The Retro Childhood Snack That Took The '60s By Storm

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While you were wracking your brain for the best ways to upgrade your boring peanut butter and jelly sandwich, an ingenious substitute was hiding on the grocery store shelf ... marshmallow spread, usually from the brand Fluff. A peanut butter and Fluff sandwich is called a fluffernutter. Today, it's often found in its native environs of New England, where little Yankees still squeal in delight to find one in their lunchboxes. Unlike another vintage New England handheld, the baked bean sandwich, a fluffernutter still holds mass appeal, even if most people just don't know about it. In the latter half of the last century, however, fluffernutters briefly became a national craze.

Peanut butter was invented before the turn of the 20th century, and marshmallow spread isn't all that much younger. In the 1910s, confectioner Archibald Query invented a marshmallow cream that, after the business passed to new owners, became Marshmallow Fluff. Another candy maker, Emma Curtis, made the first "Victory Sandwich" during World War I to align with government urging to eat less meat. The peanut butter and Fluff concoction wasn't terribly popular at first, probably because it was associated with privation. By the 1960s, however, Rice Krispies treats made with Fluff became sought-after, and the fluffernutter soared in popularity. It was cheap, quick to prepare, and children absolutely loved it. The makers of Fluff even wrote a total earworm of a jingle and produced a commercial to showcase the sandwich.

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, you don't have to wonder what a fluffernutter tastes like, no matter where you live. Amazon will hook you up with a two-pack of marshmallow Fluff, including both the OG and strawberry varieties. Select your favorite peanut butter; creamy is the default, but crunchy will provide a delightful textural contrast. The key thing is to use a lot of peanut butter, because you will be applying an equally generous layer of Fluff.

Use white bread for full authenticity. Toasting it will make spreading your toppings a bit easier, but slices straight from the bag will add to the gooey texture experience. Slather one slice with your PB and the other with your Fluff, then smush them together. If a little — or a lot — of the viscous innards aren't dripping from between your bread slices, you might have done it wrong. No, a fluffernutter is not health food. That's not the point, so don't get it twisted, as the youths say.

New England natives swear that a proper fluffernutter snack is served with a baggie of potato chips (the salt contrasts with the abundant sweetness) and a carton of coffee milk, another Northeast delicacy. No matter what you wash it down with — and you definitely want a drink, because it's going to stick to the roof of your mouth like crazy — make sure you have plenty of napkins to mop up the inevitable mess even the tidiest eater is bound to make. Lean into the experience ... it's the fluffernutter way.