Fluffernutter
The Fluffernutter is a sandwich made by spreading peanut butter and marshmallow creme between two slices of white bread.[1][2] This simple yet sticky treat originated in Massachusetts in the early 20th century and has become a staple of New England cuisine, evoking childhood nostalgia for many in the region.[2][3] The combination traces its roots to Emma Curtis, a descendant of Paul Revere, who in the 1910s produced Snowflake Marshmallow Creme and suggested pairing it with peanut butter as a sandwich filling.[4][3] Around the same time, Archibald Query developed a similar marshmallow spread in Somerville, Massachusetts, which he later sold to H. Allen Durkee and Fred Mower in 1920; their company commercialized it as Marshmallow Fluff, the ingredient most associated with the sandwich today.[1] The term "Fluffernutter" itself emerged in 1960 from a marketing campaign by Durkee-Mower's advertising director.[5] Particularly beloved in Massachusetts, the Fluffernutter has been celebrated through annual festivals in Somerville and was once proposed as the state's official sandwich, highlighting its enduring regional significance despite its basic ingredients and high sugar content.[6][2] Variations occasionally incorporate additions like chocolate or bananas, but the classic version remains unchanged, underscoring its straightforward appeal.[5]Composition and Preparation
Core Ingredients
The traditional fluffernutter sandwich requires three primary components: soft white bread, creamy peanut butter, and marshmallow creme.[7][8] White bread, typically sliced sandwich loaf varieties, provides a neutral, absorbent base that complements the sticky fillings without overpowering them.[9] Creamy peanut butter, spread evenly on one slice, contributes a rich, nutty flavor and protein content derived from ground peanuts, often with added sugar and salt in commercial formulations.[7] Marshmallow creme, commonly known by the brand Marshmallow Fluff, forms the sweet counterpart, offering a light, airy texture from whipped egg whites stabilized with corn syrup and sugar.[10] Its standard composition includes corn syrup, sugar syrup, dried egg whites, and artificial vanilla flavor, yielding a spreadable consistency that melts slightly when combined with peanut butter.[11] A typical assembly uses two slices of bread with 2 to 3 tablespoons each of peanut butter and marshmallow creme, ensuring balanced proportions for optimal flavor and mouthfeel.[7][8] These ingredients have remained consistent since the sandwich's early 20th-century origins, prioritizing simplicity and regional availability in New England.[12]Traditional Assembly and Recipe
The traditional fluffernutter sandwich is assembled using two slices of soft white bread, creamy peanut butter, and marshmallow crème, such as Marshmallow Fluff.[7][12] One slice of bread is spread with approximately 2 to 3 tablespoons of peanut butter, while the other is spread with an equal amount of marshmallow crème.[7][12] The slices are then pressed together with the spreads facing inward to form the sandwich, which is typically served cold without toasting.[13][14] This simple preparation method traces back to the early 20th century, with the earliest known recipe appearing in promotional materials for marshmallow crème around 1918, suggesting the combination of peanut butter and the spread on bread.[4] White bread is preferred in the classic version for its soft texture, which complements the sticky, gooey fillings without overpowering them.[15] Creamy peanut butter is standard, as chunky varieties emerged later and are considered variations.[14] No cooking or additional ingredients are required in the traditional recipe, emphasizing ease of assembly for quick consumption, particularly among children in New England households where the sandwich originated.[13][15]Variations and Adaptations
Variations of the traditional fluffernutter sandwich incorporate additional ingredients to enhance flavor and texture, such as potato chips for crunch, sliced bananas for sweetness, cooked bacon for savoriness, Nutella for a chocolate-hazelnut twist, or fruit jam for added fruitiness.[16] Substituting wheat bread for white bread provides a whole-grain alternative, while flavored peanut butters—including maple-infused, cinnamon-raisin swirl, or dark chocolate varieties—offer distinct taste profiles without altering the core marshmallow creme component.[17][18] A popular adaptation is the grilled fluffernutter, in which the assembled sandwich is toasted in butter or oil, melting the marshmallow creme and peanut butter into a gooey consistency reminiscent of a peanut butter and jelly grilled cheese.[19][20] Some versions further include banana slices before grilling to prevent sogginess and add caramelization.[21] Beyond sandwiches, the fluffernutter concept has been adapted into desserts, including cookies filled with peanut butter and marshmallow creme, cakes layered with fluff frosting, pies featuring a pretzel crust and fluff-peanut butter filling, and even rice krispie treats or French toast incorporating the flavors.[22][23][24] These extensions maintain the salty-sweet balance but scale it for baking or no-bake preparations.[25]Historical Development
Origins of Key Ingredients
