Vegan Fluffernutter Sandwich

Vegan Fluffernutter Sandwich!

I grew up in a tiny town in Southern Maine. My mom usually packed our lunches for us and did a great job- but we always wanted Dad to do the packing. When Dad packed lunches, my little sister, Jade, and I would always get a fat fluffernutter sandwich on whole wheat bread, sliced into 4 triangles and wrapped in aluminum foil. We'd open up the gooey, tin foil wrapped sandwich at lunch and bury our faces into the marshmallow-y goodness. Now, if you've gotten this far and you're still like "WHAT THE HELL IS FLUFFERNUTTER?" then you obviously didn't grow up on the East Coast. A fluffernutter is a combo of peanut butter and marshmallow fluff, slathered into sandwich form. I remember eating these CONSTANTLY (I wasn't much into jam) as a kiddo, and haven't had one in YEARS. Especially since, as a vegan, marshmallow fluff (while it DOES exist) can be hard to find and expensive to buy. Luckily, the world of vegan food experiments in now a pretty wide world.
If you've been living under a rock, you may not have noticed the trend sweeping the vegan community, but it's all about bean juice and it's called aquafaba. Aquafaba is the term used to describe the thick liquid you usually pour down the sink when draining a can of beans (any kind of beans- black, garbanzo, navy beans- will work). Some brilliant genius realized you could whip the liquid (similar in protein build) just like egg whites and get similar results in things like meringues, pavlovas, and marshmallows. Only now, they're VEGAN versions! When we first heard of this idea, we immediately drained a can of beans and got to work. We loved how similar the texture of the 'fluff' was, though it was slightly less sticky than what I remember (and thus easier to wipe off your face afterwards), but that's probably due to the lack of corn syrup in this recipe. Aquafaba is a crazy, fun thing to experiment with, and I have found myself thinking of ways to add it to EVERYTHING. It just adds a light, whipped quality that I think would be AMAZING in baked goods. Before that though, whip up this easy, basic fluff recipe, make yourself a fluffernutter sandwich, and put Blossom on Netflix for a total afternoon revival of my East Coast childhood. Let's EAT! 

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup aquafaba liquid (about 1 - 15 oz. can beans, drained)
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1/2 cup organic, granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon xantham gum
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

peanut butter (about 1/4 cup per sandwich)
sliced wheat (or white) bread, 2 slices per sandwich 

DIRECTIONS:
1. Drain aquafaba from one can of beans into a small bowl. Refrigerate unused beans. 
2. Strain aquafaba liquid through a piece of cheesecloth or fine sieve to remove any beans pieces or skin.
3. Pour aquafaba into an electric mixing bowl, and begin to whisk at a medium to high speed.
4. As aquafaba whips, slowly add vanilla, granulated sugar, and finally xantham gum + cream of tartar. Whip mixture 10-15 minutes, until stiff peaks form. The mixture should be thick enough that if you remove the whisk attachment and wave it around the air a bit, the 'fluff' should't go anywhere- kind of like the blizzard trick at Dairy Queen.
5. Assmeble your sandwich by spreading 1 slice thickly with peanut butter and the other slice with a generous serving of fluff. Slap the two slices together and munch away! 

Makes enough for 2-4 sandwiches, though there is so much that can be done with aquafaba, the leftovers might be great as a meringue topping or mixed into baked goods. Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days, but may need to be re-whipped before consumption.

NOTES:
- About 3 tablespoons of aquafaba= 1 'egg white'
- Any bean liquid should work, but we used canned white bean and chickpea liquid over here. 
-Experiment! This new trend has lots of possibilities and is super fun to work with. Just don't get frustrated! 
-You can find more info on aquafaba hits + misses in this AMAZING Facebook group OR at aquafaba.com.

print recipe