When the average American pictures a food item that’s both nostalgic and easy to make, a traditional peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich is probably right at the top of the list. But puzzlingly, Food Network decided that spreading peanut butter (which, by law, has to be 90% peanuts) and the maker’s choice of fruit jelly on bread wasn’t quite simple enough. Their recent peanut butter sandwich tutorial went viral on Facebook, with more than 6 million views — but for all the wrong reasons. And now, they’re being called totally nuts for ever posting it.
The so-called hack is geared towards busy moms and those who have hopped on the meal prep bandwagon. Since fewer than one-in-three children today have a full time, stay-at-home parent, the tutorial was meant to save these parents time and frustration by eliminating the frustration of torn bread. Host Bev Weidner, who has her own blog called Bev Cooks, explains in the video that there are “little slices of meat, little slices of cheese, pickle slices… why aren’t there peanut butter slices?” So she proceeds to make some. The only problem is, this “shortcut” for morning sandwich-making actually requires way more work than simply spreading peanut butter on bread.
The multi-step process involves spreading peanut butter on parchment paper, and then folding the paper in half and using a rolling pin to flatten the peanut butter. After that, Bev sticks the paper with the peanut butter in the freezer.
Bev says in the post, “The next morning it’s frozen! And then you can take little kitchen shears and cut little squares out of it and then throw them back in the freezer and you have a stack of peanut butter slices and you just slap it on, and it’s ready for you and it’s not going to rip your bread.”
As one might imagine, the majority of the 11,000-some-odd Facebook comments were not exactly positive — but many were hilarious. Some questioned the blogger’s qualifications to be featured on Food Network as someone who is seemingly unable to spread peanut butter on bread, while others pointed out how many sandwiches they could have made in the time it would actually take to complete this hack at home. A few people said this might be a fun activity to do with their kids, but commenters across social media channels were mostly in agreement about one thing: this “hack” is pretty unnecessary.
There are similar hacks floating around the internet, including one that involves freezing entire sandwiches to save time in the morning. But if you’re really having trouble spreading the peanut butter, try storing it upside down so the oil will distribute more evenly or zap it in the microwave for a few seconds before making a sandwich. No parchment paper or freezer required.
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