Nut Butter Comparison

[Catrin]

My diet is pretty good, but have been working to clean it up more.

I LOVE good peanut butter. Trader Joe's has a wonderful peanut butter that is made from unblanched peanuts and has only two ingredients: peanuts and salt. Nothing else. No added oils (hydrogenated or otherwise), no added sugar. Simple and yummy!

I've a few friends who have encouraged me to try out almond butter, as apparently the oil from almonds is better than from peanuts. I have tried it, but I just can't get over the taste. I like roasted almonds themselves, but dislike almond extract and, apparently almond nut butter.

I've also checked out sunflower seed butter. I like this fine, but they do add sugar to it and that isn't really a good thing for me. I will finish the jay I have but won't be replace it - and peanut butter appears to have more potassium anyway.

Any other nut butters that might be better for me than peanut butter? I KNOW almond butter is better for me, or so they say, but I just can't get past that taste {shiver}

[GLC1968]

I've never been a big fan of peanut butter, so I may not be the best person to answer this!

Personally, I love almond butter. I don't really like sunflower seed butter, but I've never tried the version with sugar in it. You can get it sugar free, but it's more expensive that way (go figure!).

Another option for you might be hazelnut butter. JUST hazelnuts, no cocoa or sugar in it like the addictive Nutella! The plain hazelnut butter is really good with my sugar free 'jam', so I'm betting it would be delicious with jelly on bread or toast (a combo I have not tried). Hazelnuts are very good for you...better than almonds, actually as they have a better omega 3 to omega 6 ratio.

What I wonder is why you don't see pecan butter anywhere? I love pecans because they have a slightly sweet taste naturally. If they weren't so damn expensive, I might consider trying to make my own pecan butter to see if it works.

[Gypsy]

Cashew butter is my downfall. It's soooo good!

[Susan Otcenas]

I
Another option for you might be hazelnut butter.

I made my own hazelnut butter recently. I dry-roasted the hazelnuts in the oven, then used the grinder attachment on my KitchenAid mixture to grind the nuts. I put the nuts through twice, as the first grind was a little crumbly for my taste. Then I added a little salt, and called it good. GREAT, actually! Sooooo yummy. ... But then, I never met a nut butter I didn't like. ;)

[Crankin]

I am allergic to peanuts, but not the kind of allergy where I will die if someone else in the room is eating them.
My solution has been soy nut butter, but only one brand meets my taste requirements: Nut-Free, made by Simple Foods in Amesbury, MA. It's organic and comes in a few types, i.e. no salt, sea salted, etc. This stuff has saved my life on rides, because when we are in places where we have to bring food and everyone else was bringing pbj, I had few options.
I tried other brands of soy nut butter, from Trader Joe's and they were awful and I never warmed to the taste of almond butter.

[OakLeaf]

You know what I think? There's no One Magic Food that is going to make everyone healthy and happy.

If you like peanut butter, eat peanut butter. If you think you eat too much of it, eat less (or revise your idea of what's too much ;) ). Or just snack on whole roasted or boiled peanuts, which at least has the potential to slow down your intake.

I never met a nut I didn't like (except maybe black walnuts), so thank goodness I don't have that kind of allergy!



- PS - do you just not like unsweetened sunflower butter? There are several brands that don't use sweeteners. Including Maranatha and Sunbutter's organic version, either of which ought to be widely available.

[goldfinch]

. . . like the addictive Nutella!

Oh, mama. Give me Nutella.

[Catrin]

The sunflower butter is fine, I just see that PB has a few more nutrients than sunflower seed butter does. I know there isn't a "magic food", I've just been experimenting to see if there is a nut butter that is both better for me than PB and I like the taste.

Just curious, and I don't see anything wrong with the PB that Trader Joe's sells, as long as it is simply dry, roasted nuts and salt I will take it :) I've improved at not eating too much of it :o

[jyyanks]

Did you try the raw, unsalted, creamy almond butter from Trader Joe's? Not all Almond butter tastes the same but the Trader Joe's one is a favorite of mine!

[OakLeaf]

That's a really good point. If the fatty acid profiles are what you're looking for, then roasted nut butters aren't the way to go anyway - the heat is probably going to have oxidized a lot of the fats. I'm not aware of any raw peanut butter - I could guess at several reasons for that but I'd only be guessing. Raw almond butter is pretty easy to find, as is raw tahini - other raw nut butters you have to go farther afield, I think.

[Catrin]

Did you try the raw, unsalted, creamy almond butter from Trader Joe's? Not all Almond butter tastes the same but the Trader Joe's one is a favorite of mine!

Yes, I just don't care for the taste. It makes my tongue curl...I've tried multiple times to adjust to it since I know it is better for us but...

