nut butter!
I'm a nut butter fanatic. I'm also kind of a nut butter snob- I'm particular about the brands I'll eat and the ones that I won't touch at all (commercial peanut butters, for example)...lately I've been into freshly ground peanut/cashew/almond butters from local markets or the co-op near my house. I'm interested to know what brands you all like, and what kind of nut butter is your favorite. Are there any local brands that jar their stuff? Ohio has a company called Eastwind that makes a decent peanut butter, but I only find it at particular stores. I'm sure it's that way with other states.
Also, I've read a fair bit of acid talk against Smucker's peanut butter, although when I read the label on a friend's jar, there wasn't anything in it besides peanuts and salt. Why is Smucker's so bad?
I buy peanut butter (crunchy!) in bulk from my local co-op. They grind it themselves and put it in big buckets with a swivel-lid and I bring my own jars to fill. After eating theirs for a while I bought a jar of organic, natural crunchy peanut butter and I hated it. The texture was so off, and I don't know why, because it seems like it should have been the same kind of thing as the bulk.
Some even let you grind your pb fresh at the store. I know Whole Foods has peanut butter and other nut butter grind machines and you get fresh pb out of it to take home. My co-op has those too, but I haven't tried it yet.
If you rinse a glass jar from a nut butter you bought, and refill it with bulk nut butter or fresh nut butter, it is just like the commercial stuff once it sits in your pantry, just better.
I still need to try some other nut/seed butters. I tried cashew butter a long time ago and can't remember if I liked it. I want to try hazelnut butter, cashew butter, macadamia nut butter, and want to try making my own pecan butter. I have made pistachio nut butter at home before (with a very unwilling food processor) and it was really yummy!
I think hazelnut butter would be yummy with some sweetener and cocoa powder mixed in.
i make my own:
almond butter
cashew butter
and, newly, brazil nut butter
toast them lightly
let cool
blend in food processor for 10ish minutes 'till smooth like...at first, it seems like it'll just be "nut powder", but, give it time!! needs no other ingredients, just the nut ofyour choice!! :D
I just bought sunflower seed butter. It was interesting. I cant exactly describe it, but it was much different from peanut butter. Id like to try pumpkin seed butter but it was like $20 a jar.
I have completely abanded peanut butter for sunflower seed butter. I think the taste is much better. Also, the chance of eating toxins has turned me off to it.
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA115491
I absolutely love I. M. Healthy brand chocolate soy nut butter. It tastes good on everything!
This thread made me think of something I have been wondering about... Not to change your topic - but on the back of "natural" PB jars it says refrigerate after opening... Now is this strictly to prevent the oil separation or because it "NEEDS" to go in the fridge? I keep mine in the cupboard since I don't really like my PB cold. I know nuts can go rancid fast but it doesn't take me long to eat through a jar of crunchy, salty, delicious, all natural PB.... YUM!!! ;D
So how long can I safely keep it out of the fridge? I can eat a jar in a couple of weeks... :D
So how long can I safely keep it out of the fridge? I can eat a jar in a couple of weeks... :D
I don't refrigerate mine either. It doesn't seem like pb would go rancid that much faster than peanuts, and I know people who keep peanuts in their pantries for months (not saying I know that's not bad for the nuts, but comparing that to pb). Mine doesn't last long either. I wouldn't worry about it.
About the sunflower seed butter. My mom bought some and I didn't like it much, I don't know why, but I never finished the jar.
But I do agree on the I.M. Healthy chocolate soy nut butter. While I'm not a chocolate fan at all, I used to like nutella (probably because of the hazelnuts in it), and I think nut butters go really well with chocolate flavors.
I don't keep my nut butters in the fridge because they are gone within a week and a half easily. I'd put them in the fridge if it was longer than 2 1/2 weeks. I rarely have peanut butter. I frequent almond butter (raw) and sometimes get cashew, or a mixture of the two. I actually really like the taste of tahini, though some brands are more bitter than others. Pumpkin seed butter is yum and a great source of zinc and iron. My daughter can eat it by the spoonful! I just opened a jar of hemp seed butter and Oh. my. gawd. It is amazing, seriously, sweet with a nutty flavour and just a hint of green. A great source of protein and Omega 3 &6 EFA's. It is woderful.
