It’s that time of the month! My first shipment of gourmet peanut butter has arrived! I recently mentioned that I was enrolled in the Peanut Butter of the Month Club as a birthday present from my sister. Needless to say, I was excited. The shipment took a while to get here because of 2 unfavorably-falling weekends and 1 liar of a delivery man who claimed delivery at a time that I was home and waiting. Either way, it’s here! Those two glorious jars above battled it out for my approval, but in the end, there was one clear winner.
The “subscription” my sister got me was for 2 jars every other month for a year. This time around I got Naturally Nutty brand Butter Toffee Peanut Butter and Sunland Raspberry Peanut Butter Spread. When I received the package, there was oil all over the box and it turns out the Butter Toffee Peanut Butter had leaked. The resulting peanut butter is probably a bit drier than it should be and it had some odd looking spots on top, although that didn’t stop me from eating some. The customer service at Amazing Clubs was very helpful when I emailed them about the shipment. They responded within a day and immediately sent out a replacement jar. They also have about 50 other clubs from wine and beer to teddy bear and dog treat clubs.
The package came with a background on the two peanut butter companies, a description of the flavors and a recipe for each one: Butter Toffee Peanut Butter Fudge and Raspberry Peanut Butter Popcorn. I didn’t try these recipes but I did use the peanut butters in a few of my own ways. Read on for ingredients, nutrition facts and the taste test results!
Raspberry Peanut Butter Spread (12oz, $5.00)
Ingredients: Roasted Valencia Peanuts, Sugar, Raspberry Compound (Raspberry, Sucrose, Dextrose, Fructose, Food Acids, Pectin, Natural Flavor), Palm Oil, Salt, Modified Corn Starch.
Nutrition Facts: Serving Size 2 Tbsp (32g)
Calories: 190
Fat Cal. 120
Total Fat: 13g
Sat Fat: 3g
Cholest: 0mg
Sodium: 80mg
Total Carb: 11g
Fiber: 1g
Sugars: 9g
Protein: 6g
The first thing that struck me about this peanut butter was that it was called a peanut butter spread. Perhaps it’s because, as you can tell from the ingredients, that there is quite a bit of added sugar in this peanut butter concoction and it shows. The raspberry taste is strong and it’s very sugary, a little too much for me. But the raspberry flavor is strange, it tastes very artificial and is almost a little sickening when mixed with the sugar. Not that this peanut butter is terrible, I just wouldn’t buy it again. I read a review of various peanut butter flavors and the reviewer noted that all fruit-flavored peanut butter, regardless of brand, had a artificial and weak taste to them and were not desirable.
There is some discrepancy between the jar I got and the one listed on Sunland’s website. They show a 16oz plastic jar instead of the 12oz glass one I received. Either way I don’t need 16oz of this peanut butter, 12oz is plenty. Other than eating it on a spoon, I added it to my morning oatmeal and was surprised at how much better it tasted than by itself. With a sliced banana and some cinnamon added the oatmeal was pretty tasty. Overall, a decent peanut butter but not one to write home about.
Butter Toffee Peanut Butter (15oz, $6.75)
Ingredients: Dry Roasted Unsalted U.S.A. Peanuts, Butter Toffee U.S.A. Peanuts (butter, sugar, salt), Organic Flax Seed, Organic Hemp Seed, Organic Palm Fruit Oil.
Right away this peanut butter has a lightly sweet taste, partially due to the flax seed. The perfect amount of toffee flavor and a small amount of sugar make this a very appealing peanut butter. It is similar in taste to honey roasted peanut butter but with a slight caramel twist. This no-stir peanut butter does not need to be refrigerated because of the palm oil, the same method used by Peanut Butter & Co to prevent oil separation.
I used this peanut butter in several ways. I added it to my morning oatmeal along with a banana and it was much better than the raspberry version. I also spread it atop my world-renowned Banana Pancakes and they were scrumptious! It’s also pretty tasty when simply eaten with a banana.
The motto of Naturally Nutty is “Handcrafted for Health and Happiness”, a statement they fully live up to. Apparently, it’s their best selling peanut butter and according to them: “Watch out…you will get hooked!” I agree.
Overall:
The king of this round and the clear winner is the Butter Toffee Peanut Butter, placed high on the pedestal above. Peanut butter of the month club, who woulda thought? Perfect present really, especially for The Peanut Butter Boy. Thanks sis!