Several months ago someone asked me if I had an idea for a homemade version of “Uncrustables” sandwiches. For those of you unfamiliar with Uncrustables…they are basically crustless sandwiches that are crimped around the edges to seal the filling inside. The most popular variety being peanut butter and jelly. I remember thinking at the time that was a really good idea and actually made several attempts to make some..but for the life of me couldn’t figure out how! So I shelved the idea for future consideration.
Today I took the idea down off the shelf and gave it another shot! Thanks to the inspiration from Cute Food For Kids! After reading Tiffany’s blog post about Pocket Sandwiches I realized the important piece of equipment I’d been missing…..a plastic cutting board! DUH! :-) I couldn’t wait to give it a try!
How To Make Homemade “Uncrustables”:
First you will need two slices of SOFT bread. It can been wheat or white, or whatever kind you fancy, but it needs to be fairly soft in order to stick together. If yours is a little dry, try sticking it in the microwave for a few seconds. For my son, I use homemade gluten-free bread.
Trim off the crusts (thus the term “crustless”).
Add a glob (yes, that’s a technical term) of peanut butter to one crustless slice, and a glob of jam or jelly to the other slice.
Spread the PB&J on the bread, but not all the way to edge.
Place the two crustless slices together and then grab a small plastic cutting board (or something similar) and press each edge of the sandwich together. Trim any excess bread.
More Ideas You'll Love
Crazy simple huh!?! And I don’t know why…but these little gems were SO TASTY! There’s just something about food with a “filling” I guess. I had eaten two sandwiches before I knew it. Which isn’t necessarily a good thing…except to illustrate how tasty they were. ;-)
I really was quite astonished at how easy this idea turned out to be. When I first was trying to figure out how to make one of these I was completely over-thinking the whole thing!
Sometimes the BEST ideas really ARE the SIMPLEST! :-)
Homemade “Uncrustables”
Ingredients
- 2 slices soft bread
- Peanut butter
- Jelly
Instructions
- First you will need two slices of SOFT bread. It can been wheat or white, or whatever kind you fancy, but it needs to be fairly soft in order to stick together.
- Trim off the crusts (thus the term "crustless").
- Add a glob of peanut butter to one crustless slice, and a glob of jam or jelly to the other slice.
- Spread the PB&J on the bread, but not all the way to edge.
- Place the two crustless slices together and then grab a small plastic cutting board and press each edge of the sandwich together. Trim any excess bread.
I wrote a post on makin uncrustables on my blog at How To Homemaker back in 2010 if you are interested. http://www.howtohomemaker.com/2010/08/make-your-own-uncrustables.html
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Pampered Chef has the perfect tool for making them. I do like your idea abou using the cutting board. That is somethig everyone has in their kitchen arsenol.
Blessings~Nancy
Use crusts for mini bread puddings or even share with the wild birds
Please log in or create a free account to comment.You did it again! Great idea! I wonder if I could make the peanutbutter and banana like that..My absolute favorite snack sandwich!
Did anyone find out yet if the Clay products were won? I never saw an email showing that give-away was over… I would loved to have won that!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.i’ve got to say that the strangest thing i’ve ever seen in the supermarket freezers in the states is these sandwiches. that was at least 10 years ago and i’ve never forgotten them! maybe that’s cos i was brought up eating rye bread WITH the crusts on! haha
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I will mix the pb and j then spread on bread, put slices together and cut crust off with pizza cutter. You can pinch the sides together. I would like to try freezing but worried about them defrosting into a soggy mess. This would certainly save a little time making lunches.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.they are not soggy at all – freeze away!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Yes, Pampered Chef makes the Cut and Seal. No need to slice the crusts off. Make your sandwich, and seal it quickly and easily with one press.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have actually done this for a couple of years now. I don’t know if they still have them, but Pampered Chef has a gadget that cuts & crimps your bread just like the store-bought ones. And YES, they can be frozen- I normally make a whole loaf’s worth at one time. There is a little bit more “waste” with the pampered chef one, but the ease of use makes it completely worth it to me!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Michele – To avoid any waste of the bread – take the crusts and make bread crumbs! I do that and save in a freezer bag that I keep in the freezer for such things. I make my own bread crumbs for meat loaf etc- and I like using a mixture of types of bread that I have saved…I have even known to toast a hot dog bun and run it trough my Ninja blender to add to the bag. Saves throwing out any extras!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Or make a batch of home-made croutons, or freeze in a bag to use as stuffing come turkey day.
OMG! Brilliant idea. And I LOVE bread pudding! And we love to snack on homemade croutons too, so no waste here!
awesome ideas! Thanks! :)
They do still have the sandwich cutter… It’s $10… I love mine!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have one of the Pampered chef ones too, but have not been very successful with it. Any advice?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Sabrina, I had the PC one too and hated it. It was like the spring on mine was really hard to push and the bread stuck to the smoosher thing. I returned mine. Glad to see I’m not the only one! I just use the rim of a plastic glass now. The key is to keep pressure on the edges for like 20 seconds. Works like a champ and no extra gadgets in my drawers!
I have been using my Pampered Chef sandwich crimper for years– without the spring! It kept getting stuck and wouldn’t release the sandwich so I unscrewed it and took the spring out (thought I would ask for a replacement screw and never got around to it.)
Absolutely going to try and freeze some of these for a quick packed lunch, all ready to go.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I just passed this idea along to my two granddaughters and was trying to think of something not so large to do the crimping and glanced over and saw my plastic weekly pill container and thought that might work. Now if I just had some squishy bread to try it out!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Brilliant! Now… what to do with the leftover crusts??
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Turn the leftover crusts into bread pudding! I’d just toss them into the freezer in a Ziplock bag, along with whatever bits of bread and rolls you’ve accumulated. When you have enough bread bits, it’s time to get baking!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Grind them up to use for bread crumbs.No one at my house eats the end pieces of the loaf so I save them for making bread crumbs.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Save them up in the freezer & when there is enough make stuffing. That is what I do with the “heels” of the bread.
Great idea! Do you think these could be packaged up and frozen like the store bought uncrustables are?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I don’t see why they couldn’t be…..I would just make sure you get as much air out of the bag so they don’t get frost on them. I am gonna try it out.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Yes, I do this for my kids school lunches and they freeze/thaw perfectly :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Yes! I generally see people lay them on a cookie sheet to flash freeze them for a few hours first, and then put them into sandwich baggies. I recommend the earlier trick, too, of putting the PB on both sides, and jam/jelly int he middle – the PB helps keep the jam from leaking out, and the bread getting jam-soggy when defrosted.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Love your posts Jillee! And you are soooo close on this one. I used to work at an uncrustables plant. The bread really is just crimped together so great job on that. Also they start off with huge pieces of bread (think Texas toast). But the key difference is that there is pb on both bread slices with jelly/jam between. This way you don’t have one side get the dreaded jelly leakage through the bread. They really are so simple. Keep up the amazing posts!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Brilliant! Once again….the simplest ideas….. :-) Thanks for sharing Krebs!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have an acrylic drinking glass that measures 3.5″ in diameter. I spread their favorite filling in the center only as well. Then I push down w/ my glass (like a cookie cutter) & it cuts out a perfect circle, seals the edges during the press down & perfectly trims off the crust!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.How Neat!! I always made these by cutting the bread with a drinking glass. But this is really neat! And I am going to try the thing about 2 sides of PB instead of just 1 :-) Thank you, Krebs & Jillee!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I used to do this also for my kids lunches. However, I used cookie cutters. They worked great. Plus each kid had their favorite shape :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.