Peanut Butter and Jelly Slice | culinary postcards

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I transformed the classic American breakfast from the childhood in a decadent treat.

However, it remained vegan, gluten-free and sugar-free.

From where I come, it is not common to eat peanut butter together with fruit spread of any kind. It was actually not common to eat peanut butter wither, until 10 or so years ago. Instead, what probably every kid around here remembers as his breakfast, was butter (from cow’s milk) with jam.

But everyone in my family seems to be nuts about peanut butter, and we really eat a lot of it. Therefore I am very cautious about which one to buy and my current favorite which I can truly recommend is Biona organic Peanut Butter. No sugar, no palm oil, no salt. Pure peanuts, pure love.

I like to spread it on the slice of bread in the events of sudden hunger, over banana slices, or just add some to smoothie. But there are times when I make a dessert with it as well. Like today.

If you are not a fan of pb+jelly, replace peanut butter with some other nut butter. In the combination with blackberry jello, I would go with almond butter, but you can try other as well. It really depends only on your preferences. But no matter which one you choose, I believe you are gonna love these slices.

PEANUT BUTTER&JELLY SLICE {vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, almost raw*}

Prep time: 30min + 15 min inactive
serves 6 large (as pictured) or 12 smaller portions

Ingredients:

for the bottom

1 cup oats

1/2 cup ground almonds**

1 Tbsp date syrup

1 Tbsp coconut oil (solid)

1 heaping tsp raw cacao

first layer – peanut butter filling

1 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup coconut oil (measured when melted)

2 Tbsp date syrup

second layer – blackberry jelly

2/3 cup frozen blackberries***

1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp water (divided use)

3 heaping tsp arowroot powder

chocolate coating

1/3 cup coconut oil (measured when melted)

3 Tbsp date syrup

1/2 cup raw cacao

Method:

Start with the bottom layer. Grind the oats in a food processor or blender, then add rest of the ingredients and blend until they turn into a dough. It will be somewhat sticky, but that is OK.
Place it in a smaller rectangular dish (approx. 3-inch x 6-inch), which you layered with parchment paper (it will help you later to take out the cake), press down using back of your measuring cup and freeze for 15 min.
While bottom layer is chilling, prepare the peanut layer. Melt coconut oil, add peanut butter to it and date syrup, then heat everything together, stirring, until all ingredients combine nicely.
Take the dish out of the freezer to spread a peanut butter layer over bottom, then place back in the freezer.
Now prepare fruit jello – Blend your blackberries (and if you dislike tiny pieces of their pits, mash it through the sieve). Now put the blackberry puree in a small pot, add water to it and bring to boil. In the meanwhile, combine arowroot powder with 2 Tbsp water, then lower the heat and add arrowroot mixture in blackberries and stir it all good in. After it boils, cook on low heat for 2 minutes, stirring regularly, then leave aside to cool down.
Take the dish out of the freezer and spread the jelly over pb layer. Now place it all in the refrigerator and make a chocolate coating.
Melt coconut oil over steam bath, add cacao and date syrup. Stir from time to time to make a mixture smooth and well combined.
Slice the cake and dip each slice in chocolate, then array on a plate (you can use baking paper underneath).
When you are all done, place slices in the fridge until chocolate comes solid (for about 15 min).
Serve slices straight from the fridge and eat in 3 days. You can keep them in the freezer as well, up to 3 weeks, but in that case I recommend to bring them to room temperature for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Important notes:

*if you want to make a proper raw dessert, make chia jam instead of jello, as I explained in this post.

**These quantities will give you chewier bottom layer, more like sponge cake than crust. If you prefer latter, add another 1/4 cup of ground almonds (or some more oats).

*** I used frozen blackberries because they are not in season. You can definitely use any other berries, such as raspberries or strawberries, or try out a seasonal combo with some citrus fruits.