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Elvis Paninis

June 19, 2008

I literally have hundreds of cookbooks I started collecting when I was a 
little girl and continue to this day. I admit that after all these years, it's gotten a little out of 
control, but I love the endless variety and different styles of books out there. There are also some genuinely odd and funny ones as well. The Elvis 
Presley cookbook "Are you Hungry Tonight" is great. Just looking at the table 
of contents makes your arteries feel like they are clogging, but the one recipe Elvis is best 
know for is the "fried peanut butter and banana sandwich". I'm not 
saying that it doesn't sound incredibly delicious, but it's not 
exactly one of the first dishes I would want to turn my son on to given the "fried" approach. So, always in service of trying healthy approaches to not-so-healthy classics, I think I came up with a good one: Mini Elvis Paninis.
I recently had over a group of 
little ones ranging from 15 months to 4 years old and they devoured 
these sandwiches faster then I could make them. Since I still haven't 
given Kenya peanut butter (our Doctor recommended we wait until he’s over the age of 2 in case of allergies), I made his with almond butter (feel 
free to replace it with peanut, soy or cashew butter if that's what your 
little one prefers). Almond butter is an ideal first nut for babies to 
try since it has a low allergic potential and almonds are packed with 
calcium, vitamins B and E. 
By using the panini press, the heat melted the banana and almond 
butter together while pressing the sandwich together for smaller 
mouths to get bigger bites. And....same great taste, no frying. These mini sandwiches are delicious and 
will give your little one tons of energy for playing.

We used these to make this recipe:

Elvis Paninis  (make 4 mini sandwiches)

  • Prep Time:1 minutes,
  • Cook Time: 4 minutes,
  • Total Time: 5 minutes,

Ingredients

  • 2 piece whole wheat of ezekiel bread, 7 grain or cinnamon raisin
  • 1 tablespoon almond butter
  • 1/3 banana, cut into several slices cut lengthwise

Preparation

  1. 1. Spread almond butter on one side of bread and cover with 3 slices of banana.
  2. 2. Top with the second slice of bread and place in a panini press on medium/high heat.
  3. 3. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until sandwich is pressed and golden.
  4. 4. Cool thoroughly and cut into 4 squares and serve.

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Comments






  1. Savored Life

    September 19, 2012 at 6:20 am

    All of these look amazing and I can’t wait to try a few of them. Has anyone packed them for their child’s lunch? How are they several hours later?

  2. Jolene

    August 27, 2012 at 9:04 am

    A drizzle of honey on the almond butter side puts this sandwich over the top.

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  4. Renee

    October 19, 2011 at 3:01 pm

    Sunbutter (sunflower seed butter) is also a good alternative if allergies to all nuts are a concern. Usually available in the natural food section of the store.

    Also, I’ve heard if you don’t have a panini press, you can use two cast iron skillets – a big one to cook in and a smaller one to “press” the sandwich while cooking. (I just set it on top of the sandwich, I don’t really push down.) You have to flip the sandwich and it doesn’t leave the pretty ridges that a panini press makes, but it does make it condensed and crispy.

    Thanks Catherine. I love your website!!!

  5. Leigh

    April 7, 2011 at 5:48 pm

    I was just thinking of PB and banana panini!
    Thank you to Anna for the tip, that sounds like a great idea.

  6. Anna

    December 13, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    When I make this, I mashed the banana with a fork before spreading on the bread so that the pieces of banana didn’t slide out when my 15 month old ate it. Worked great! Thanks for all your yummy ideas!

  7. Amy

    August 21, 2010 at 11:25 am

    thanks for the info about the almond butter!! Great suggestion!

  8. Penny

    August 20, 2010 at 9:44 pm

    Thanks for the idea! I will have two little ones in school soon and I already get worried how to cook for their snacks/lunches. First time to hear about a panini machine. It looks so handy. I just ordered one.

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