Inside: Love uncrustables but don't like paying for them? Make your own homemade uncrustables for a whole lot cheaper.
I love coming up with easy school lunch and snack ideas for my son. The evenings can be so hectic, so having a quick lunch to throw together is great. We all love the Smuckers uncrustables that you buy in the store, but I don't like the price. So, I bought a tool that makes uncrustables at home.
It's so easy to make homemade uncrustables with this sandwich press. The best part is you can use whatever ingredients your family likes. We like to use whole wheat bread and homemade strawberry jam. I make a large batch of them and then freeze them. Whenever we need a quick snack or lunch we can just grab a homemade uncrustable from the freezer.
I recommend starting with a very soft bread. If you are using stale bread the press doesn't work as well. The bread needs to be pretty soft for the tool to pinch it together. I like to use Wonder Whole Wheat White. I use the entire loaf to make up a bunch at one time. Start by laying all the bread out on the counter.
Next, press down on the center of the bread to flatten it out. This will give you plenty of room to put your peanut butter and your jelly or jam.
Place a small scoop of peanut butter on the bread slices. Then spread the peanut butter over the bread, avoiding the edges of the bread. If you get the peanut butter too close to where the bread gets crimped together then it won't stick.
After spreading the peanut butter out on the bread then add a small scoop of jelly or jam. I like to use my homemade strawberry jam. One of my favorite things about this recipe is that we can use what we like when we are making homemade uncrustables. My son loves his filled with raspberry jam.
Nex, stack the bread together to make a sandwich. Then put the sandwich press over the bread and press and turn. Now you have a uncrustable sandwich. There are plenty of different sandwich presses that I have seen or tried, but this sandwich press is by far my favorite. It is very durable and does a great job at crimping the edges.
Once you have made your homemade uncrustables you will want to freeze them. Place the sandwiches on a tray and put them in the freezer for an hour or two. This way they can freeze without sticking together.
Once they have frozen you can pull them out of the freezer and place them in a freezer safe container. I just use a large freezer safe Ziploc bag. You can also store them in a Tupperware container.
You can mix up the ingredients that you use to make all kinds of combinations of homemade uncrustables. My husband and I like peanut butter and strawberry jam uncrustables. My son loves when I make the homemade uncrustables with hazelnut spread and raspberry jam. They are quick to make and you have an easy grab and go sandwich.
Need some more ideas on foods you can freeze? Follow me on my freezer meals board on pinterest. You can also check out My FreezeEasy. They teach you to make 10 freezer meals in under 1 hour! Plus, you get new recipes to try every month. They even offer gluten free. Just head over here to check them out. What are your favorite foods to freeze?
Homemade Uncrustables
Homemade Uncrustables
Equipment
- Sandwich press
Ingredients
- Bread
- Peanut Butter
- Jam
Instructions
- Start with a very soft loaf of bread. We like Wonderbread.
- Lay all the bread out on the counter.
- Press down on the center of the bread to flatten it out.
- Place a small scoop of peanut butter on the bread slices.
- Then, spread the peanut butter over the bread, avoiding the edges of the bread.
- After spreading the peanut butter add a small scoop of jelly.
- Next, stack the bread together to make a sandwich.
- Then put the sandwich press over the bread and press and turn.
- Once you have all your sandwiches made place the sandwiches on a tray and put them in the freezer for an hour or two.
- This way they can freeze without sticking together.
- Once they have frozen you can pull them out of the freezer and place them in a freezer safe container.
- They are good for up to 6 months in the freezer.
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Reelika @Financially Wise On Heels says
What a great idea, I love it. Very simple, but yet very cute and delicious!
Julie says
Thanks!
Lucinda Nutting says
When I was a kid, I loved these sandwiches. I'm going to order a sandwich press pronto (my fiance would love to be able to bring these for lunch every day 😉 )
Julie says
They are perfect for a quick lunch. I just finished one a few minutes ago. 🙂
Brenda says
What do you do with the cut offs? Make crutons or best make bread pudding.
Julie says
We usually make croutons, but bread pudding sounds so good! I might have to make that next time. Thanks for the suggestion.
Chelsea says
How long do they last? Is it about the same life span as the store bought ones?
Julie says
I have found that they last at least 6-8 weeks. After that you may notice the bread isn't a fresh but they are still good.
Taiesha says
How long do they take to thaw out? Should I take them out the night before? Or will they thaw by lunch time?
Taiesha says
How long do they take to thaw out? Should I take them out the night before? Or do they thaw completely by lunch?
Julie says
The night before is probably best. We often do that morning, but we like them still very cold.
Paula says
I like the idea of making these in future as well. Thanks for sharing. Where did you find the kitchen device to cut and crimp them?
Julie says
Hi Paula, you can get them from Amazon. They have different brands, but I have one from pampered chef. There is a link for one just like mine below.
http://amzn.to/2cyBq9n
Tina says
Are there any other combinations? My children go to a peanut nut free school.
Julie says
Hi Tina, if it's just peanut butter you can't serve you can also try Nutella. My son loves Nutella and raspberry jam together in them. You can also do lunchmeat and cheese inside the uncrustables. Just make sure that the lunchmeat and cheese are folded so they don't get caught in the crimped edges.