I usually mix some nut and seed butters together and add a bit of molasses, then use that as a spread for toast or a dip for apples. Sometimes I add some flax oil or Udo's oil too, to boost the nutritional value (and cause I like the taste, though it is subtle this way).
Maranatha's peanut butter is really good....I think they make other nut/seed butters too....
Trader Joe's makes organic raw peanut/almond butters (if I remember correctly) that aren't too pricey...
Costco's Kirkland brand makes a good organic peanut butter too (in a 2 pack of course!)
I always try to find the unroasted unsalted (raw) nut butters.... And I don't ever get the commercial peanut butters (like Jif/skippy, etc) with the rapeseed oil.....
:)
i love all kinds of nut butters...im a nut, what can i say? i would really love to try sunflower seed butter or pumpkin seed butter as well. i dont refridgerate my nut butters either and mine last longer than 2 weeks, so i think theyre fine. i dont like my nut butters cold. trader joes does have raw and roasted nut butters, with no salt added, cause i have dry roasted creamy pb in my cupboard at the moment, and they arent too expensive...
ah, b&g, maranatha DOES make amazing peanut butter. roasted, salted, crunchy is my favorite.
I just bought some roasted unsalted Almond butter from TJ yesterday.... YUM!!! :D
It is sweeter than PB, but doesn't contain any sugar... I highly recommend it! I can't wait to try it on toast, I have just been eating it out of the jar ;D
Ooh, I just got back from TJ's, where I picked up there "raw, unsalted creamy" almond butter-- it's not organic, but it's raw, so that's cool at least. It was 6 bucks, which is pricey for TJ's, but CHEAP for almond butter-- so I'll deal. Almond butter just has so much more nutrition (iron, calcium, Vitamin E, etc) than peanut butter, so I have to say I'm kind of an addict. But Peanut Butter has it's place in my pantry too. :P I'm a very equal-opportunity nut lover. :P ... though peanuts AREN'T technically a nut, they're a legume, so if I were going to have some sort of descrimination... am I thinking too much into this statement? :P
I had a ton of hazelnuts, and I was so inspired by this thread that I decided to try making hazelnut butter. I've made peanut butter before with great success, so I decided to give it a go. I roasted them, rubbed off the dark skins, and blended them into butter. I had to add about a tablespoon of canola oil to facilitate the transition from powdery nuttiness to creamy deliciousness. It's pretty tasty. It definitely profits from a touch of sugar and/or cocoa, and it's quite liquidy. I'm used to nut butters being thicker and more substantial. Any thoughts on what I did wrong? Still, don't get me wrong, it's lovely and very nice on my morning oatmeal. Just thought I'd share.
The problem is that you added oil- you don't need to. You just have to keep on proccessing the nuts and they will become creamy by themselves. It takes, hm, maybe 5 minutes of nothing but grinding for me to get a nice peanut butter. I add sugar (about a tablespoon melted with a tiny bit of water) and a shake of salt to mine. I have only ever made peanut butter but it's sooo good, and cheaper even than buying regular peanut butter!
i made macadamia butter and it was... interesting. very rich and fatty tasting though. i really enjoy almond butter and cashew butter.
i've tried sunflower seed butter, walnut butter, pecan butter, hazelnut butter and pumpkin seed butter. all were very good
The problem is that you added oil- you don't need to. You just have to keep on proccessing the nuts and they will become creamy by themselves. It takes, hm, maybe 5 minutes of nothing but grinding for me to get a nice peanut butter. I add sugar (about a tablespoon melted with a tiny bit of water) and a shake of salt to mine. I have only ever made peanut butter but it's sooo good, and cheaper even than buying regular peanut butter!
Really? Even, like, 1Tablespoon of oil to 3 cups of hazelnuts? I didn't add much. I was thinking that it had something to do with the hazelnuts themselves. Maybe they're just always liquidier than other nuts? My peanut butter was great--definitely not like this--and I added just a touch of olive oil to that too.
Maybe it's different for hazelnuts, but yeah, when I make nut butters sometimes it's too runny without adding any liquid at all- I blame the lack of AC in my apartment! But as a rule, the only thing you really need for nut butter is nuts.