Peanut Butter and Apple Bacon Jam Pizza isn’t something one eats every day. I’ll bet, in fact, you’ve never tried it. It was my first time too. You see I had to meet a cooking challenge for the Creative Cooking Group.
Every month we are assigned an ingredient or theme. Last month it was meat and potatoes, and I made these frisky little shepherd’s pie party bites. The month before that it was vegan, and I turned tofu into hot tofu sliders, Nashville style. But, please keep in mind, I’m not a trendy cook. I like delicious, modern, comfort food that is approachable. I like to excite the taste buds and not force ingredients to work. I told you in the last postnwhen I saw the four ingredients, I wasn’t happy. I had a hard time envisioning the full combination of the chosen four ingredients.
Similar to the show Chopped, we were assigned four ingredients to make a dish from. Granny Smith apples, vinegar, bacon and nut butter.
So I brewed for a while, pondering, thinking, and even discussing this challenge with friends. I knew that bacon and peanut butter go together, and apples and bacon go together, and apples and peanut butter go together. So I started there. In discussion with one of my favorite Nashville chefs, we threw the of idea of some kind of take on peanut butter and jelly. But, where would that vinegar fit in? That was stopping me every time.
The part of the challenge I worried most about was layering the vinegar with a nut butter, but when it turns out to a PB & J takeoff, it works. Apple bacon jam gave me the J of the PB and J. The vinegar is a common ingredient in bacon jam and since it’s cooked down slowly for about 45 minutes, it’s very subtle. I added cayenne pepper which makes many condiments and jams a little extra special. Some bacon jam recipes call for bourbon, but I was using apples and left it out, but it’s an option.
The recipe for the apple bacon jam is in my previous post. Now all I needed was a creative twist. You wouldn’t expect me just to put it on plain old bread would you? This is supposed to be a creative cooking group. So I thought of flat bread, which is license for anything you want it to be. Flatbread became pizza because I purchased a store bought pizza dough which refused to flatten out or produce anything even resembling a thin crust pizza. My own pizza dough recipe would be more ideal for that, but in a pinch, this worked out just fine.
The best thing about an Apple Bacon jam, peanut butter pizza is the jam can be made in advance and the pizza dough can be store bought. This makes whipping up an appetizer very simple. This will also travel well to a party, as it can be eaten at room temperature. It’s the bite people will return to until it’s gone. And, it will be gone quickly.
I had never baked peanut butter on anything before. This is what I learned. The dense natural peanut butter will not bake as nicely as the store bought creamy version in a jar, which bakes up beautifully. Make sure you cook the compote down enough to marry the flavors and cook off the vinegar. As an option, you can add in some bourbon, but makes sure it gets cooked down. Do not over process; pulse and look to make sure it’s appetizing and the bacon is still in bits. You don’t want a jelly. You want a jam.
The apple bacon recipe is located here at my previous post. As far as how much pizza dough and ingredients, this is a very loose recipe.
- 1 cup apple bacon jam (found in previous post)
- 1 store bought pizza dough
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- Roll out pizza dough, to thickness you desire. This is great on thin or thick pizza.
- Spread enough peanut butter to cover the dough. Be generous.
- Spread on top the apple bacon jam, totally covering the peanut butter.
- Bake according to directions for pizza dough. I rolled out a medium pizza dough, and baked for twenty minutes at 375.
Kitchen Butterfly says
April 1, 2013 at 2:04 pmI love the apple bacon jam, being a huge bacon jam fan! And the pizza is genius, pure genius!
Erica says
March 30, 2013 at 9:44 amThe jam looks and sounds amazing! Wonderful dish for the challenge, Angela!
angela says
March 30, 2013 at 9:52 amThank you, Erica. We did enjoy it
deana says
March 29, 2013 at 7:39 amApple-bacon jam? I’ve died and gone to heaven. I know our household will rejoice when I make it. A great way to use the challenge and make a super recipe.
La Diva Cucina says
March 27, 2013 at 12:33 pmI thought your entry was very original and tasty looking. You’d do Elvis proud! I printed your recipe, I can see my husband gobbling this right up. Well done!
Laz says
March 25, 2013 at 6:02 pmGood job with this pizza. Nice.
Norma-Platanos, Mangoes and Me! says
March 20, 2013 at 9:31 amI am with Joan…can eat this any time…delicious…
Faith says
March 18, 2013 at 8:43 pmThis looks wonderful and so creative! I think I’d like to top it with a fried egg and have it for breakfast – any time of day!
Joan Nova says
March 18, 2013 at 7:19 pmOoh, I bet that was good and it’s really versatile. You mentioned it as an appetizer but I could also have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Anna (Hidden Ponies) says
March 18, 2013 at 6:31 pmWhat a fantastic idea! I always imagine how panicked I would be on “Chopped” when I opened that basket, I’d also want to think about it and talk it over with friends before committing to anything 🙂
Teresa, foodonfifth says
March 18, 2013 at 6:22 pmAngela, this is the second time in a couple of weeks that I have come across Apple Bacon Jam. Who knew? I guess Southerners are quite obsessed with bacon so I should not be surprised. As for your pizza…I love pizza, I love peanut butter, I love apples and I certainly love some good bacon therefore I know I would love a bite of this interesting and fun pizza right now! What fun!
Evelyne@cheapethniceatz.com says
March 18, 2013 at 3:49 pmThe jam post was great and the combo with peanut butter on a pizza is brilliant. This is a very creative dish. I can imagine that jam on so many things . I have to say I am more tempted by the version with bourbon instead hi hi.
angela says
March 18, 2013 at 5:42 pmI know I need to try it with the bourbon, but it was so good even without it.
Barbara F. says
March 18, 2013 at 3:24 pmI’d love to try this Angela. I already plan to try the apple bacon jam, some of my favorite foods/flavors in the world. xo
angela says
March 18, 2013 at 5:41 pmThanks Barbara. Let me know how it turns out.
Rosa says
March 18, 2013 at 3:01 pmOh, that is such a great choice of topping!
Cheers,
Rosa
Shannon says
March 18, 2013 at 2:19 pmapples totally go with bourbon, so i would definitely add that in 🙂 love the idea of this, and certainly need bacon jam in my life! great job!
Jenn and Seth says
March 18, 2013 at 1:19 pmsounds so delicious and interesting!! i’m dying to try that apple bacon jam 🙂
angela says
March 18, 2013 at 5:41 pmThanks guys. I hope you try it.