CH O I CES FOOD
All Buttered Up
With the explosion of haute comfort foods in the last decade, coupled
with new research on the benefits of unsaturated fats, nut butters have
gone high-concept and healthy. Artisanal peanut-butter purveyors have
popped up everywhere, crafting sophisticated new flavor combos without
a drop of hydrogenated oil or corn syrup. And “alternative” nut butters
like almond, cashew, and walnut—often mixed with natural ingredients
like chocolate and honey—are no longer the province of hippies and
peanut-allergic kids. We tasted nearly three dozen flavors from the major
natural and organic brands, and these were by far our favorites. —C.H.
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PEANUT BUTTER & CO.
All-Natural Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Peanut Butter
($6, ilovepeanutbutter.com)
MARANATHA NUT BUTTERS
JUSTIN’S NUT BUTTERS
FUTTERS NUT BUTTERS
SANTA CRUZ ORGANIC
Natural Honey-Almond
Butter
Heavenly Honey Organic
Peanut Butter
Raw Organic ChocolateWalnut Butter
Dark-Roasted Crunchy
Peanut Butter
($7.99, maranathanutbutters.com)
($6, justinsnutbutter.com)
($12.80, futtersnutbutters.com)
($5.10, scojuice.com)
Sweeter and more honeyflavored than the other
honey combos we tried, with
a good amount of salt to
match (though still just
three percent of your daily
allowance per serving),
this almond butter is
another snackable treat.
Its pronounced almond
flavor makes it a great choice
for pairing with fresh fruit
or celery.
Just sweet enough to coax your
kids away from Skippy, with a
robust peanut flavor and rich
texture that make it a hit with
grownups, too. There’s only
a hint of salt in this one, so it
works well for folks who prefer
a lower-sodium nut butter (and
pairs nicely with a salty cracker
for those who don’t).
With its high chunk ratio, this
Futters flavor is more like a
tapenade than a traditional nut
butter. Its complex taste—
decidedly cocoa-forward, with
a wholesome walnut finish—
will please dark-chocolate
lovers. Great on apple slices or
warm, salty bread.
We love that the company offers
light and dark roasts, giving
nut-butter aficionados a variety of
choices similar to those enjoyed
by coffee connoisseurs. But we’re
partial to the strong flavor of the
dark-roasted crunchy PB, which
proclaims its peanuttiness much
more clearly than other brands.
It even stands up to bacon and
bananas in “The Elvis,” our
favorite guilty-pleasure sandwich.
78 | Feb/Mar/07 plentymag.com
PHOTOGRAPH BY HULYA KOLABAS
This peanut butter, which combines a creamy base with tender raisin
chunks and toothsome flecks of cinnamon, is flavorful and addictive
enough to eat straight out of the jar. If good manners are called for,
it also works well on bread or fruit. And be sure to try the company’s
other delicious flavor combinations: Dark Chocolate Dreams, White
Chocolate Wonderful, and The Heat Is On.