OT - who has the best natural peanut butter???

[egoldber]

So the South Beach diet has made me give up my beloved Jif Creamy, LOL! I'm looking for a natural PB with no hydrogenated oils. I tried the Whole Foods 365 brand creamy, and thought it was disgusting. It was very thin and watery even when well stirred. Frankly, I'd rather eat the soynut butter that Sarah eats than eat this stuff. Before I make another $3.50 mistake, anyone have any favorites?

[pritchettzoo]

Smuckers Natural isn't too bad--it's not creamy though...small sandpapery chunks of peanuts. Mmmm--don't you want some now? :P

Anna
Mama to Gracie (9/16/03)

[Calmegja2]

There isn't one. Seriously. You give up texture...you can get a pretty good taste, but the texture will forever be wrong. ;-)

My brother is allergic to peanut butter. I have spent large sections of my life being subjected to different types of nut butters (cashew butter was big at our house), and as sad as it seems, we've never run across anything that makes the cut. I've had so many different types of nut (and peanut) butters that it would make your head spin.

I swear, I'm 32, and the woman is still making me sample nut butters. She's obsessed with comparing and contrasting, She wants my brother to experience peanut butter like taste without anaphalaxis, which is an admirable goal, but still....

Having said that, we use the reduced fat Jif, which has a healthy amount of soy in it. Does that help with the plan? At all? ;-)

[egoldber]

Sorry, but all the Jif and Skippy peanut butters have hydrogenated vegetable oils. I actually think that the texture of the soynut butter isn't bad! (Currently using the IM Healthy brand from Whole Foods, but the Trader Joe's brand of soynut butter isn't bad either). I'd be perfectly happy with the soynut butter myself, but DH despises it and we're both on the diet.

The soynut butter has a very creamy texture when stirred, not watery at all like the 365 brand.

Someone please help me! :)

[lukkykatt]

I like Arrowhead Mills. It's also supposed to be better for you due to the drying process that they use. There is a mold issue with peanuts, and their drying process reduces that.

Also, I give DS almond butter alot instead of peanut butter. I believe it is a little more nutritious than PB and I think it tastes better, so that might be something else to try. It is thinner than PB though, so if that bothers you, you might not like it.

[houseof3boys]

What about the whole foods that you just grind yourself? They have the peanut and the almond machines there. Never tried them but they sure smell yummy when I walk by!

[snp624]

We get Tree of Life peanut butter from a health food store in the neighborhood. I think it tastes great! I didn't grew up eating peanut butter so I don't know how you'll like it, but my husband who had lots & lots of it growing up loves it too. It's a bit pricy, at $4.29. I am hoping that Trader Joe's that opened up near by have it at lower price...

HTH!

[Calmegja2]

I must be a peanut butter snob! I think Tree of Life has the same texture issue. In my hometown, there's a famous nut store (yes, such things exist), and their nut butters win awards, but I've never seen or tasted a butter that gets the texture right.

I would stick with soynut butter, which has a more authentic texture before I'd use one of the natural peanut butters. I'm allergic, so I don't know, but I've heard the Nutella tastes fabulous, it's a chocolate hazelnut spread, but it probably has the oils you're avoiding.

But I'm a texture freak, so that might be part of it. The Smuckers actually tastes more peanut-butter like than most of the others, it's just the nature of the beast with the texture, from missing the processing. The Tree of Life is a good suggestion, but I'm not sure that it tastes or feels sign. different from the Smuckers to justify the cost.

Of course, a good dollop of jelly or honey can offset many texture issues. I have no familiarity with the SBD plan, so I don't know if those are off limits, but as someone who went to school with natural nut butters on rice cakes for most of elementary schoo, additives are the way to go. Honey helps. Lots of honey. ;-)

[heidis2girls]

Beth, have you tried the Trader Joe's natural peanut butter? I bought the crunchy when I was doing South Beach and was dipping the celery into it! The texture certainly isn't the same as JIF (which is my favorite also) but it seemed creamier than most.

Good luck with your search. It's hard to replace JIF!

