I’ll bet you’re thinking…really Barb? Yes, really! There are some things that I’ve eaten since I was too young to remember the first time and this sandwich is one of them. I might have taken some liberties along the way…what used to be put between two pieces of toast is now lightly grilled, that bit of butter on the outside of cinnamon toast sure doesn’t hurt but it’s mostly to slightly melt the peanut butter which is of course a very good thing! I thought about updating this classic using Biscoff spread which I do love but it was not true to my history; Biscoff is new to me and not part of the sandwich my childhood dreams were made of. This is. I think I need to re-discover more of these childhood delights and include them here.
I have five siblings but my youngest sister was born to my parents after they divorced and remarried (it was a soap opera I tell ya!) so although a true sister, she came along when I was 16 so most of my childhood it was the five of us. FIVE KIDS!!! I can not imagine raising five kids but I was a single parent for most of my child rearing days so my perspective is skewed I admit. Still; that is a lot of kids and meals had to be easy to prepare for sure. There were no picky palates in our home and no threats either. Dinner was served. Eat it or go without, that simple. Still my mom brought a couple of traditions from her childhood that I remember fondly and two center on sandwiches made with peanut butter; a staple when there are that many children. One was simple; you mix peanut butter with a nice amount of maple syrup (well, Log Cabin actually!) and spread it on bread. Top with chips and a 2nd slice of bread. Done. I still love it even if today I have to have real maple syrup.
This sandwich was another favorite! Peanut butter and bananas. The honey was my addition; I love it so much that this was another perfect opportunity to enjoy it. I asked my daughter Emily if she remembered me making this for them when they were kids and she doesn’t remember the cinnamon bread and thought I just did it on plain toast. Yep…she’s right. It’s newer, it’s gooder and it’s now necessary!
I was at Emily’s this past Friday to work on some dishes for blog posts and as dinnertime approached I wondered if she just wanted to eat what I was going to prepare. The ‘no thank you’ was pretty resounding so we decided we would run out for something once I had this dish (?) completed. Then the aroma of cinnamon and peanut butter and honey and bananas started to waft through the air and it was like my little girl had come for a visit. ‘Mom, I think we could eat those for dinner after all.’ See…sometimes you really can go home again!
5 minPrep Time
5 minCook Time
10 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 4 slices cinnamon bread (or use sandwich bread and sprinkle the finished sandwich with a bit of cinnamon and sugar)
- 2 Tbsp butter, softened
- 2 bananas, sliced lengthwise
- 2-3 ounces peanut butter
Instructions
- Heat skillet on medium heat.
- Butter one side of each bread slice.
- Spread all of the bread slices with peanut butter. Put two slices butter side down in pan.
- Top peanut butter with banana slices then drizzle with honey. Place a 2nd piece of bread on sandwich peanut butter side down.
- Grill in a stovetop skillet; approximately 3-4 minutes per side on medium heat until nicely browned.
- Remove the sandwich from the skillet.
- Combine the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle both sides liberally.
- Cut in half on a diagonal and serve while hot.
- Pretend you are eleven. To make it totally official, eat with some potato chips.
Comments