I’ll get right to the punchline – these were over the top, scarf ’em down good! I’m just thankful that I only use still images on Panini Happy rather than any kind of live webcam or you’d have witnessed my husband and I spattering the kitchen countertops with chocolate sauce as we repeatedly dunked more than our fair share of grilled little peanut butter and marshmallow fluff pound cake sandwiches last night. All that buttery cake soaking up the rich chocolate, with the slightly salty chunky peanut butter and sticky-sweet marshmallow fluff oozing out…it’s beyond!
I must thank and give credit to Grace Parisi at Food & Wine magazine for coming up with this idea. I’d been toying with ideas for s’mores panini so when I came across her recipe for a skillet-grilled s’mores sandwich in this month’s issue I knew I had to give it a try. My adaptation utilizes a panini press rather than a skillet (surprised?) so you get these great crispy golden ridges on the outside – perfect for cradling all of that yummy chocolate sauce.
If you spent a good chunk of your childhood attending weekly Girl Scout meetings, as I did, then the mere mention of s’mores instantly transports you back to those days. It was our camping trip standby – if there was a campfire, we roasted marshmallows for s’mores.
Although I’m not sure you could call my approach to marshmallow prep “roasting”. Probably more like “flash charring”. While the other girls patiently positioned their skewers over just the right section of fire to get a nice even toast on their marshmallows, I took the more direct approach of sticking mine directly into the fire, catching a flame, blowing it out and assembling the melted goodness into my s’more. By the time their marshmallows were “done”, I was licking the last remants of Hershey’s chocolate and graham cracker crumbs off of my fingers. When you know you’ve got a delicious treat ahead of you, who’s got time to waste??
Peanut Butter Pound Cake S’mores Panini
(adapted from Food & Wine, December 2008)
INGREDIENTS:
2 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
One 1-pound frozen pound cake, preferably Sara Lee, thawed
1/4 cup chunky peanut butter (not natural)
1/3 cup marshmallow fluff
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
DIRECTIONS:
Put the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the cream until hot to the touch. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let stand until melted. Whisk until smooth.
Preheat a panini grill to medium-high heat (375 degrees).
Using a serrated knife, trim off the top and bottom of the pound cake so that the cake is about 1-1/4 inches thick. Carefully split the pound cake in half horizontally. Spread the peanut butter on one half and the marshmallow on the other, leaving a 1/2-inch border all around (note: the marshmallow fluff will spread when it’s heated). Sandwich the two halves together and brush the top and bottom with the butter.
Grill until golden and nearly warmed through, about 2 minutes (depending on the size of your grill, you may need to divide the sandwich in half cross-wise to fit). Transfer to a work surface and cut the cake into twelve 3/4-inch-wide strips. Serve immediately with the chocolate sauce and enjoy!
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Gosh, this is over the top — and I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t love it. We built a fire pit a few years ago, and s’mores are part of our summer ritual. Now I can take that one step beyond!
What a fun treat! I’d be dunking away too. You must be so excited when you come up with a new Panini Dessert recipe!
Do you think I could eat this for breakfast this morning? I gotta have it!
OMG – you are killing me with this one! YUM!
The one time I tried to grill a PB&J panini I made a God-awful mess. These look too dangerous for me right now; bet I could eat the whole pound cake. Yummy!
Help my hips! One bite and I’d be addicted! Love the flavor of S’mores! (And this is such a creative way to experience a similar flavor…)
What a totally fantastic idea.
We haven’t done much with dessert panini yet, but we might just have to try this one out! Especially since people keep blogging about homemade marshmallows!
OMG OMG OMG! I cannot wait to get back to my panini press! this recipe is SCREAMING my name. u r so creative. so glad u have created this blog 🙂
I’ve been dying for smores lately – boy, do these sound good!
Peanut butter and s’mores? Absolutely yum! My boyfriend would love this 🙂
Be still my heart….. I think I just gained 5 pounds from just looking at the pictures of this! Damn!
I haven’t had a s’more since my Girl Scout days (s’more overload), but OMG…adding peanut butter to the mix and all the other goodness you have in here? I would be in heaven with this.
Oh good grief this is beautiful.
hmm smores… love it
this looks like a whole lot of deliciousness!!!!
Oh my oh my, these look AMAZING! I am a peanut butter addict and these look ridiculously amazing and I must make something like this during my stressful midterm week in the very near future. Thanks for the inspiration. 🙂
Oh my gawd I just died and went to heaven
Very nice idea…. I just might run away with the ramekin of chocolate, though.
me likey! it might have a little something to do with my abundance of sweet teeth, but this is my favorite panini yet. 🙂
Interesting recipe. I really like the idea of dipping the sandwich in the chocolate. You can be naughty and dip the whole sandwhich or nice and dip just a little.
Holy Shit!That looks very fattening and delicious…Beautiful pictures!
I love everything but the calories on this dessert panini. Wow, what a yummy looking treat. I am so impressed.
These look to die for!
That looks good!!
You’re killing me with this one. So gorgeous!
Oh, my gosh!! This looks and sounds amazing!!
These. Sound. Amazing.
Can one possibly have more s’mores+panini ideas? This looks incredibly satisfying. So is the gingerbread blondie one. Oh and the fruit one!