CRUNCHY TOAST with PEANUT BUTTER + QUICK BERRY JAM

I will start off by saying that yes, calling toast "crunchy" is rather redundant, but the word "toast" on it's own seems rather sad and lonely. Moving on. 

I was hanging out with a new friend a few days ago and he told me all about the sweet treasures of French breakfast... cuz he's french. He's also vegan, so he has to adapt the national faves slightly, but damn: I was inspired. Basically Frenchies just combine sugar in various ways to start their days. I'm fully in support of this strategy. Oh, and they also have toast/bread with butter at every meal. My friend was telling me that a normal first meal is butter and jam toast that you dip in hot chocolate. WHAT. YES. Sub in that vegan butter and that sounds magical. I need to try this immediately. Unsurprisingly, croissants are another much-loved item. #PASTRIESFOREVER

Later in the evening he made us some toast with peanut butter and jam. It's obviously a simple and mega popular meal/snack but I hadn't made it myself in ages, and it reinvigorated some kind of PB&J-based urge inside me. So here we are. The jam is about as basic as you can get: it's just berries mashed up and mixed with chia seeds. The chia seeds make the texture like jam. It's awesome, very good for you and takes like 10 minutes to whip up. I do recommend eating the jam ASAP though, it's too fresh to keep in the fridge in large amounts for a week. Expectedly, PB&J is a classic fave for a reason: it's freaking delicious. The textures of crunchy, carby toast with creamy, salty, fatty peanut butter and finally sweet, gooey jam... WHAT'S NOT TO WORSHIP!? I topped mine off with more seeds and berries because it looks pretty, and drizzled on some maple syrup because "Add maple syrup." is my one consistent life rule.

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CRUNCHY TOAST with PEANUT BUTTER + QUICK BERRY JAM

[ makes 2 loaded slices ]

Berry chia jam:

1/3 cup fresh or frozen berries

2 tablespoons chia seeds

1 teaspoon acerola cherry powder (optional)

Peanut butter toast:

2 slices your fave bread, toasted to crunchy perfection

2-4 tablespoons peanut butter

Toppings:

Handful fresh or frozen berries

2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds

1 tablespoon hemp seeds

2 tablespoons maple syrup

To make the jam: thaw the berries if frozen (I just threw mine in a microwave for a minute). Mash the berries into a chunky paste. Stir in the chia seeds and let the seeds and berries sit together for 15 minutes or so: the chia seeds will thicken up the mixture into delicious, fresh jam. Add some sweetener if you want. 

Assembly: spread the peanut butter on your toast, followed by the jam. Then garnish with your toppings and enjoy!