The Secret Ingredient You Should Be Adding To Your Peanut Butter Sandwich

Forget peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter and honey, peanut butter and banana, and peanut butter and potato chip sandwiches. Don't even get us started on peanut butter and chili. Some Redditors swears it's a "Hoosier thing" while one user called it more of a midwestern phenomenon. Apparently dipping peanut butter sandwiches into chili in public school cafeterias at lunchtime doesn't just happen in Indiana but also in Illinois (via The Takeout). Says one Redditor, "Wait, those are 2 different things? The meal isn't called [chili and peanut butter sandwich]?" 

No, it isn't. And unless you're watching (like another Redditor does) a 1 pm Indianapolis Colts games at your local sports bar where chili and peanut butter sandwiches and given out or free (to poor midwesterners crying over the fact that the Colts have only ever won two Super Bowls) leave that combination be. For right now, at least, we've got a better way to spice up your lunch plans. 

The next time you're whipping up a peanut butter sandwich, try adding a little bit of cream cheese to the mix. Whether you're going for sweet or savory, cream cheese and peanut butter is a combination that's unlikely to let you down. 

Why do cream cheese and peanut butter go so well together? If you've never had peanut butter ice cream or bitten into a heaven-sent slice of peanut butter cheesecakes, you're on your own. Something about the combination just works, a little bit like Tom Cruise and Cher worked (for a hot minute). 

On Quora, self-proclaimed chef Martin Bayer suggests that you whip your cream cheese in an electric mixer before folding in peanut butter to create a spread. That way, you'll create a lighter, softer textured spread, and the cream cheese alone won't overwhelm the profile of the peanut butter. Don't be afraid to add a bit of jam to your sandwich either, the fruit's sweet and sour profile will balance the salty, richness in your peanut butter cream cheese spread nicely. Epicurious recommends you go a different but similar route. Try spreading your peanut butter on one slice of bread, your cream cheese on the other, and stuffing your sandwich with sliced strawberries and a dollop of honey. 

But maybe you're itching for something savory? In that case, you could combine peanut butter and cream cheese with green olives. We can't swear by it, but, according to Delishably, at least two other people have.