What if I told you I found a really easy and healthy peanut butter and jelly sandwich recipe? Low in sugar, packed with fruit and a solid nutritious snack! Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are part of toddlerhood. Whether you introduce your toddler to this staple yourself, or they start to request it after seeing it at daycare. A PB&J is quick, easy to put together and overall not the worse snack in the books.
This healthy peanut butter and jelly sandwich recipe has become a staple at our house. Ava isn’t able to tell the difference and gobbles this snack in a few bites. Even if you have a picky eater, I think your toddler will love this healthy peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
I have taken the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich and made it a lot healthier by using homemade berry and chia seed puree, healthy peanut butter and 100% whole wheat bread.
How to make healthy jelly for the PB&J sandwich
Our healthy peanut butter and jelly sandwich uses a slow cooker fruit jam that contains no added sugar. It’s basically just fruit! We usually use fresh fruit but you can also use bag of frozen fruit from the grocery store (it might need some extra cooking time to thicken the jam). Berry jams work best for peanut butter sandwiches so we use either strawberries or a mix of a few different berries. You can literally pick whichever fruit your toddler likes best!
This is what you will need to make the healthy berry jelly
- 1 lb chopped fresh fruit
- 2 tsp chia seeds
- 4 dates, chopped or 2 tsp honey
- a lemon squeeze (to keep the pretty red color of strawberries)
Add everything to your slow cooker and mix. Slow cook on high for 1-2 hours or on low for 2-3 hours. You will know when your mix is done because your fruits will be soft and mushy. Blend your jam in the blender (I make it pretty smooth for my toddler so it looks more like a traditional jelly). Let the jam cool down and store refrigerated in a mason jar.
If your little one doesn’t like the consistency of the chia seeds you can also totally leave them out and keep only the fruits and honey/dates. It might be little more watery though. You can add a little bit of brown sugar if you wanted to sweeten it more- you’ll still end up with a jelly that is much easier than store bought spreads.
How to Choose a healthy peanut butter butter for the healthy peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Shopping for peanut butter is honestly confusing. I never knew there could be 50 different kinds of jars for something as simple as crushed peanuts but here we are! When making a PB&J for Ava, I always look for a peanut butter without palm oil or added sugar. When reading labels, these are the ingredients you should stay away for:
- Hydrogenated oil
- Palm oil
- Coconut oil
- Sugar
- High fructose corn syrup
I don’t use unsalted peanut butter because my toddler hates it and frankly so do I! We watch her daily sodium intake but we also season her food. My favorite peanut butters for this recipe are the Spread the Love’s Peanut Butter, the Wild Friends Peanut Butter or the Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter Co.! All three are made only with crushed peanuts and salt.
If your toddler has a peanut allergy, or you want to switch things up, you can totally do this recipe with other nut butters: almond butter or cashew butter work really well.
How to choose nutritious bread for your healthy peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Forget traditional white bread and opt for a 100% whole grain bread option. We never really have white bread at our house. Ava has only ever had whole wheat or whole grain toasts and sandwiches so it is what she is used to. I usually don’t get fresh bread from the bakery section because I find it a bit too doughy and thick for PB&J sandwiches. We usually go for packaged whole grain bread like the Whole Foods brand or Dave’s Killer Bread.
Your toddler is going to LOVE this healthy PB&J sandwich. I use a sandwich cutter to cut fun little sandwich bites for Ava – she really digs the Mickey Mouse shapes! Let me know what your little one thinks if you try it !
