I have my TiVo setup to auto-record shows with various keywords, such as “brownies” and “ sandwich* ” (no kidding). So, it auto-recorded the All About Peanut Butter episode of Sara’s Secrets that aired recently. Among the recipes — and the one that triggered the recording — was The Elvis, which is a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

According to The Presley Family Cookbook, the sandwich eaten by Elvis contained only peanut butter and bananas (which was then pan-fried, of course). However, the chef from Peanut Butter & Co (the guest on Sara’s Secrets) spoke of a variety with bacon as well. And that sounded mighty tasty.

So, during my trip to Super Target on Friday, I picked up some bacon and bananas (we already have peanut butter and Mike has some honey). The bananas were a bit green around the edges, at the time, but they were just perfect by today (small brown speckles here and there). So, Mike and I decided to embark on the Elvis adventure.

We started by frying the bacon and, as a non-bacon-connoisseur, I was surprised by how much the bacon shrank during cooking (some 10-inch pieces shrank to about half that size). The bacon happened to be low sodium, but I’d be kidding myself if I were to say that it made a difference to the overall healthiness of the dish ;).

As Mike kept watch of the bacon, I prepared the bread — which was just a matter of buttering the outside of each slice and spreading peanut butter on the other side of one slice (so, invariably, some slices end up butter-side down on the cutting board). I then sliced a banana length-wise and placed those pieces onto the peanut-buttered sides.

Once the bacon was ready, I placed the bacon on top of the banana (which, of course, was on top of the peanut butter). Each sandwich was about to hold about four slices of bacon. And, I drizzled some honey on top of the bacon to finish it off. After that, we grilled them grilled-cheese style in the pan.

Sure, Velvet Elvises are good, but the bacon is a really nice touch. In particular, its oily saltiness goes very well with the peanut butter. And, the honey gives balance to the sandwich’s sweet-vs-savory nature.

Believe it or not, Mike and I each had two of these artery-busting monsters. And, man, they were fantastic. We both agreed that we’d have to make them more often :). Though the recipe is fairly straightforward, here's also the official version from the show: