Fluffernutter
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A fluffernutter (also called a "peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich", "peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwich", or "peanut butter and marshmallow stuff sandwich") is a
sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...
made with
peanut butter Peanut butter is a food Paste (food), paste or Spread (food), spread made from Grinding (abrasive cutting), ground, dry roasting, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, ...
and
marshmallow creme Marshmallow creme (also called marshmallow fluff, marshmallow stuff, marshmallow spread, marshmallow paste, or simply fluff) is a marshmallow confectionery Spread (food), spread similar in flavor, but not texture, to regular solid marshmallow. ...
usually served on
white bread White bread typically refers to breads made from wheat flour from which the bran and the germ layers have been removed from the whole wheatberry as part of the flour grinding or milling process, producing a light-colored flour. Nutrition Wh ...
. Variations of the sandwich include the substitution of
wheat bread Brown bread is bread made with significant amounts of whole grain flours, usually wheat sometimes with corn and or rye flours. Brown breads often get their characteristic dark color from ingredients such as molasses or coffee. In Canada, the ...
and the addition of various sweet, salty, and savory ingredients. The term ''fluffernutter'' can also be used to describe other food items, primarily desserts, that incorporate peanut butter and marshmallow creme. The sandwich was first created in the early 20th century after
marshmallow creme Marshmallow creme (also called marshmallow fluff, marshmallow stuff, marshmallow spread, marshmallow paste, or simply fluff) is a marshmallow confectionery Spread (food), spread similar in flavor, but not texture, to regular solid marshmallow. ...
, a sweet
marshmallow Marshmallow (, ) is a confectionery made from sugar, water and gelatin whipped to a solid-but-soft consistency. It is used as a filling in baking or molded into shapes and coated with corn starch. This sugar confection is inspired by a medicina ...
-like
spread Spread may refer to: Places * Spread, West Virginia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Spread'' (film), a 2009 film. * ''$pread'', a quarterly magazine by and for sex workers * "Spread", a song by OutKast from their 2003 album ''Speakerboxxx/T ...
, was invented in
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
. During World War I, a recipe for a peanut butter and marshmallow creme sandwich, the earliest known example of the sandwich, was published. The term "fluffernutter" was created by an advertising agency in 1960 as a more effective way to market the sandwich. The sandwich is particularly popular in
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
and has been proposed as the official state sandwich of
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
. The traditional Fluffernutter can be grilled for a popular variation.


Recipe and variations

A fluffernutter is made by spreading peanut butter on a slice of bread, then spreading an equal amount of marshmallow creme on another slice and finally combining them to form a sandwich.Chmelynski, Carol. "Fluff Worth Fighting For." American School Board Journal 193.9 (2006): 10. Variations of the recipe include wheat bread instead of white,
Nutella Nutella ( , , ; stylized in all lowercase) is a brand of brown, sweetened hazelnut cocoa spread. Nutella is manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero and was introduced in 1964, although its first iteration dates to 1963. History Pietro ...
hazelnut spread instead of, or in addition to, peanut butter, and the addition of sweet ingredients like
banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...
s or savory and salty ingredients like bacon. The Fluffernutter itself is often seen as a variation on the
peanut butter and jelly sandwich A peanut butter and jelly sandwich (PB&J) consists of peanut butter and fruit preserves spread on bread. The sandwich is popular in the United States, especially among children; a 2002 survey showed the average American will eat 1,500 peanut ...
. Though often seen as a food for children, the Fluffernutter recipe has been adapted to appeal to adult tastes. For example, a New York caterer serves a fluffernutter
hors d'oeuvre An hors d'oeuvre ( ; ), appetiser, appetizer or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the meal, or ...
in a toasted
ice cream cone An ice cream cone (England) or poke (Ireland) is a brittle, cone-shaped pastry, usually made of a wafer similar in texture to a waffle, made so ice cream can be carried and eaten without a bowl or spoon. Many styles of cones are made, includ ...
with a spoon of peanut butter and torched marshmallow creme on top. The term ''fluffernutter'' has also been used to describe other foods that feature peanut butter and marshmallow creme, including fluffernutter cookies, bars, and cupcakes.
Durkee-Mower Marshmallow creme (also called marshmallow fluff, marshmallow stuff, marshmallow spread, marshmallow paste, or simply fluff) is a marshmallow confectionery spread similar in flavor, but not texture, to regular solid marshmallow. One brand of m ...
, the company that produces Marshmallow Fluff, a brand of marshmallow creme, produces a cookbook that features recipes for fluffernutter bars, frosting, pie, and a shake. In 2006,
Brigham's Ice Cream Brigham's Ice Cream is a brand of ice cream and formerly a restaurant franchise. Brigham's is sold in quart containers throughout New England, and was served at franchised restaurants located in Massachusetts until 2013. It was founded in New ...
and Durkee-Mower introduced a fluffernutter flavor, which featured peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff in vanilla ice cream. Fluffernutter was also the name of a candy briefly produced by the
Boyer Brothers Boyer Candy Company is an American candy company located in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The factory is located in the downtown district. Boyer Candy is privately owned by Consolidated Brands, which is owned by the Forgione family. History Boyer w ...
candy company beginning in 1969.


