Nut up for Peanut Butter Lover’s Day with sweet and savory delights
Nuts about peanut butter? Bad As’s Burgers, The Greenery Creamery and Better Than Sex have you covered
According to the National Peanut Board, it takes about 540 peanuts to make one 12-ounce jar of peanut butter. According to me, it takes one heaping tablespoon of the stuff (extra crunchy, always extra crunchy) to fuel a couple of hours’ worth of work that’s prompted me to skip lunch. Why? This energy-dense and undeniably delicious nut butter is loaded with healthy fats, protein and fiber.
Essentially, peanut butter makes us feel sated, but without the weighty, overfull feels we might get from proteins like, say, I dunno, Australian Wagyu beef.
But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t merge the two into a deranged and delicious Franken-food, does it?
And so, the mad scientist behind Curry Ford West’s Bad As’s Burgers did just that.
The Presley ($17) is a velvety, double-patty salute to The King and is laden with all manner of housemade toppings, including banana brûlée and silky peanut butter. The buttery brioche is also baked on-site.
And Elvis woud never approve of this burger without bacon. So, there’s that.
Smaller appetites can grab a single-patty version for $14.
“This one is super fun to eat,” says chef/owner John Collazo, who’ll be bringing this one back for Peanut Butter Lover’s Day (March 1) and keeping it on through the weekend. “The flavor components are all there: sweet, smoky, salty, creamy, peanutty — and that brûléed banana is everyone’s favorite, child or adult.”
Bad As’s Burgers: 4205 Curry Ford Road in Orlando, 407-601-4363; badassjoints.com
PEANUT BUTTER PERVERSION
The Peanut Butter Perversion joined the suggestive menu at Better Than Sex back in 2010 and has been a top-five selection company-wide (and No. 1 in the Key West) since its inception.
It’s not hard to see why: chocolate chip cookie dough crust gently cradles peanut butter mousse that’s
garnished with chocolate bark, sea salt and peanuts and set into a “deviantly corrupt” fluid folks here call “adult jelly.”
It’s actually port wine dessert sauce, but you have to give it up to the BTS crew for their consistency in branding.
Jelly-curious? You’ll find this dessert — and a host of other equally cheeky offerings — at their intimate Ivanhoe Village eatery.
“There’s nothing immoral about this assertive peanut butter silk pie,” its menu copy reads.
At $13, it’s got to be one of the cheapest peanut butter thrills in town.
Better Than Sex: 1905 N. Orange Ave. in Orlando, 407-761-8949; betterthansexdesserts.com
STUFFED PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE COOKIE
“Peanut butter is awesome because it’s incredibly versatile,” says Greenery Creamery owner and dessert genius Marie Mercado, whose Mills 50 shop, Sampaguita, is
featured in the “Somebody Feed Phil” episode dropping on Netflix on March 1.
“It offers rich flavor and creamy texture that enhances both sweet and savory dishes.”
That said, this Greenery Creamery creation is decidedly sweet, a double-chocolate cookie with chocolate chips, peanut butter filling and a Reese’s peanut butter cup that ticks the boxes for both peanut butter and chocolate lovers. Grab one at their downtown location or the smaller stand inside Henry’s Depot in Sanford
for $4.50.
The Greenery Creamery: 420 E. Church St. in Orlando and 212
W. 1st St. in Sanford (inside Henry’s Depot); thegreenerycreamery.com
Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@ orlandosentinel.com, For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.