Peanut butter alternatives?

[cmo]

We just found out that our DC's morning out program has switched to a no-peanuts policy. Since this means no peanut butter, there goes the workhorse of my planned lunch menu! The school says that other nut butters and soy butter are allowed, so I wanted to see what others' opinions are about them. I haven't tried any of them before, so I'm curious as to their taste, texture, shelf life, etc. in comparison to plain old Peter Pan.

Thanks very much for your input!

Chris

[SuenosDelMar]

This just became available in the United States and my daughter loves it! It tastes like PB (although it does have a bit of a pea aftertaste), is very creamy and has a long shelf life.

We are avoiding nuts and soy, so this was perfect for us. However, I don't think they sell it locally yet, so it is a bit expensive when you factor in shipping.

http://www.jsfoods.us/

[August Mom]

I don't have much information but my mother swears by soy nut butter. She thinks it has a very good flavor and long shelf life.

[C99]

Soy nut butter is fine. The consistency is a little grainier, and it definitely has that soybean taste, which I don't like. Nate, however, doesn't seem to be able to tell the difference. He ate SNB for a year before I switched to regular PB and he can go back and forth without noticing.

[kristenk]

We purchased some I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter for DD. She likes it and I can't really taste that much of a difference between peanut butter and soy butter. Granted, I'm not much of a peanut butter eater, so others might notice a bigger difference. I'm still avoiding nuts in general for DD, so soynut butter was our only option as far as I can tell.

[JBaxter]

We love cashew butter. I have also tried almond butter but prefer cashew butter. I have gotten it at my local grocery and at whole foods. - I will have to check on the soy nut butter sounds interesting.
Jeana

[Momof3Labs]

DS loved IM Healthy soy nut butter for a long time, before we switched him to regular PB. It isn't just like PB to old pros like us, but he loved it!

[urquie]

i was off peanut butter for two years and used trader joe's cashew macadamea nut butter as my replacement. i tried the plain cashew butter, but preffered the combo jar better. tj's has lots of different nut butters you could try and see which is the favorite. i usually spread a thinner layer of the alternative so it was less noticable. also we stored it i the fridge instead of the cupboard w/ the pb.

[DebbieJ]

We give DS the Trader Joe's brand soy nut butter. He loves it. Since we eat the TJ's natural peanut butter ourselves, the soy butter is not as palatable to us, but DS eats it up.

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03
Breastfed for 20 months and 6 days

http://www.bfar.org/members/fora/style_avatars/Ribbons/18months-bfar.jpg

[alkagift]

I'll second I.M. Healthy Soy Nut Butter. I tried the Soy Wonder type and it just isn't the same--the Soy Wonder was considerably grainier and stickier, I didn't like the texture. The I.M. Healthy kind is a bit softer, and you do have to stir it when you first open it and keep it in the fridge to keep it from seperating (at least we do). I personally can taste a huge difference from the soy to the peanut butter (maybe it's a salt thing). My husband says he can taste the difference but still likes the soy butter just fine. It's a bit sweeter than natural peanut butter, but probably not as sweet as Jif. DS loves the soy butter.

ETA: here's the website for this stuff, which we get at Whole Foods.

www.soynutbutter.com

Allison
Mommy to Matthew, who is TWO.

[Laurelsmom2002]

Third here- but don't get the unsweetened- ick!

[elephantmeg]

I found sunflower seed butter at a local discount grocery store of all places. I live in a smallish town that doesn't have a trader joe or natural foods. It's called sunbutter and comes in creamy, crunchy and honey roasted. The website on the label is www.sunbutter.com. I haven't tried soybutter (also allergic to soy) but it was much better than the almond butter that I tried.

Margaret
#1 edd 2-13-2006!

[proggoddess]

My Wegmans supermarket (Mid-atlantic states) and local Feel Rite natural food store carry this brand. It's like "natural" peanut butter in that the oil separates from the meal, so you have to mix it.

The butter has a smoother/wetter consistency than Jif or Peter Pan smooth PB. So it's easy to spread thin (to reduce the choking possibility). It doesn't taste like peanuts, but it doesn't taste like sweet peas. It tastes like soy nuts or like those dried peas you find in Oriental snack mix or Wasabi Peas. It's pretty good.

[cmo]

Thanks so much, everyone, I feel empowered by all the helpful information. Off to the store to see what they have available.

Lunch is saved!