History

Marshmallow creme was invented in the early 20th century. In 1917,
Archibald Query Archibald Query (1873–1964) was a Canadian-born American confectioner, who invented Marshmallow Fluff, a special formula of marshmallow cream, in 1917. Biography Query developed the recipe in his kitchen, initially selling his marshmallow flu ...
invented what he called Marshmallow Creme in
Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 81, ...
. Amory and Emma Curtis of
Melrose, Massachusetts Melrose is a city located in the Greater Boston metropolitan area in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population as of the 2020 census was 29,817. It is a suburb located approximately seven miles north of Boston. It is situate ...
, invented Snowflake Marshmallow Creme in 1913. During World War I, Emma Curtis published a recipe for the ''Liberty Sandwich'', which consisted of peanut butter and Snowflake Marshmallow Creme on oat or barley bread. The recipe was published in a promotional booklet sent to Curtis' customers in 1918 and may be the origin of the fluffernutter sandwich. Earlier labels and booklets published by the Curtises suggested combining Snow Flake Marshmallow Creme with peanut butter or eating it on sandwiches with chopped nuts or olives. Meanwhile, sugar shortages during World War I hurt sales of Archibald Query's Marshmallow Creme, so Query sold his recipe in 1920 to two men from
Swampscott, Massachusetts Swampscott () is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located up the coast from Boston in an area known as the North Shore. The population was 15,111 as of the 2020 United States census. A former summer resort on Massachusetts ...
, H. Allen Durkee and Fred L. Mower, who began distributing the product through their company, Durkee-Mower Inc. The pair renamed the product Toot Sweet Marshmallow Fluff, and Durkee-Mower continues to sell the product under the name Marshmallow Fluff. The sandwich made with peanut butter and marshmallow creme continued to be eaten, but was not called a fluffernutter until 1960, when an advertising firm Durkee-Mower hired created the term as a more effective way to market the sandwich. ''Fluffernutter'' is a registered trademark of Durkee-Mower, although the company's U.S. trademark registrations for the term cover only ice cream and printed recipes. In 2006, Durkee-Mower sued Williams-Sonoma, Inc. in the
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (in case citations, D. Mass.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose Jurisdiction (area), territorial jurisdiction is the Commonwealth (U.S. state), C ...
, alleging that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. infringed on its trademark by selling a marshmallow and peanut butter chocolate-covered candy under the ''Fluffernutter'' name. In June 2006, Massachusetts State Senator Jarrett Barrios proposed legislation restricting the serving of fluffernutter sandwiches in public schools after learning that his son was served fluffernutters on a daily basis at his elementary school in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
. Barrios drafted an amendment to the junk food bill which would limit fluffernutters to once a week. The proposal was criticized as trivial and overly intrusive legislation, while Barrios' supporters pointed to concerns over
childhood obesity Childhood obesity is a condition where excess adipose tissue, body fat negatively affects a child's health or well-being. As methods to determine body fat directly are difficult, the diagnosis of obesity is often based on Body mass index, BMI. ...
. Among the people who defended the Fluffernutter at the time was Massachusetts State Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein, whose district in Revere was close to Lynn, where Marshmallow Fluff is made. She claimed she would "fight to the death for Fluff" and supported legislation that would make the Fluffernutter the official state sandwich. The measure failed, and Reinstein tried again unsuccessfully in 2009. Supporters of the bill cited the sandwich's close association with childhood and Massachusetts. In 2021,
Merriam-Webster Merriam-Webster, Incorporated is an list of companies of the United States by state, American company that publishes reference work, reference books and is mostly known for Webster's Dictionary, its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary pub ...
added the word fluffernutter to its dictionary.


In popular culture

The term ''fluffernutter'' has sometimes been used disparagingly to describe something that lacks substance and has minimal to no cultural value. On the other hand, some writers look on fluffernutters and marshmallow creme as a source of childhood nostalgia and regional pride. The sandwich has close ties to New England and Massachusetts, particularly to Somerville, where Archibald Query invented Marshmallow Fluff, and to Lynn, where Durkee-Mower has produced it for decades. Somerville holds an annual festival called What the Fluff? based around celebrating Marshmallow Fluff and Fluffernutter sandwiches. The festival incorporates music, visual art, games, and a cooking contest based around Fluff and Fluffernutters. In 2011,
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
astronaut Richard Michael Linnehan, who was born in Lowell and ate a fluffernutter while aboard the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...
, acted as one of the contest judges.
October 8 Events Pre-1600 * 316 – Constantine I Battle of Cibalae, defeats Roman Emperor Licinius, who loses his European territories. * 451 – The first session of the Council of Chalcedon begins. * 876 – Frankish forces led by Louis ...
is National Fluffernutter Day.


See also

*
Comfort food Comfort food is food that provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone and may be characterized by its high caloric nature associated with childhood or home cooking. The nostalgia may be specific to an individual or it may apply to a ...
*
Cuisine of New England New England cuisine is an American cuisine which originated in the New England region of the United States, and traces its roots to traditional English cuisine and Native American cuisine of the Abenaki, Narragansett, Niantic, Wabanaki, Wampa ...
*
List of regional dishes of the United States The cuisine of the United States includes many regional or local dishes, side dishes and foods. This list includes dishes and foods that are associated with specific regions of the United States. Regional dishes of the United States Barbecu ...
*
List of sandwiches Sandwiches are a common type of lunch food often eaten as part of a packed lunch. There are many types of sandwiches, made from a diverse variety of ingredients. The sandwich is the namesake of John Montagu, Earl of Sandwich, a British statesman ...
* List of peanut dishes


References


External links


Union Square Fluff Festival Website

"Behind the Marshmallow Curtain: A Look Inside Lynn's Marshmallow Fluff Factory"
- ''Boston'' magazine, September 2014 {{Cuisine of New England American sandwiches Brand name confectionery Brands that became generic Marshmallows New England cuisine Peanut butter sandwiches Vegetarian sandwiches