AMISH CHURCH PEANUT BUTTER SPREAD
One thing a visitor to Holmes County, Ohio Amish-themed restaurants will notice right away is an unusual condiment on the table not found in many other areas. In place of the typical bottles of signature red catsup and bright yellow mustard, you'll usually see a squeeze bottle of apple butter and "Amish church peanut butter spread." The latter is an Amish concoction that has typically been associated with the meal after church services. But touristy restaurants have latched onto it and serve it on site most places. I jokingly call it "Amish vegemite" because like the dark spread from Down Under that Aussies enjoy in so many ways, the Amish enjoy their church peanut butter spread in equally similar versatility. Some eat it as a sandwich, some spread it on crackers, toast, biscuits or combine it with jelly, etc. Everyone seems to have their own favorite way to enjoy it. Mine is just the unimaginative spreading on bread. In this photo, Rachel has spread it onto a buttered piece of bread.
Amish Church Spread is found in squirt bottles on the tables of many Amish restaurants and is an after-church staple at Amish homes.
Um...not sure if that flavor combination would work well for me. The neat thing about church spread is how easy it is to make:
1 part peanut butter
1 part corn syrup
1 part marshmallow creme
Mix together and spread on bread. But you can adjust to the proportions to fit your tastes. Heck, you can even use crunchy peanut butter. The options are endless.
My cousin use to eat something like that, but instead of marshmellow cream my aunt use to use butter. she loved it.
Love the peanut butter spread! When I had the pleasure of joining in an Amish after-church meal, the ladies there mixed the peanut butter spread with a cheese spread on bread. I thought that was sort of an unusual mixture. But I gave it a try and it wasn't bad!
I enjoyed reading about the Amish Vegemite, only because I am an Aussie, I was curious. I am always willing to try something new. Hey, we do not eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches here, but I tried it and have fallen 'in love' with them and what a great, easy, tasty snack. I will have to try this Amish 'Vegemite'. For those readers that have never tasted the true Aussie 'Vegemite', well, it tastes nothing like peanut butter. It infact is a lot darker in colour than this Amish Vegemite, infact, it is almost black and very salty, made from yeast extract and one of the world's richest sources of vitamin B. No, you would not try to mix it with peanut butter. I think this version mixed with corn syrup and marshmallow cream must be really tasty. This is one I must try.
My husband is addicted to the peanut butter spread. We get a couple of jars each time we eat at The Blue Gate in shipshewana.
I like to warm it up a bit, then use it as ice cream topping!
Wow! I didn't realise that Amish peanut butter was so sugary, Kevin. As I can't have any sugar anymore, this is definitely off limits for me now:( But I can still enjoy our Aussie vegemite, which is definitely best sparingly applied to fresh warm buttered toast, in my opinion. I've noticed a lot of Amish recipes have sugar - do you know whether there are a diebetic/sugar free versions of Amish favourites, Kevin? You might have covered this in one of your previous books perhaps?
Sorry, that should read "diabetic", not "diebetic".
This sounds good will have to try the peanut butter spread.....will make my own.....love marshmallow creme so I'm sure I will like this....
I love this spread. I just gad it at the Blue Gate restarant in Shipshewana this past weekend. Yum. Becky
This is a staple so to speak @ our home....except I use real maple syrup instead of corn....nothing like warm english muffin bread and church spread....yum!
Yum, Lisa, that is a great idea!
I have often wondered about the peanut butter spread. I read a lot of Amish fiction and it is often mentioned. Thank you ladies for your helpful comments.
Good stuff, spread on bread and you have a winner!