Peanut butter as a burger condiment isn't new. In fact, Cluck Cluck Moo Moo co-founder Nick Kotrides was slinging Jiffy burgers back in 2007 in a since-closed kitchen on Hertel Avenue. At Cluck Cluck Moo Moo, the Peanut-Utter Smashburger has two 4-ounce beef patties, chipotle peanut butter, maple bacon jam, American cheese and pickles on a toasted sesame bun.
But it's not the most popular burger topping. You can eat at many burger joints without ever encountering a peanut butter-smeared cheeseburger. Kotrides and his business partner, Michael Bowen, recently introduced a peanut butter smashburger at their fast casual restaurant Cluck Cluck Moo Moo (484 Elmwood Ave.
and 1518 Hertel Ave.). It is so well-proportioned and layered in flavor that it makes the case for converting from the lettuce-tomato-onion status quo (as long as you can take a little sweet heat).
The Peanut-Utter Smashburger ($11.85) is a hearty but not enormous sandwich of two 4-ounce beef patties, which are cut up, smashed and crisped on a hot, sizzling griddle. They are stacked between a thin, toasted sesame bun, and layered with honey chipotle peanut butter, melted American cheese and dill pickles.
Between both patties is a key ingredient: a housemade jam of bacon, maple syrup, caramelized onion, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and spices, which all stew together in a pot before being blitzed in a blender. Dynamic in both flavor and texture, each bite tastes sweet and smoky, with a lingering heat at the back of.
