Moscow Food Co-op Food ReviewAlmond Butter
by Vicki Reich, from the January 2006 Newsletter
If there is one food that is ubiquitous to the natural food store, it’s almond butter. Of all the nut butters out there, it is my favorite. I think about it as a decadent treat but in reality it’s an incredibly healthy snack or replacement for peanut butter. There’s been lots of information in the news lately about the health benefits of eating almonds. I can’t think of a much better, not to mention more fun, way to get in your daily serving of almonds than with a tablespoon or two of almond butter. Mix it with honey on your toast in the morning, have an AB&J sandwich for lunch, spread it on a banana for an afternoon snack, or use it in place of peanut butter in a sauce recipe for dinner. The possibilities are endless.
The question really isn’t whether or not you are going have some almond butter; the question is which one to have. We carry three brands of jarred almond butter and the almond butter you can grind fresh in the bulk section. All three brands come in creamy and crunchy and all have no added salt. Maranatha has both an organic and a natural variety. There’s even a new addition from Maranatha with honey already added to it (although I didn’t include it in the test).
For the taste test, I chose to sample the creamy varieties because, well, I like creamy better. Once again my testing panel consisted of the members of the Hog Heaven Handspinners. I sprung the taste test on them and when I asked if they were excited to do a taste test, they all asked what they had to taste (the mayonnaise taste test, even though it was over a year ago, was still on their minds). Everyone was excited when I said it was almond butter.
Here’s what we thought about the five almond butters we sampled.
Maranatha Creamy Natural Almond Butter ($10.75 for 16 oz.) looked a little runny but I think that was due to my poor stirring job. It smelled good with a good roasted scent. We thought it would do well in a sauce. Some of us thought it had a full roasted flavor but some found it cloying. It had a sweet aftertaste but it dried out your mouth kind of like peanut skins will do. It was very smooth but a bit oily. None of us were head over heals for this one.
Maranatha Creamy Organic Almond Butter ($13.95 for 16 oz.) had a good texture and smell. It had a little bit of crunch. It was nuttier and less drying than its natural cousin and had a nice aftertaste. Mary said it tasted like almond oil. But Sarah S. said it had a fresh cracked nut flavor. This almond butter was better received that the first one.
Kettle Roaster Fresh Almond Butter ($4.95 for 11 oz.) had a good almond smell to it. Some of the testers thought it was too sticky but others really liked the texture. It had a subtle almond flavor and was the blandest of the lot. I think it would very kid friendly but if you were after that really almondy flavor, this would not be your best choice.
Zinke Creamy Almond Butter ($9.19 for 16 oz.) had a good texture and the best smell of all of the ones we sampled. It had a strong roasted almond flavor and was evenly ground giving it really good mouth appeal. It tasted like you were eating almonds. It was definitely a favorite.
Bulk Organic Almond Butter ($13.95/lb) was very stiff and dry. It would be good for hiking since it wouldn’t ooze out of your sandwich while it was in your pack. Sarah W. said eating it had the consistency of chewing gum and that it had a lot of texture. We all thought it would be great mixed with honey or spread on a banana or incorporated with something else to thin it out a bit. It was the driest and least oily of all the butters we tried. Laura thought it tasted like it was the one that was most recently an almond. It was also a favorite.
There was not a clear winner between the Zinke and the bulk fresh ground almond butter. All the ones we tasted were good but those two were definitely the best. As always, it comes down to personal preferences. But one thing was clear, we all liked almond butter and, man, is it filling.
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