If you love peanut butter, and you love adorable kids, then the Jif Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich contest is a killer combination. Over 300 kids from all 50 states sent recipes to the Jif Web site in hopes of being a part of the New York based competition. Online voting sent five finalists to the Big Apple, along with their families, to recreate their Peanut-rific specialties for a panel of judges. The four runners up won $2,500, not a bad haul for a days work in itself, but the grand prize, a $25,000 college scholarship, is a pretty awesome prize for a great peanut butter recipe.
The recipes were remarkably complicated, particularly given the ages of the contestants. The top five were: Moroccan chicken pita, quesadilla with fruit salsa, lettuce wrap, chicken wrap with rosemary and red peppers and a French toast breakfast sandwich.
After an adorable live cooking demonstration from the pint sized chefs, the judges tasted the food and questioned the contestants thoroughly. After much debate and suspense from the audience, the rumored favorite, banana and peanut butter quesadillas with fruit salsa made by 10 year old Lauren from Wisconsin, was lost out to the lettuce wraps prepared by Rachel Granillo of Clovis, California. 10 year old Rachel is an aspiring chef, so the honor means more to her than college money – it’s the first feather in the cap of what she hopes will be a very successful culinary career.
Here’s the recipe, if you want to try Rachel’s dish out at home:
Ingredients:
½ cup chopped cooked chicken breast
2 tablespoons Jif® Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter
3 tablespoons chopped Fuji apple
2 tablespoons chopped black or red grapes
1 tablespoons lite mayonnaise
2 teaspoons honey
Iceberg lettuce
Directions:
Chop chicken meat and fruit, mix in bowl. Mix in peanut butter, mayonnaise, and honey.
Spoon into open lettuce leaf, roll, and serve.
