Beautified PB&J

So many kids pulled out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on white bread for lunch. It was the infamous brown paper bag lunch. The PB&J, an apple, Capri Sun juice and a pre-packaged dessert.

I wasn't fond of the PB&J. I mean, it was alright. I never hated it. Although I have never thought much of white bread. My lunch consisted of other sandwiches, not commonly favored by children, things like liverwurst and mustard; pastrami; or egg salad.

Now I live in a country where peanut butter is loathed or loved. These kids did not grow up on PB&Js nor do they even know what that means. Lunch here is rice and stew in a square plastic containers. Everyone has one. Workers take a break, usually between 2-4pm, and everyone pulls out their plastic container. There are even people who collect the containers in the morning, fill them and deliver them to workers who are too busy to have prepared something the night before.

I use peanut butter a lot now. It goes into cookies, stews, frostings and now, into miniature tarts. This is meant to celebrate the PB&J that you may have all loved as kids.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Mini Tarts
Adapted from Epicurious
Makes 12

24 wonton wrappers
4 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup of crunchy peanut butter
3 tablespoons of butter, softened
2 tablespoons of dark brown sugar
1 cup of chilled heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup of strawberry jam (9 1/2 oz)
2 cups of fresh strawberries, quartered lengthwise

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Criss cross 2 wonton wrappers to form a star-like shape. Place each pair of wrappers gently but firmly into muffin tins. Bake at 325F until they lightly brown, about 6-8 minutes. Remove from muffin tins and cool on a wire rack. (Note: I would try a cookie or pastry crust next time, I did the graham one that epicurious suggested only to achieve burnt butter graham puffs, so the wontons were the quickest solution for me!)

2. In a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese, peanut butter, and butter in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add brown sugar and beat until incorporated.

3. Beat cream with vanilla in another bowl until it holds soft peaks, then fold into peanut butter mixture gently but thoroughly. Fill pastry bag (or a plastic bag in my case!) and refrigerate if not using immediately.

4. Distribute 1/3 cup of jam (about 1/2 tablespoon each) into bottoms of the wonton cups. Pipe peanut butter mixture on top of jam. Chill mini tarts, loosely covered with plastic wrap, until firm, at least 3 hours. Just before serving, stir strawberries with remaining 1/2 cup of jam with a rubber spatula until coated. Spoon over mini tarts. Serve immediately.

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Peanut Butter & Jelly Miniature Tarts are my submission for the Mini-Pie Revolution #2: Small Tarts Have Big Hearts! hosted by Ann and Karyn. Check out the Round-Up!!!