Peanut butter's precursors trace to ancient civilizations in South America, where the Inca and Aztec peoples ground roasted peanuts into a paste as early as 2500 B.C., using it as a staple food for its nutritional value during long journeys.[26] In the modern era, the first patented process for producing peanut butter emerged in the United States in 1895, when physician and nutritionist John Harvey Kellogg developed a method of grinding boiled peanuts into a butter-like consistency to serve as a digestible protein source for patients at his Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan.[27] Commercial peanut butter gained traction in the early 20th century, with widespread availability following innovations in stabilization techniques by 1922, though early versions were gritty and prone to oil separation until emulsification processes were refined.[28] Marshmallow creme, the signature "fluff" component, originated in Somerville, Massachusetts, in 1917, when local inventor Archibald Query created a stable, shelf-ready version by whipping sugar, corn syrup, and egg whites with gelatin, initially selling it door-to-door during World War I as a sweetener substitute for scarce fresh eggs.[29] Facing inconsistent sales, Query sold the recipe on May 4, 1920, for $500 to H. Allen Durkee and Fred Mower, two Swampscott entrepreneurs who rebranded it as Marshmallow Fluff and established the Durkee-Mower company to mass-produce it, opening a dedicated factory in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1929 that continues operations today.[30] This American adaptation built on European marshmallow roots—derived from the mallow plant's sap used in 19th-century French confections—but Query's formula prioritized affordability and longevity over traditional fragility.[31] White bread, the standard base for the sandwich, evolved in the U.S. from European baking traditions but became a mass-produced staple in the late 19th century, with roller milling techniques introduced around 1870 enabling finer, whiter flour extraction that appealed to urban consumers seeking status-symbol purity amid industrialization.[32] Pre-sliced white bread debuted commercially on July 7, 1928, in Chillicothe, Missouri, via Otto Frederick Rohwedder's machine, revolutionizing convenience and aligning with the fluffernutter's assembly by facilitating quick, uniform spreads of the sticky fillings.[33] While not uniquely tied to the sandwich's invention, this soft, pillowy variety from enriched wheat dough provided the neutral, absorbent platform essential for balancing the dense peanut butter and airy fluff.[34]Invention and Early Promotion
The Fluffernutter sandwich originated in Massachusetts during the early 20th century, coinciding with the commercialization of marshmallow creme spreads compatible with peanut butter. In 1914, siblings Emma E. Curtis and Amory Curtis began producing Snowflake Marshmallow Creme through their Curtis Marshmallow Factory in Melrose, and early product labels recommended pairing the spread with peanut butter on bread to create sandwiches.[4][35] Curtis, a direct descendant of Paul Revere, further promoted the combination during World War I by publishing recipes for what she termed the "Liberty Sandwich," explicitly featuring marshmallow creme and peanut butter as a simple, economical meal option amid wartime rationing.[3] Concurrently, Archibald Query of Somerville independently developed a comparable whipped marshmallow spread in his kitchen in 1917, marketing it door-to-door as Marshmallow Fluff until sugar shortages during World War I halted production.[29][1] In 1920, Query sold the recipe for $500 to H. Allen Durkee and Fred Mower, two Swampscott candy makers who had encountered similar products while serving in France during the war; they rebranded and refined it slightly for broader appeal under the name Marshmallow Fluff.[5][3] Durkee and Mower founded Durkee-Mower, Inc., in Lynn, Massachusetts, enabling factory-scale production and distribution that made the spread widely available beyond local markets.[29] Early promotion of the sandwich relied on Durkee-Mower's efforts to highlight Marshmallow Fluff's versatility in recipes, including with peanut butter, through print advertisements and product packaging suggestions starting in the 1920s.[13] By the 1930s, the company sponsored a radio program featuring a dance troupe called the Flufferettes to boost brand visibility and associate the product with fun, everyday confections like the peanut butter sandwich.[36] These initiatives, combined with the post-war economic recovery and rising popularity of peanut butter, helped embed the Fluffernutter in New England household routines, though the proprietary name "Fluffernutter" was not introduced until 1960, when an advertising agency coined it to streamline marketing of the specific pairing.[5]Mid-20th Century Popularization
Following the end of World War II sugar rationing in 1947, Durkee-Mower expanded production of Marshmallow Fluff, recovering from wartime output reductions that had limited supply despite ongoing demand for the spread in sandwiches.[29] The company's "Flufferettes" radio program, initiated in 1930 on the Yankee Network to feature Fluff-based recipes and songs, persisted into the late 1940s, sustaining regional familiarity with Fluff-peanut butter combinations amid resource constraints.[29] In 1950, Durkee-Mower opened a modernized factory in Lynn, Massachusetts, equipped with automated lines producing 125 jars per minute, which facilitated broader distribution and supported growing postwar consumption of convenience foods like the Fluff sandwich.[29] The sandwich's distinct branding emerged in 1960 when Durkee-Mower engaged an advertising agency to promote it explicitly, coining the term "Fluffernutter" for the peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff pairing on white bread and pairing it with a memorable jingle outlining the two-slice recipe.[5] This campaign marked a shift from generic recipe promotions to targeted marketing, elevating the Fluffernutter's status as a quick, affordable New England lunch option synonymous with childhood nostalgia by the decade's end.[2]Nutritional Profile
Macronutrient Breakdown
A standard fluffernutter sandwich, consisting of two slices of white bread, two tablespoons of peanut butter, and two tablespoons of marshmallow crème, yields approximately 392 calories per serving of 105 grams. This composition results in a macronutrient profile dominated by carbohydrates, primarily from the bread and marshmallow crème, with significant fats from the peanut butter and modest protein contributions across ingredients. The breakdown per serving is as follows:| Macronutrient | Amount per Serving | Percentage of Total Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Total Fat | 18 g | 41% |
| Carbohydrates | 49 g (14 g sugars) | 50% |
| Protein | 12 g | 12% |