Messy Sandwiches

One thing I think my parents did particularly well when I was growing up is establish some childhood traditions for me and my siblings. One such tradition was the making of Messy Sandwiches.

When we were all very young, every Sunday afternoon we would come home from church and my dad would make messy sandwiches for lunch while my mom got us all out of our church clothes and into our play clothes. Actually, the boys would frequently eat their sandwiches shirtless, that's how messy these sandwiches are! (Hence the name.)

A Messy Sandwich is a delicious, unhealthy meal that was created by my dad when he was a starving college student and is best enjoyed with a tall glass of milk or cold water. One of my favorite things about messy sandwiches is that they are simultaneously lunch or dinner AND dessert!

I decided to make Messy Sandwiches for my small group Bible study's dinner last Monday. Here are the ingredients I gathered:

Since I wanted to make 12 sandwiches, I laid out 6 sets of slices of bread on a cookie sheet at a time (that's as many as would fit) with the matching slice of bread underneath. Because I'm OCD and I like the edges of my sandwiches to match, what can I say?

Then, I spread a thick layer of peanut butter (the real stuff, thank-you-very-much!) on top of the bread and smashed chocolate chips into the peanut butter so the whole surface of the slice was covered in peanut butter and chocolate.

Next, I took some bananas and put 5-6 thin slices on top of the chocolate chips.

After placing the matching slice of bread on top of each sandwich, I placed the sandwiches on the stove to be cooked.

At medium heat, I cooked each side of the sandwich for 4-6 minutes, or until golden brown or darker. Personally, I prefer for my messy sandwiches to be almost burnt. The trick is to get all the chocolate chips melted without turning the bread to charcoal. This might take some practice; even after years of making these, I still sometimes end up with a burnt offering.

I recommend making sure that you have plenty of paper towels on hand when you make this treat! It's hard enough for adults to keep clean while eating it and kids are guaranteed to make a huge mess. Enjoy!