"Fried" Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich, It's Not Just for Elvis Anymore

I came across this particular pin and immediately said to myself "That is what I'm having for lunch today." I've made peanut butter and banana sandwiches before but I always toasted the bread and never really thought about frying it in a pan. This recipe also called for coconut oil, so you know I was all about trying another way to use that versatile jarred wonder.

I used Sara Lee 45 Calorie Honey Wheat bread (best low calorie wheat bread I have tried thus far), Great Value Natural Peanut Butter, my wonderful Trader Joe's Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, and half of a large banana. Anyone could easily use a white bread and a different peanut butter (crunchy would probably be AWESOME), or a non peanut butter variety if allergies are a concern. I've heard good things about sun butter. 

I used about a tablespoon of coconut oil and melted it in the pan. I had the heat on a low medium setting and coconut oil melts very quickly so it took no time at all to liquefy. Please ignore my clean but water marked pan, I did a no-no and washed it in the dishwasher. I have learned my lesson, I promise.

I used about a tablespoon of peanut butter and spread it on both pieces of bread, then sliced up the half a banana placed it on the bread. This bread is a little on the small side (what can you expect from a 45 calorie slice of bread) so I ended up eating a little bit of the banana that didn't fit on the sandwich. Once the pan was hot I put the sandwich on and cooked each side for about 2 minutes. This is the toasted level I like, it makes the bread nice and crispy. My husband would call this burnt, to each his own I guess, so cook it to your own preferences.

My Instagram worthy creation

 Like I said earlier, I have made PB&B sandwiches in the past and they were good, but this was great. The coconut oil toasted the bread so well, giving it a wonder ful light crispy taste without leaving any oily taste. That is one of the wonderful things about coconut oil, it has almost no taste so it doesn't interfere with the taste of what you are cooking. I was sad when it was gone and *almost* made myself a second.

According to my MyFitnessPal app (which is awesome and I'll blog about that soon) this sandwich came in at around 245 calories (but you would have to use the low calorie bread and be a bit light on the PB) so that is pretty good for such a decadent treat. I will DEFINITELY be making this again, sooner rather than later, and I also am looking forward to using the coconut oil to make grilled cheese sandwiches. I want to see if they fry up as nice as these did. I believe even the King himself would have been happy to have had this tasty treat for lunch any day of the week.