New apartment means empty fridge and empty cabinets. Unfortunately we have very limited cabinet space, so only 1 shelf is devoted to peanut butter. Because of this, space is precious and expectations are high – only the best jars are allowed to grace my shelves. The two latest shipments from the Peanut Butter of the Month Club did not disappoint, featuring a caramel flavor from Sunland as well as a recently-recommend jar from Krema. In addition, I picked up a few jars before leaving California of brands that I never tried. That and more coming up next on the Peanut Butter Boy. Read on for details…
Reviews:
Sunland Caramel Peanut Butter
= 75%
I didn’t know this flavor existed but it is literally dessert in a jar. I previously tried
Sunland raspberry peanut butter and was not impressed. This one however, is different. It has a very authentic caramel flavor and while it’s quite sweet, it’s not overly sweet. I think it’s uses are pretty straightforward: on a spoon, with an apple, or baked into a
peanut butter apple pie.
Sunland Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter
= 75%
Sunland is certainly redeeming itself. Again, this
peanut butter is very sweet but not overly so. It is smooth and creamy and is almost as thin as chocolate syrup. I would recommend stirring it and then refrigerating it, the resulting texture should be closer to a chocolate fudge sauce. But as is, this
peanut butter is perfect for drizzling on desserts, such as on top of some
banana pudding.
East Wind Smooth Peanut Butter
= 85%
I’ve reviewed many
East Wind peanut butters, so I was surprised to receive a new one from the club. I love this brand of
peanut butter and wish it was more available. This variety is very smooth and has a strong fresh peanut taste. Despite being so smooth, it is very thick and not suitable for making flavored
peanut butters because it tends to thicken even more. I added a touch of salt and it was an excellent
peanut butter but not quite as good as their equivalent
crunchy variety.
Krema Crunchy Peanut Butter
= 85%
Someone recently recommended this brand to me and the following week it showed up at my doorstep. There are a ton of large chunks in this
peanut butter and they are deliciously crunchy and satisfying. Between the chunks it is creamy and smooth. Again, I added some kosher salt – I believe that
peanut butter needs some salt to bring out its true flavor. The one downside to this
peanut butter is that it is very sticky but that’s how it should be, right? This is a perfect
peanut butter for a classic
peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Laura Scudder’s Nutty Peanut Butter
= 60%
Despite living in California for 2 years, I never got around to trying this
peanut butter until the last week. Luckily, I wasn’t missing much. There is an abundance of small chunks in this
peanut butter but they aren’t that crunchy, they’re almost mushy. The salt level is good and there is a pleasant roasted peanut flavor but overall a fairly bland
peanut butter.
Adams Crunchy Peanut Butter
= 50%
This natural
peanut butter is very similar to Laura Scudder’s Nutty variety except a much paler color (see photo to the right). The color of
peanut butter generally represents the level of roasting with a darker color and stronger flavor resulting from a longer roast. As expected, this pale
peanut butter has very little peanut flavor and despite having the same amount of sodium per serving, it doesn’t taste as good and salty as Laura Scudder’s. Again, there are numerous small chunks in this one but they aren’t very crunchy and overall disappointing. This Smuckers-owned brand needs an overhaul.
Best Yet Crunchy Peanut Butter
= 75%
I previously reviewed
Best Yet Creamy and was fairly impressed. It reminded me of my favorite traditional store brand
peanut butter, America’s Choice. Similar to the creamy variety, there is a touch of sugar which gives it a great overall taste – perfect on a spoon and great for pb&j sandwiches. The chunks are very nice in this
peanut butter and while it’s nothing spectacular, it’s a good run-of-the-peanut-mill no-stir
peanut butter.
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Have you ever tried peanut butter toasted? Apply peanut butter to a piece of toast and run under the broiler until peanut butter bubbles. Let cool till you can eat it with out burning your mouth.
Huh, no I have not. I’ve done toast with peanut butter of coarse. I’ll have it for snack later!
Trying a zillion different PB’s has to be the BEST JOB EVER! Very jealous :O).
Haha, if only I could turn it into a full time job!
I love all your pb reviews. I’ve gotta find that caramel one. Mmm.
CARAMEL peanut butter?? I’d be all over that.
The only peanut butter I have in my cabinet is the kind they sell at the grocery store. Sad, right? Where do you get your jars?
Yikes, you need some help sir. Well Whole Foods has a good selection but I don’t believe in paying a lot for peanut butter, so go with the 365 brand they sell, it’s excellent. But most of those above are from the PB of the Month club. Other than that, any decent sized grocery store will have a few brands of pb. Shop around, it’s worth it!
I just wrote a whole post about peanut butter on my blog. Check it out: jessicalevinsonrd.tumblr.com. Full of info, my favorite brands, and best ways to enjoy it!
You have the best job ever, reviewing different PB’s all the time.
That caramel one has my name all over it! Yum!
My personal goal is to try every brand out there! I wonder who would pay me to do that….
So many options….What’s a girl to do?
Nick! Darnnnnn I’m sorry you didn’t like the Laura Scudder’s. Oh well! To each his own! Honestly though, after having the Whole Foods and TJ’s, I haven’t bought Laura’s in a while…. so I might be disappointed if I go back to it as a staple. Glad you tried it though!!! :)
It wasn’t bad, just didn’t have enough flavor or crunch for me – but as you can imagine, I have high standards =). See, there you go….not only do I believe those brands to be tastier, but they’re also about half the price of Laura’s. Twice the peanut butter for the same price? You’re completely justified in not going back to Laura’s yet =).
wow, that caramel one? you got the right call on pie, or maybe your ice cream… yum :)
Oh good point, on the ice cream….forgot about that. I bet if you nuked it in the microwave first so it was real runny it would drizzle perfectly…
Thanks for the reviews! The Peanut Butter of the Month Club sounds so good.
honey roasted peanut butter
is good, yep.
peanut butter with chocolate rice!!!
?
skippy has this peanut butter with choc rice crispies (the type that you sprinkle on your ice-cream) nice crunch to it especially if you don’t like crunchy peanut butter!
Really? It’s a peanut butter in the jar? Impressive…
You had me at “caramel”!!
have to tell you: I tried Justin’s Honey Almond Butter and I was just blown away by how good it was. You have to try it, it was AMAZING. I know you’ll dig it just as much as I did. I found it at Whole Foods.
Huh…I’ve seen it but wasn’t sure how good it would be. I’ve only liked 1 other almond butter before but if you say so…
Nick, I like peanut butter to. But we don’t Have some of the brands of peanut butter that you have. Your peanut butter and All recipes Are all very Good. That ADAMS 100% NATURAL peanut butter crunchy also looks very nice, but we don’t have that brand. Goodbye Nick.