I was a super picky child and I’m not afraid to admit it. As a child, my diet consisted of canned pastas, frozen pizzas and of course, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. PB & J had to be done a specific way and for me, that meant no crust. My Mom used to just rip them off and call it good, but when Uncrustables came out, I’m sure I stomped my feet and demanded that my mom buy them for me. She didn’t, of course. If she had only know what I know now, she could have avoided the fit that I’m positive followed. If your kids are crust off babies too, this homemade Uncrustables recipe is just what you need to head off those temper tantrums and meltdowns!
Uncrustables can get very expensive if you’re constantly having to buy them. At over $3.00 per box, they can add up to quite a bit in your grocery budget (Six Dollar Family) each month. Not only are they expensive though, but they’re filled with preservatives and other things that you may not want your child ingesting. When you make homemade Uncrustables though, you’re giving your child a very budget friendly recipe and a kid friendly recipe that literally takes seconds to make. We love making things ourselves instead of buying them all the time so this is definately one of the 30 things to stop buying and make homemade that we highly recommend!
Homemade Uncrustables Recipe
These homemade Uncrustables can be made for pennies on the dollar. A single loaf of bread, jar of peanut butter and jar of jam will only run you as little as $3.00 depending on where you shop. With that $3.00, you’ll be able to make as many as 25 homemade Uncrustables which means you would be paying as little as $0.12 each! They’re the perfect after school snack idea, school lunch idea or anytime meal idea for anyone, but especially those that are looking for ways to save money on groceries.
Plus, they’re super easy to make!
You Will Need:
- 2 slices of bread for each Homemade Uncrustables you would like to make
- Peanut Butter
- Jam or jelly flavor of your choice
Related: Peanut Butter Smoothie Recipe
To start, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and lay out your bread slices. Add 1-2 tablespoons of peanut butter and 1-2 teaspoons of jam to the center of each piece of bread. Do NOT spread it out. You can use any flavor jam that you would like. We like to use my homemade orange marmalade recipe or this strawberry freezer jam recipe a lot of the time.
Add your tops and bottoms together to create your sandwiches. Now, you need to cut and seal them. For the purposes of this post, we used a glass to show you how it can be done super cheap, but personally, I use THIS sandwich cutter and sealer. I feel like it gives a better seal which means less mess leaking out of the side of your homemade Uncrustables if the seal comes apart. Cut each sandwich and set the crusts aside.
Once you have all of your homemade Uncrustables cut, place them in a Ziploc freezer bag and freeze them. If you’re worried about them freezing together, separate them with small parchment paper squares. Freeze until they’re solid. To serve, remove the amount that you need and allow to thaw for at least 30 minutes.
Related: Freezer Cooking Recipes
I like to have a no-waste home which means that when I make these, I take the bread crusts that I set aside and use them to make homemade bread crumbs. To do that, freeze them until you have enough to make a big batch then process the frozen bread through a food processor or coffee grinder depending on how fine you want your crumbs. They must be frozen to do it. By doing this, you not only save money but you keep the bread crusts from going to waste!