Peanut Butter Banana Toast
By Jude Horak, UC patient. Flare and remission. Breakfast.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 3 min
- Total
- 8 min
- Serves
- 1
This is the breakfast I never stopped eating. During a flare it was often the only thing I wanted, because smooth peanut butter and a ripe banana on white toast are about as gentle as real food gets while still delivering calories and protein. In remission I keep making it, sometimes on sourdough, sometimes with a few extra toppings, because it takes five minutes and I have never had it turn on me. The details matter more than they look: the bread should be well toasted so it does not go soft under the banana, the peanut butter goes on while the toast is hot so it melts into the crumb, and the banana is sliced thin so each bite has a bit of everything. A dusting of cinnamon is the whole seasoning. I keep honey off during a flare because it is high in fructose, and even in remission I reach for maple syrup first, which sits better for me. The tips below cover how I dress this up when I am eating well and how I keep it plain when I am not.
Why it works for UC
Smooth peanut butter is a nut food with the nuts fully ground, which is why it shows up on flare snack lists while whole nuts and crunchy peanut butter do not; it brings protein and fat in a form that does not scrape. Banana is soft, low in insoluble fiber and one of the most consistently tolerated fruits at every stage, and a riper banana is even easier to break down. White bread has the bran and germ removed, and sourdough bread is fermented long enough to reduce the wheat components that bother some people, so either is a gentle base. Toasting dries the bread, which many find easier than fresh slices.
Ingredient pages: Peanut butter, Banana, White Bread, Sourdough Bread
Ingredients
- 2 slices white or sourdough bread
- 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
- 1 ripe banana
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Tiny pinch of salt (skip if your peanut butter is salted)
- 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup (optional, remission)
Method
- 1Toast the bread until deep golden and firm, about 3 to 4 minutes in a toaster or 2 minutes per side under a broiler. Soft toast turns to mush under the banana, so err on the darker side.
- 2Spread the peanut butter over both slices right away while the toast is hot. The heat loosens the peanut butter so it spreads thin to the edges instead of tearing the bread.
- 3Peel the banana and slice it into rounds about 1/4 inch thick, which gives you roughly 20 slices. Arrange them in a single layer over the peanut butter so every bite gets fruit without a thick stack.
- 4Dust with the cinnamon and the salt if using. In remission, drizzle the maple syrup over the top. Eat within a few minutes, before the banana softens the toast.
Tips and swaps
- Flare version is the recipe as written minus the maple syrup, on white bread, with the ripest banana you have. I pick bananas with brown freckles when things are unsettled, because they are softer and sweeter than firm yellow ones.
- Remission upgrades I like: swap in whole wheat bread for more fiber, use crunchy peanut butter if whole nut pieces sit fine for you, or scatter a tablespoon of blueberries over the banana.
- Choose a peanut butter whose ingredients are just peanuts and salt. Some brands add palm oil and sugar, which are not a problem for everyone but are easy to avoid.
- For a warm version, assemble the toast and slide it under the broiler for 60 to 90 seconds until the banana edges caramelize. Watch it constantly; it goes from golden to burnt fast.
What a serving gives you
Two tablespoons of peanut butter plus the bread gives around 12 grams of protein and about 400 calories, which is real energy on a day when appetite is low. The banana brings potassium, something worth keeping up when you are losing fluids. Fiber is around 4 grams, mostly soluble from the banana, which is a gentle amount. Fat is moderate at roughly 17 grams, nearly all from the peanut butter, so I keep the portion at two tablespoons rather than piling it on.
Questions about this recipe
Can I eat this during a flare?
This is one of the few breakfasts I kept through my worst stretch, so yes, with the usual caveat that everyone has different triggers. The version I use in a flare is white bread, smooth peanut butter only, a very ripe banana, and no maple syrup or honey. If fat is a problem for you, drop to one tablespoon of peanut butter. If even that is too much, plain toast with banana is a step down that still gives you something to eat.
Is crunchy peanut butter OK, or does it have to be smooth?
Smooth is the version I trust in both phases. The pieces in crunchy peanut butter behave more like whole nuts, which are on most flare avoid lists because the hard fragments are rough on an irritated gut. In remission plenty of people go back to crunchy without trouble. I tried it once things were stable for a while, with a single tablespoon on one slice, and paid attention for a day or two before making it a habit.