Heidi

[peanut4us]

Beth this was forever ago when I lived with a healthy food freak (really, she was kind of scary). I think the brand of PB we got was Adam's Peanut Butter. I remember it being a little runnier than normal, but it sure tasted good. Also, when i lived in France in the sticks and couldn't get peanut butter, I just bought peanuts and added a little oil (maybe use whatever oil you like... I wonder if room temperature butter would work??) and put it in the food processor... that was seriously the best peanutiest peanut butter I've ever eaten in my life! Good luck, let us know what you try and if you like it.

[rorycam]

Have you tried Better'N Peanut Butter? Not peanut butter but a "peanut spread," and it is all natural, low fat, no cholesterol or hydrogenated oils, and it tastes pretty good--a little stickier in texture than the real thing and tastes not exactly the same, but definitely something I can eat on a PB&J. They have it at Trader Joe's and health food stores. Even DH can eat it on a sandwich, and this is a man who ate a Peter Pan PB&J for lunch literally every single day he went to school from kindergarten on up through college and is very picky about his peanut butter.

Rory

[em_jon98]

Beth,
They were sampling some absolutely wonderful fresh natural peanut butter at Costco before Christmas. It was devine--but it was $4 or 5 for a plastic container the size of one of the jars of Jif that come in a two pack at Costco, and we just go though too much at our house to be affordable on a regular basis. I don't remember the brand, but it was in the cheese/meat/pasta cases near the fresh meats.

Also, I have some Almond Butter from Trader Joe's that is farily good. It does have a sort of mealy texture to it (it is not at all watery or thin, just not creamy like Jif) that I found slightly strange at first, but I have learned to be okay with it since the flavor is good.

HTH

[jojo2324]

Ooooooh, Nutella. I kinda overdid it a few years ago, so haven't touched the stuff in a while, but I might need to get over that. SO GOOD! Don't know squat about its oil content, but YUMMERS! :9

[Melanie]

I'd also try the Trader Joe's. Sometimes it needs stirring, sometimes not. I think it depends if I buy the organic one or not, but I can't recall which does which. I have to admit that stirring my peanut butter has been an adjustment...

[kapow]

I like Whole Food's cashew and almond butters.

As an aside, did you know that Whole Food's barbecue sauce has no added sugar? I remember this from a diet I was on a while back. This might work on the SBD too. Good luck!

[alkagift]

Beth,
I've tried several brands at Whole Foods in addition to the Smuckers, since I try not to eat the hydrogenated oils either, and I came down on the Smuckers side since it tastes a bit more "roasted" than the others, some of which are just ground raw. It was also cheaper!

I typically spoon off a teaspoon or so of the oil, though, since I think Smuckers is runnier. I would get some fresh ground like Debbi mentioned if it's easily available where you are, some grinders have smoothness gradations (like the coffee grinders) and you might find something you like--just make sure the peanuts are ground first, the raw ones make icky peanut butter!

HTH,

Allison
Mommy to Matthew Clayton, 5/19/03

[kransden]

Why can't you have hydrogenated oils? Is that a big diet no no?
I love Peter Pan No Salt No Sugar Added, but it does have the hydro oils. I considered it a good trade off for not having to mix the peanut butter up.

Karin and Katie 10/24/02

[lizamann]

Partially hydrogenated oils are bad in general, diet or no diet. You're better off eating straight lard than that stuff. It clogs the arteries like crazy, raising the bad cholesterol and lowering the good. It's found in so many processed foods because it's cheaper than butter but provides a similar texture. And deep-fried foods have tons of the stuff, so those french fries are especially bad.

[nohomama]

I guess I'm a bit of a freak in that I actually prefer "natural" nut butters. To me the natural butters taste like nuts while brands like Jiffy taste like candy. Don't get me wrong. I like Jif every now and then but not as a staple food.

Anyway, Krema is a brand I haven't seen mentioned yet. They're an Ohio based company and their nut butters are readily available in regular grocery stores there. My Mom, who lives in Cincinnati, always has a jar of their peanut butter in her pantry. I'm not sure what their distribution is outside Ohio but they do do mail order. Here's a link to their nut butters page:

http://www.krema.com/butters.htm

Good luck finding your perfect peanut butter.

