The Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook: Recipes from the World's Nuttiest Sandwich Shop (Paperback)

by Lee Zalben (Author), Jerry Seinfeld (Foreword)
Key Phrases: smooth natural peanut butter, separate large bowl, peanut butter mixture, Smooth Operator, Marshmallow Fluff, Did You Know (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
In 1998, a cozy Greenwich Village café named Peanut Butter & Co. was born—with a menu consisting entirely of peanut butter creations. The restaurant was an instant hit, with features on Good Morning America and Nightline>, and profiles in Time, Newsweek, and the New York Times. People liked their peanut butter so much that it's now available in gourmet shops and grocery stores around the United States. Now proprietor and restaurateur Lee Zalben is spreading the joy of peanut butter with The Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook. Here are more than 80 gooey recipes for everything from decadent desserts (Four-Layer Peanut Butter–Honey Cake) to delicious, nutritious snacks (Baked Apples with Peanut Butter) and sensational entrées (Peanut Butter Pad Thai). Of course, no peanut butter cookbook would be complete without sandwiches—here are recipes from the traditional (The Lunch Box Special) to the deliciously daring (Peanut Butter BLT). With full-color photographs and tons of quirky statistics, The Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook is sure to answer every peanut butter craving!

About the Author
Lee Zalben, a.k.a. "The Peanut Butter Guy," is the president and founder of Peanut Butter & Co. Having created an entire menu of peanut butter sandwiches and desserts, he is, without a doubt, peanut butter's number one fan!

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Quirk Books (October 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594740569
• ISBN-13: 978-1594740565
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 7.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #305,628 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Peanut, Peanut Butter...Jelly!, April 18, 2006

By	L Smith "acozylover" (Macomb, MI) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Do you love peanut butter? Are you looking for different ways to use peanut butter in recipes? Do you love quirky cookbooks?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, than this just might be the cookbook for you. I picked up this cookbook on a whim at my local library, and decided to see if I could find any new recipes for my peanut loving son. Included I found several great recipes including Peanut Butter Banana Bread, Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes, Peanut Butter Barbecued Chicken, and Thai-Style Shrimp Skewers. Also included but not personally tested by me include the basics of making your own homemade peanut butter (with several variations), S'more Sandwich, The Elvis (yes, with bacon, bananas, and honey), Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate, and Peanut Butter Tiramisu.

My only comments regarding my 3 star rating is that the cookbook might be too specialized for some, and that in order to improve, I would suggest a picture of each recipe and a spiral binding. However, the recipes included were unique, and yummy. Enjoy!

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Peanutty Goodness, June 3, 2007

By	Disney Fav - See all my reviews

This book cleary states it is for peanut butter lovers only. And they're right, if you don't like peanut butter, you have no business getting this book, though that much is obvious.

The recipes in this book are all very quick and easy, and most are favorites with just a peanut butter twist. Though there are some, mainly sandwhiches, which I can only reccommend for adventurous eaters to try, though most are much more kid friendly. Some recipes are quite obvious, and aren't really needed, like the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich, though the book would be incomplete without it.

All of the recipes in the book use peanut butter, but some use special Peanut Butter and Co flavors, that you can buy online or at certain realtors, (a list is included.) There are also recipes on how to make the special peanut butters at home, though the recommend their own brand.

The book starts with a foreward by Jerry Seinfeild, who was of course made famous on his namesake tv show, Seinfeild. His intro seems slighty out of place, since he really has nothing to do with peanut butter, or the rest of the book, and seems to talk more about bagels then peanut butter.

The book's introduction by the author, Mr. Lee Zalben, is much more fitting, interesting, and better written, as he tells of the start, and success of Peanut Butter and Co.

There is then a section entitled Peanut Butter Basics, which is basically an endosement for buying Peanut Butter and Co products, but also gives the recipes for making your own versions of their peanut butters. There is also a somewhat interesting timeline of the history of peanut butter.

The recipes are divided into five chapters.

The first chapter, Breakfast Treats, is full of baked goods and batter based breakfast dishes, including peanut butter and jelly french toast, in which the peanut butter is in the toast, and the jelly is featured in the syrup. Seven recipes are included.

Chapter two is devoted entirely to sandwiches, of which there are fourteen, ranging from the original PB&J to innovative ones such as cinnamon raisin swirl, to obscure ones such as the Elvis.

Chapter three is entitled after-school snacks, but it is almost entirely devoted to cookies, though there are other sweets included, such as; peanut butter swirl brownies and peanut butter banana bread. Twenty one recipes are included.

The next chapter features fourteen recipes for using peanut butter in entrees such as peanut butter bbq chicken, spicy peanut butter burgers, and two recipes for peanut butter soup.

Chapter five is full of desserts, featuring cakes, pies, and pastries. There are twenty-two recipes total including; peanut butter - caramel cheesecake, peanut butter and strawberry shortcake, and peanut butter - berry crumble.

At the back of the book there's a helpful list of where their products are available, though it contradicts with their website's store locator.

Lots of color photos make this fun to look at as well as to read.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great alternatives to your typical "ham and cheese" sandwich, July 12, 2009

By	Dr. Rob (RI United States) - See all my reviews

This is a great book that has given me excellent ideas for packing lunches for me and my family. I am not the most imaginative man in the world when it comes to preparing meals. I'm meat and potatoes man. So, my meals are quite boring. Enter this book, and life has changed. Let me just focus on the sandwiches, as this was my biggest concern in trying to break the monotony of ham and cheese sandwiches. I have tried every sandwich in this book. I am hooked. My wife and I work together, and we routine go out for lunch. Now, we find joy in making and consuming these masterpieces while enjoying the scenery at a park nearby our place of employment. Remember I said that I lack culinary imagination? I have now started to create my own variations, and loving it. Take my advice: If you also lack an imagination when it comes to culinary endeavors, you absolutely will not regret buying this book.