Perfect Peanut Butter Bars

Tara Fitzpatrick

Move over, jelly. There are a lot more things you can add to a peanut butter sandwich these days. Peanut butter bars are catching on as a way to break monotony and offer a fun, quick meal or snack option, all while being just slightly less messy than a sundae bar.

At SUNY Cobbleskill, the bar pops up about once a month at dinnertime in the spot where a fruit bar normally exists. It’s built on a foundation of several types of bread (white, wheat, multigrain) and jars of peanut butter. From there, it gets interesting.

“The students put all kinds of crazy combinations together and they really like it,” says Kimberly Sternheimer, chef. Successful peanut butter bars are also finding their niche at UMass and NC State.

Here are some of the best toppings to stock on your own peanut butter bar:

    • bread options: white, wheat, bagels, pumpernickel, English muffins
    • peanut butter: creamy and chunky
    • sunflower butter
    • assortment of jelly
    • Fluff
    • Nutella
    • sunflower seeds
    •  granola
    • craisins
    • dried cherries
    • raisins
    • apricots
    • shredded coconut
    • sprinkles
    • chopped walnuts or pistachios
    • Bananas
    • white chocolate chips
    • semi-sweet chocolate chips
    • blueberries
    • grapes
    • strawberries
    • cookie pieces
    • candy pieces
    • jelly beans
    • potato chips
    •  mini marshmallows