Non-nut, because I’m allergic to nuts as well as peanuts. Possibilities that I know about are soy nut butter and sunflower seed butter. There may be other types, I haven’t been to the health food store in a while.
I like Wowbutter, because it never separates at all (I don’t know how they do that, there aren’t any additional ingredients different from the separating kind) and it is cheaper than other brands.
I also like Don’t Go Nuts, because they have a chocolate flavor, and it doesn’t even need to be refrigerated. It is more expensive though. And even though it doesn’t separate it’s a good idea to stir it before you use it, sometimes the part exposed to the air can get a little thicker.
I’m not particularly fond of sunflower seed butter, the flavor just doesn’t appeal to me. It isn’t terrible, and I’d eat it if there wasn’t anything better on offer, I just don’t buy it for myself. Also the 2 or 3 that I’ve tried all end up with oils and solids separated, and that’s a pain.
Any other aficionados here? Do you only eat them because you’re allergic to peanut butter? Tell me your story.
“Peanut butter spread”, maybe? Who knows if it contains peanuts or not, or why some products say “peanut butter spread” on the label, while a few others still say “peanut butter”.
My kids school used to be peanut free so we gave her almond butter now its all nut and peanut free so we’ve been giving her sunflower butter and she seems to dig it. I’d never heard of soy butter so we may have to give that a try next and see what she likes better. I’m definitly going to see if i can find the brands mentioned in the OP or if there are other consensus favorites.
If you google “peanut butter spread” you find that it has fewer peanuts, maybe 60% instead of the 95% required to be called just peanut butter. So still out of bounds for me and probably most people with peanut allergies.
Where I live there are 2 major supermarket chains, Safeway and Lucky. I usually shop at Lucky but they don’t carry any soy nut butters, so every so often I go to Safeway just for that. I also occasionally shop at Whole Foods but I haven’t checked there for these products. They usually carry the most varieties and brands at health food stores if there is one near you.
Gotta be roasted, though. Raw cashew butter, not as good.
I used to buy it during Passover, before I just declared us Sephardic during Passover, so we could have peanut butter, beans and rice, tofu, etc, during Passover, because we are vegetarians.
Then two years ago the Conservative movement decided that “kitniyot,” or corn, rice, beans, and other legumes were OK during Passover, as long as they were whole, and not made into flour.
But yes, cashew butter, like cashews themselves, is both delicious and expensive.
I don’t like sun butter much, but it’s what my preschool (where I work) uses. Soy nut butter is OK, but I’m not wild about it. I just eat PB when I’m not at work, and eat other things at work.
Not a nut butter, but similar style is a Biscuit spread I’ve only recently discovered. Not sure if you’ll get it locally as it’s based of a Belgian biscuit, but it’s very tasty.
I tried cashew butter quite recently - it’s OK, but I found it a bit rich and sickly - with peanut butter the thicker I spread it, the more I like it - with Cashew, the opposite seems true.
Which is odd, because given a choice between whole peanuts or whole cashews to eat as salted, roasted nuts, I would normally favour cashews
Oh yes - that stuff is pretty amazing. UK supermarket chain Tesco had some similar things made from British biscuit favourites such as Custard Breams and Bourbon Biscuits. I think there might be an Oreo spread too,
That said, I regularly make a spread that consists of a fresh cheese (called quark) that is something like ricotta, sardine, mayonnaise lemon juice and hot sauce. Another one is made with olives (and walnuts, but you can omit them), quark, and mayonnaise. They are both delicious.
For something that mimics peanut butter, Wowbutter is pretty good. I also like the hummus suggestion. I like its versatility, and as a vegetarian I like the easy source of protein.
I haven’t had Vegemite, but I have had Marmite. I like it a lot, but it is damned salty. Also, IIRC it has a decent amount of vitamins but not as much protein as a nut butter or hummus.
Thanks for the suggestion; I’m not positive that I’m allergic to cashews, but I’m not willing to risk anaphylaxis to find out (nor willing to spend for a cashew-specific allergy test).
Sounds good, what brand? I did find one brand at Amazon called 88 Acres that has a lot fewer calories, and a little less protein than Wowbutter, although it seems a little expensive, $20 for 28 ounces plus shipping.
I also see they have something called pumpkin seed butter, has anyone ever tried that?
