta. “You’re kind of having a naughty sandwich, so just go all the way.”

For more information and for Krema Kitchen hours, visit krema.com.