PB&J Quesadillas

April 29, 2019 by Nicole Collins

Today, we're celebrating the return of peanut butter!

So, I told you guys that I was giving up peanut butter for Lent, and boy was it a LONNNNNNG six weeks!

I LOVE peanut butter a lot more than anyone should. I always have. Even growing up, I didn't want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I just wanted a peanut butter sammie.

There are many many days when I grab a spoon, carve out a huge scoop of peanut butter straight from the jar, and lick it like a big ol' peanut butter lollipop. I even have a spoon that says “my peanut butter spoon”.

At work, I keep a jar of peanut butter at my desk. Actually, a couple of the girls do. It's such a great stress snack, bored snack, “it's 10am” snack...you get the idea. So, I was really missing the peanut butter social hour while my coworkers cheered me on for tackling one of the hardest Lent challenges ever.

To add salt to the wound, there were a couple of other factors that made the “no peanut butter” task even more difficult. I don't know what I was thinking, but I bought a bag of Reese's peanut butter cups during one of the first weeks of Lent to have on hand as soon as it was Easter. It seemed like a good idea at the time. But, I obviously hadn't considered that I'd have to look at the bag of Reese's in my pantry EVERY SINGLE DAY without being able to touch it.

Dumb move, Nicole.

Then, during the very last week of Lent, Bisco had to start taking some medicine that I couldn't just mix in his food. It was a non-chewable pill. So, guess how I had to give it to him?

In peanut butter.

There is no greater test of willpower than scooping peanut butter out of the jar, putting it on your finger, and letting your dog lick away without so much as one little taste of this glorious spread. 5 days we had this routine. 5 DAYS! But, I'm proud to report not one droplet of peanut butter touched my mouth during those 6 weeks of Lent.

The second I woke up on Easter morning is a different story, though!

The first thing I did at 6:30am on Easter morning was shove one of those Reese's in my mouth that had been taunting me for the past 40 days. The second thing I did was make today's recipe!

Today, we're having PB&J Quesadillas!

So, today's recipe can definitely be qualified as dessert, but we could undoubtedly make the argument for it to be a brekkie treat, too. That already puts us in a win, win situation!

You can't have quesadillas without cheese (hence the name quesadilla), so we're going to use a sweet cream cheese in our treat. Softened cream cheese gets blended together with peanut butter then spread on one half of a small four tortilla. Before we close the quesadilla, we're going to spread a good tablespoon of strawberry preserves on top of the peanut butter mix to act as the “J” in our PB&J.

Once we have the quesadillas assembled, we're going to toast them in butter in a warm skillet until they're golden brown and crisp. As soon as the come out of the pan, they get tossed in a homemade cinnamon sugar mix that adheres right to the outside of the quesadillas. Then, we cut them up and serve them with some fresh berries and whipped cream on the side. I was peanut butter gaga when I made these, so I served mine with Reese's whipped cream!

These quesadillas are everything you could want in a sweet treat. They're salty, sweet, warm, gooey, and have that extra hit of warm spice from the cinnamon in the sugar. Talk about a flavor explosion in your mouth! And if you're feeling really crazy, give them a little drizzle of melted chocolate on top. OMG...that'll definitely sway you in to dessert territory in the best possible way! Though, I could still argue the chocolate for breakfast thing...

Alright guys, whether you're eating these for breakfast, dessert, snack, or just because (← that's the way I'd go); you're going to wonder where these delicious babies have been all your life. But, have no fear! We've got a whole year before we have to think about giving up anything for Lent again! 😉

So, let's enjoy! And, let's eat!

---

PB&J Quesadillas

Serves: 6 Print

Ingredients:

• 6 6-inch flour tortillas

• 4 oz (½ cup) cream cheese, softened

• ½ cup peanut butter

• 6 tbsp strawberry preserves

• ¼ cup sugar

• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

• 1-2 tbsp unsalted butter

• whipped cream and fresh berries, for serving (optional)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Transfer to a small plate. Set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, add cream cheese and peanut butter. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed until smooth and fully combined.

3. To one flour tortilla, spread about 1/3 cup peanut butter mix on one half of the tortilla. Top with 1 tbsp strawberry preserves. Fold the other half of the tortilla over the filling, and press gently to secure the filling. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

4. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a large non stick skillet over medium high heat. Add quesadillas, and cook for 4-5 minutes until golden brown. Flip, and cook and additional 2-3 mins until golden brown. If you need to cook the quesadillas in 2 batches, add another tbsp butter to the pan, and repeat.

5. Immediately after removing the quesadillas from the pan, toss both sides in the cinnamon sugar mix, press gently to adhere. Cut quesadillas in half, and serve with whipped cream and berries, if desired.

Recipe notes:

*Giving the strawberry preserves a good stir in the jar helps to loosen them up and makes them easier to spread on the peanut butter mix.

*If you're not making all 6 quesadillas at once, you can store the peanut butter/cream cheese mix in the fridge. You'll just need to bring it back to room temp so it's spreadable before assembling your quesadilla and toasting it up. You can also easily cut the ingredients in half, or double them for a crowd!

*I served mine with Reese's whipped cream...double yum! These would also be AWESOME with a drizzle of melted chocolate.

*These, of course, are HOT straight out of the pan, so be careful when coating them in the cinnamon sugar.