[egoldber]

The basic principles of the diet are:

1) no hydrogenated oils
2) low sugar / no added sugars in foods
3) no refined carbs, only high fiber whole grain carbs
4) lots of vegetables, lean proteins and good oils

[em_jon98]

I've seen Krema all over the place (at least in the Midwest). Aren't they now owned or part-owned by Smuckers?

[egoldber]

AAARRRGGHHH! And I was just in Cincinnati to see my parents! Oh well...

[nohomama]

Hmmm. I don't think so but I could be wrong. I recently heard a piece on them on NPR. It seems their one of the oldest nut butter companies around.

[em_jon98]

I'm not sure where I heard/read that...I could very well be mistaken. I have so many things in my head that I am frequently confused, LOL :).

[JMarie]

Another vote for Smuckers - I switched while I was pregnant, and while I'm still not happy with refrigerated peanut butter, it's great on whole-wheat toast and FABULOUS on Granny Smith apples. I still need to get DH to switch though...

Jennifer
Mom to Aidan Christopher
01/28/03

[alkagift]

Hey, by the way, I have a recipe for doing your own if anyone's interested--it calls for a blender, but I guess you could use a food processor...

Allison
Mommy to Matthew Clayton, 5/19/03

[egoldber]

Please share! I have a blender! :)

[kransden]

Thanks Beth and Beth. I am going to have to check my labels for it now, and maybe I'll check out the South Beach diet. Before my dd, I had a pretty healthy diet (besides chocolate and going out to eat. Now I find myself buying hamburger helper because it is easy.


Karin and Katie 10/24/02

[lrg]

Funny I saw this post today. I bought a double pack from Costco and just tried it for the first time today and thought it was great. Maranatha is the brand and it was $6.99 for the 2 jars - forgot to note the size, but larger than the reduced fat Jiff I used to buy. They're good sized jars.

It's the creamiest natural PB I've ever tried - I actually don't see a huge difference in regular creamy PB to this. Oil was separated initially, but after stirring and refrigerating on Monday, it hasn't separated again so far.

1/2 the carbs of Jiff about 1/3 of the sodium and no trans fats. Only roasted organic peanuts and kosher salt in ingredients.

I also get organic almond butter from Kroger - I think the brand is Kettle. Very good, too.

[miki]

Be careful if you do this in your blender. If the peanut butter is very thick, it can overheat the blender's motor really fast.

[HoneymoonBaby]

>and this is a man who ate a
>Peter Pan PB&J for lunch literally every single day he went to
>school from kindergarten on up through college and is very
>picky about his peanut butter.
>
>Rory


I'm sorry, but one cannot call oneself "picky" about one's peanut butter if one is eating Peter Pan.

YUCK!

-Honeymoon the Jif Snob

(P.S., the really good natural peanut butter at Costco is called Maranatha. I have no idea what oils it has in it, but it is good.)

[rorycam]

I totally agree, but he grew up with his mom fixing his sandwiches with nothing but Peter Pan, and we all know mom knows best:)

Rory

[Annette_C]

Beth,
I haven't read all the replies but just wanted to let you know that I use Southern Farms Natural peanut butter (ingredients are: roasted peanuts and salt...nothing else!) and it's DELICIOUS! Sabrina loves it and so does DH (who is a PB connoisseur!).
I don't know if you have that brand available near you but, if you want, I can send you some.
One other suggestion, if you have a Trader Joe's, their PB is also natural and delicious.
HTH,
Annette
SAHM to Sabrina 6/24/02

[doubleL]

So Beth, why don't you eat the soynut butter?

I starting buying I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter from Whole Foods for DS. Didn't even eat the crusts I was cutting off for the longest time because I thought it would be nasty. But now I find myself making a whole sandwich for me too (and accidently cutting off the crusts).

IT's
No Transfats
Cholesterol Free
Dairy & Gluten Free
Made from Non-GMO Roasted Soybeans

Now I'm picturing you at home doing a taste test with 20 different jars of nut butter... $70 later :) Let us know when you get a regular you like.

Enjoy!

Lou
~DS 5.01
~DD 6.03

[egoldber]

I think the soynut butter is OK (but I wouldn't call it delicious), but DH thinks its disgusting.