[limewave]

Better for us . . . blah . . . blah . . . blah ;)

I know what you mean about the peanut butter. I love it and worry I eat too much of it. But I have paired my diet so far back--PB is the one thing I have left in that I feel like is a total and complete indulgence. I look forward to it everyday and it makes it possible to say "no" to a host of temptations. It's staying.

That's my 2 cents.

But, if you want to have some fun in the kitchen, why not experiment with making your own nut butters? Buy a variety of nuts on bulk, pop em in the food processor and see what you think.

[Becky]

I know what you mean about the peanut butter. I love it and worry I eat too much of it. But I have paired my diet so far back--PB is the one thing I have left in that I feel like is a total and complete indulgence. I look forward to it everyday and it makes it possible to say "no" to a host of temptations. It's staying.

Agreed :)

[Catrin]

hmmm, I've a food processor that I've never used :o

[surgtech1956]

Catrin, I'm with you, I love peanut butter, tried almond butter - not a fan, to me it seems like its lacking something, love almonds. I love all kinds of peanut butter. :D

[Owlie]

Catrin, I'm with you, I love peanut butter, tried almond butter - not a fan, to me it seems like its lacking something, love almonds. I love all kinds of peanut butter. :D

Indeed. I tried it, didn't care for it except on a dark chocolate-covered granola bar...

[PamNY]

Speaking of almond butter reminded me of this recipe, which I love:

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=36937&highlight=almond+butter+brownies

[limewave]

DH is having some nutrition/allergy test type stuff done. For prep he needs to go on an elimination diet for 10 days. Peanuts is one of them!!!

I just made up a batch of Sunflower Seed Butter. Toasted some sunflower seeds, put in a food processor, slowly added a little of Flax seed oil and drops of Agave Nectar and salt. Not too bad! It's not Peanut Butter, but its good.

[Catrin]

Limewave, I hope the tests go well and he feels better soon!

I've decided to stick with what I like. As long as I can get peanut butter made from unblanched peanuts and no added oils or sugar, I am going to stick with it. I just have to be disciplined when I get a spoon close to the jar... :D :o

[Reesha]

Cashew butter is one of my favorites-- I get it at whole foods from their on demand grinder. Generally though it's raw almond butter for me although I love love love peanut butter as well.

One of these days I want to save my pennies and try macadamia nut butter. Oh baby!

[kacie tri-ing]

Speaking of almond butter reminded me of this recipe, which I love:

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=36937&highlight=almond+butter+brownies

Oh man, I haven't made those is a while, but they are amazing!!!

I like all nut butters--nothing real to add here :-)

Have you tried fresh almond butter? Or Justins? It's the best!

[Wahine]

Just throwing this out there for you nut butter fans. I don't know how this stacks up relative to other nut butters out there and obviously, there is other stuff added to it but it all natural. The chocolate espresso flavour is one of my go to snacks in the middle of the day at work. I spread it on a rice cake. Yum.

Pocket Fuel. (http://pocketfuelnaturals.com/)

The company is actually owned and operated by friends of mine here in The Gorge. I helped them taste test. :D

[Catrin]

Just throwing this out there for you nut butter fans. I don't know how this stacks up relative to other nut butters out there and obviously, there is other stuff added to it but it all natural. The chocolate espresso flavour is one of my go to snacks in the middle of the day at work. I spread it on a rice cake. Yum.

Pocket Fuel. (http://pocketfuelnaturals.com/)

The company is actually owned and operated by friends of mine here in The Gorge. I helped them taste test. :D

Looks yummy and it also looks like some serious fuel, thanks for the link! I would imagine that one of those little packages would serve for a good number of light snacks, but then double as a great mid-long-ride or hike sandwich or banana topper...

[GLC1968]

Just throwing this out there for you nut butter fans. I don't know how this stacks up relative to other nut butters out there and obviously, there is other stuff added to it but it all natural. The chocolate espresso flavour is one of my go to snacks in the middle of the day at work. I spread it on a rice cake. Yum.

Pocket Fuel. (http://pocketfuelnaturals.com/)

The company is actually owned and operated by friends of mine here in The Gorge. I helped them taste test. :D

Those look amazing and would be GREAT for travel except that they ruined it for me by putting in both sugar and sunflower oil. :(

If they were to make a variety without those two ingredients, they could probably get a HUGE endorsement from the paleo community. :)

[Wahine]

Those look amazing and would be GREAT for travel except that they ruined it for me by putting in both sugar and sunflower oil. :(

If they were to make a variety without those two ingredients, they could probably get a HUGE endorsement from the paleo community. :)

GLC - I'm going to feed that comment to the makers. There is a huge Paleo following around here and I think they could probably come up with something.

Catrin - one of those pouches serves for about 4 snacks for me.