Happy first day of summer! In honor of the official start of summer, I thought I’d share my blog’s first ever burger recipe with you all!
First, let’s talk about these wonderful spicy peanut butter bacon cheeseburgers, and THEN I’ll tell you about the fiasco that went down the day I made them, okay? Okay.
The first time* I heard of a burger with both cheese and peanut butter, I was pretty grossed out – those two things cannot possibly go together, right?! Well actually, they can, and quite nicely! While a lot of peanut butter burgers have a layer of peanut butter smeared on top of the burger, these burgers have peanut butter inside them, which makes for a slightly subtler flavor – the peanut butter adds a hint of sweetness, while also boosting the robust taste and richness that some people claim turkey burgers lack. As for the bacon and cheese, well, I don’t really need to convince anyone on that front, right?!
Now, story time: the day I made these burgers was not my day.
While the burgers were finishing up on the stove, I started preparing my photography set-up, and in doing so, I realized that the dog I’m dog-sitting had peed all over the bottom of my bookshelf. Lovely.
As I scramble to clean up the bookshelf and surrounding area, there comes a knock at the door. It’s the maintenance guy, who has come to fix the oven. My dog goes bonkers (an otherwise amicable dog, she harbors an intense and unremitting hatred of the maintenance guy, and I’m really not sure why), and when I try to stop her from lunging at him, she completely shreds the skin on my feet and shins with her nails. Cool.
So I toss her in the bedroom with the other dog and the maintenance guy starts about his work on the oven; unfortunately for him (and much to my embarrassment), the kitchen is a steamy mess since I’m not exactly the tidiest cook in the world and I took the burgers off the stove about ninety seconds before he arrived. Meanwhile, I awkwardly debate whether to wait until he’s gone to start taking photos, because let’s be honest, it’s not exactly normal to be crawling around on the floor taking pictures of food in the middle of the living room.
…except it soon becomes clear that this is not going to be a quick job, and I’ve got melted cheese turning rubbery, so I end up doing a hasty photo shoot – as the dogs in the background continue barking their heads off and the maintenance guy comes and goes four more times to retrieve different parts and tools (and of course, each time he knocks, it sets off a renewed frenzy of barking).
Totally not stressful at all, right?!
So, in brief, it was not my day. BUT, at least I got to have these awesome spicy peanut butter bacon cheeseburgers for dinner! Let me tell you, these babies can really help make up for a not-so-stellar day.
What’s your favorite kind of burger? What’s the most bizarre combination of ingredients you’ve ever tried (or seen) in a burger?
* To give inspiration credit where inspiration credit is due, I’m pretty sure this was at the Burger Lounge in South Lake Tahoe. I say “pretty sure” because it was about six years ago that I was there, and I myself didn’t actually try the burger at the time. Apparently, it took me six years to work up the gastronomical courage.
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
- 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 strips bacon (I use turkey bacon)
- 4 slices cheddar cheese
- 4 buns or rolls
- lettuce (optional)
- tomato slices (optional)
- In a large bowl, mix together the ground turkey, salt, chopped jalapeño, and peanut butter. Once combined, separate into 4 equal portions. Form each portion into a patty about 3/4-1 inch thick, and press an indentation into the center of each with your fingers (this will help the burger keep its shape as it cooks).
- Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Place the patties in the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. While the patties are cooking, in a separate pan, cook the bacon according to the directions on the package (alternatively, to minimize the number of pans used, you can cook the bacon beforehand in the same skillet while you prepare the patties). You can, of course, grill the burgers instead. I didn’t because I didn't have access to a grill.
- Reduce the heat on the patties to low. Flip the patties back over to the original side, top with cheese, cover the skillet with a lid, and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
- Place the patties in the buns, top with bacon, lettuce, and tomato slices (if desired).
- Makes 4 medium burgers or 3 large burgers.
Despite your disastrous day the burgers look very yummy and I can’t wait to try them!
Thanks! It wasn’t too disastrous, I suppose…just a lot of absurdity crammed into a short period of time!
These look delicious! Do you think they’d work with pig-bacon too?
My dog’s learned to stay out the kitchen when I cook – I dropped one too many things on him for his liking!
Thanks! I’m sure it’d work just fine with regular bacon (and with ground beef, too) – it’s just that I personally don’t really eat red meat. Your dog clearly has his priorities in order – safety first!
Love the flavor combinations in here! So creative. 🙂 Spicy peanut butter is the bomb!
Thanks!! Yes, I love combining peanut butter and jalapeños 🙂
These burgers look so good, and this is so the story of my life. I love hearing the real life part behind such awesome food pics. I am starting to get over the maybe-she-is-crazy stares that I get from my family when I am shooting pictures of food in the most awkward places. Normal is overrated.
Thanks!! Haha yes, I’m used to the looks from my family when I cook and photograph food at home (they usually just laugh and sometimes take pictures of me, taking pictures), but this was the first time I was taking pictures with a near total stranger in the vicinity…
I haven’t had dinner this evening, and you are making me very very hungry! I don’t know if I should thank you or curse you 🙂
Haha well, it’s a rather quick meal to put together, so hopefully you’ll be thanking me! 🙂
I never would have thought of peanut butter in a burger. So creative. I use shredded carrots in my turkey burgers sometimes for added moisture.
I can’t believe you took such beautiful pictures with all that going on. Totally stunning!
Aw, thanks so much! I like the idea of shredded carrots inside burgers – I’ll have to try that sometime!
Wow, what an amazing idea, peanut butter in burger – yum! thanks for sharing:)
Thanks, and thanks for stopping by! 🙂
The first pic got my mouth watering!! So good these look!!
Thank you!!
Oh man, I’m sorry about your day, that sounds rough 🙁 But these burgers look like they could definitely brighten it up! I’m actually a huge fan of peanut butter bacon burgers. I even had one, once, that also included fried banana (a true Elvis classic)! Yours look tasty—yummm!
Ooh, I’m glad to hear you’ve tried and are a fan of peanut butter bacon burgers (I was a little afraid at first that people might think it was too out there)! Wow – fried banana?! Sounds intriguing!
Ummm these look totally amazing!!!! And I feel your pain with the whole ‘it’s not normal to on the floor taking photos of your food’ thing. The only place in my house with good light is out the front which is on a somewhat busy street, I’m quite often standing on my table trying to look inconspicuous while people walk by.
Thanks so much! Oh gosh, that’s a funny image for passers-by, I’m sure 🙂
When I was little, I used to eat peanut butter grilled cheese sandwiches. Every time I tell people that, I get a lot of incredulous disgusted looks… FINALLY someone agrees with me!! Peanut butter with cheese is amazeballs 😀 Looove that you did the burger with turkey and turkey bacon, I never make beef burger so I’m always looking around for turkey burger recipes.
I’ve actually never tried peanut butter grilled cheese, but it sounds like I should! Let me know how you like the burgers if you try them 🙂