# Peanut butter vs. peanuts **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 14, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777 "2015-01-14T01:41:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/21 "2015-01-14T16:19:21Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > You ever hear of a walnut butter and jelly sandwich? Uh-uh! Peanut butter, the all American food! > > Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches > > Peanut butter and bacon sandwiches > > Peanut butter on celery sticks > > Peanut butter on English muffins > > Peanut butter on apple slices > > Peanut butter on crackers > > Peanut butter and banana sandwiches (Elvis loved 'em) > > Peanut butter cookies > > Peanut butter and chocolate > > There’s just no limit to the wonderful things you can do with Peanut butter. And I oughta know. 😃 Peanut butter on grilled cheese … what? Have you tried it? My wife and kids make the weirdest faces and think it’s so strange when I slather PB on my grilled cheese sammich, but man, that’s tasty stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/22 "2015-01-14T16:30:59Z")
I like eating peanuts out of hand, and spreading peanut butter on sandwiches. Two different legume delivery systems - both yummy. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/23 "2015-01-14T16:48:24Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > You ever hear of a walnut butter and jelly sandwich? Uh-uh! Peanut butter, the all American food! > > Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches > > Peanut butter and bacon sandwiches > > Peanut butter on celery sticks > > Peanut butter on English muffins > > Peanut butter on apple slices > > Peanut butter on crackers > > Peanut butter and banana sandwiches (Elvis loved 'em) > > Peanut butter cookies > > Peanut butter and chocolate > > There’s just no limit to the wonderful things you can do with Peanut butter. And I oughta know. 😃 You tell 'em, Bubba. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/24 "2015-01-14T16:54:40Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > You ever hear of a walnut butter and jelly sandwich? Uh-uh! Peanut butter, the all American food! > > Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches > > Peanut butter and bacon sandwiches > > Peanut butter on celery sticks > > Peanut butter on English muffins > > Peanut butter on apple slices > > Peanut butter on crackers > > Peanut butter and banana sandwiches (Elvis loved 'em) > > Peanut butter cookies > > Peanut butter and chocolate Bubba: That’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/25 "2015-01-14T17:14:18Z")
Bubba liked peanut butter on his corn bread. hot and steamy so that it softens. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/26 "2015-01-14T17:22:17Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Ok, I’m not questioning that people like peanut butter; I love it as much as anyone. But what I’m wondering is why people don’t like peanuts as much as peanut butter, why they’d pay more for a can of nuts because there aren’t any peanuts in it. Well, for one thing, peanut butter tends to have sugar in it. Peanut butter doesn’t tend to really taste the same as peanuts. Plus context is everything. If you buy a package of mixed nuts, you’re not wanting a ton of peanuts. If I was getting almond butter and it was made partly with peanut butter too, I’d pay less for that. Also, note how almond butter is much more expensive that peanut butter. The buttering process increases the value. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/27 "2015-01-14T18:10:36Z")
Not only are peanuts easier to grow than other nuts, they’re also easier to harvest. Look up how cashews are harvested sometime: It’s a wonder that they’re only twice the price of peanuts. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/28 "2015-01-14T19:27:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Not only are peanuts easier to grow than other nuts, they’re also easier to harvest. Look up how cashews are harvested sometime: It’s a wonder that they’re only twice the price of peanuts. Beyond that, we grow peanuts in Georgia and elsewhere in the country. Other nuts like cashews and Brazil nuts are grown elsewhere and must be imported. Finally, peanuts aren’t a tree nut, which would tend to mean that it can be grown/harvested somewhat easier than say… almonds, pecans or hazelnuts. This means that over the long haul, supply meets demand closer (less fluctuation in price), since it’s much easier to change acreage to growing peanuts if demand is high, relative to tree nuts, which require freaking trees to produce them, and acreage can’t be expanded quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/29 "2015-01-14T22:01:38Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > …cheaper cost relative to exotics such as Brazil nuts. Where are those grown? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/30 "2015-01-14T22:40:19Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Where are those grown? Actually, Bolivia and Peru account for about 60% of the world’s Brazil nuts (50% for Bolivia, 10% for Peru.) Brazil has the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/31 "2015-01-14T22:47:10Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > There are other nut butters. The most common are almond butter, cashew butter and sunflower seed butter (yeah, I know sunflower seeds aren’t nuts, but technically neither are peanuts). Don’t forget sesame seed butter (aka Tahini). ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/32 "2015-01-14T22:53:42Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Don’t forget sesame seed butter (aka Tahini). A jar (16 oz, wt) of which I just bought. $10. If Skippy cost this much, you wouldn’t see many PB&Js in kids’ lunchboxes. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/33 "2015-01-15T00:49:19Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Don’t forget sesame seed butter (aka Tahini). Tahini is more of a liquid than a butter. I guess you could make it more like peanut butter by removing some of the oil, or hydrogenating the oil, or replacing some or all of the oil with a saturated fat. Did you know that Brazil nuts are harvested from wild trees? There are no Brazil nut orchards. **BigT** mentioned that peanut butter usually has added sugar. It also usually has some kind of saturated oil in place of the peanut oil. There are other nut butters that are made the same way - for example, [MaraNatha Almond Butter](http://www.walmart.com/ip/10811104?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227010278269&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=40887097112&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=78818182472&veh=sem). Nutella is a flavored hazelnut butter. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/34 "2015-01-15T00:53:12Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > Tahini is more of a liquid than a butter. We had this mentioned in another thread, and it really does depend on the tahini you buy. The kind I buy is just like a butter, not a liquid, with [the buttery stuff on the bottom and oil on top](http://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server300/2cec5/products/581/images/35711/Ziyad_Tahini_Sesame_Paste_453_Grams_16_OZ_1__74596.1411285479.1280.1280.JPG?c=2), just like you’d see with natural peanut butter. ETA: Actually, looking in my fridge now, the brand I currently have is Bobori. It’s thick enough that you have to spoon it out–it will not pour. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/35 "2015-01-15T01:00:29Z")
Sorry–the brand is Boboris, with an “s.” If I invert the jar, the paste holds fast, with only oil running down the side. The Ziyad brand is a bit more runny. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/36 "2015-01-15T01:21:16Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > You ever hear of a walnut butter and jelly sandwich? Uh-uh! Peanut butter, the all American food! Two words: almond butter. For some reason, my wife had a doctor recommend that she try nut butters other than peanut. Probably a crackpot. Anyway, almond butter sandwiches… Wow. Just wow. Go try it. On the other hand, making AB&J makes me feel like one of those snobs who spends $30 on fresh tuna for tuna salad sandwiches instead of doing the proper American thing and using canned tuna. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/37 "2015-01-15T01:51:53Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > Nutella is a flavored hazelnut butter. For certain values of “flavored,” as it has more chocolate than hazelnut. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/38 "2015-01-15T15:39:53Z")
And a ton of sugar, too. It’s more like cake frosting than it is like peanut butter. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/39 "2015-01-15T17:39:33Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > that might be a PayDay. \ ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777/40 "2015-01-15T17:53:28Z")
In ‘mixed nuts’ - peanuts are filler - has nothing to do with popularity of peanuts perse - it has to do with “if I want a bunch of mixed nuts, I don’t want half the volume to be cheap stuff”. its similar to those other assortments of things - that claim 1000 pieces - but 900 of them are things you really don’t want/need in that assortment, but it makes the copy/advertisement sound better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-vs-peanuts/709777.md?page=3)