Peanut Butter and Sorghum Sandwich

One of the most quintessentially Appalachian sandwiches — natural peanut butter (just ground peanuts, nothing added) spread on thick bread and drizzled with sorghum molasses. The combination of earthy peanut, dark molasses, and bread was a lunch eaten by generations of mountain children. Peanuts were grown across the South and ground into butter in hand-cranked mills at general stores.

Ingredients

• Natural peanut butter (ingredients should say: peanuts, salt — nothing else)
• Thick-sliced bread (homemade or sturdy store bread)

Dark sorghum molasses for drizzling

• Optional pinch of salt if using unsalted peanut butter

Directions

1. Spread a generous layer of natural peanut butter on one slice of bread. Natural peanut butter is thick and dense — use enough to cover well.
2. Drizzle sorghum molasses generously over the peanut butter. The dark, mineral-rich sorghum soaks into the peanut butter slightly.
3. Top with the second slice of bread and press gently.
4. The molasses will slowly permeate through the peanut butter as it sits — by lunchtime, every bite has both flavors throughout.

Wrap tightly in wax paper or cloth.

1. Alternatively: mix peanut butter and sorghum together in a bowl before spreading for a more uniform flavor.

Notes

This sandwich predates the peanut butter and jelly sandwich in Appalachian culture by several decades. Sorghum grows in the mountain South where the climate doesn’t favor sugarcane — it was the mountain sweetener for centuries. Natural peanut butter from the mill was grainier and more intensely flavored than commercial brands like Jif or Skippy.