Tag: peanut butter

Nutty about nut butters!

I have always been a fan of peanut butter- still love it in sandwiches, wraps, baking, spread on an apple….

But over the last few years I have branched out and tried all different types of nut butters, so here are a few that I have tried:

Carley’s Organic Rainforest Nut Butter

I found this in my health food shop, but I have seen it online (possible at planet organic). It is made from (organic) brazils, cashews and macadamias, with no added salt or oil or anything. It does not look that appetising- it is quite pale in colour, but it has a lovely subtle, creamy taste. I like the jar because as well as the usual calories and fat it also lists the amount of omega 9 (3.9g) and omega 6 (2.3) oils, calcium (18.1mg), zinc (0.6mg) and selenium (184 micrograms) in a 15g serving. Useful info indeed. And seriously, this stuff is delicious!!!

10/10 cherries

Meridian Almond Butter

This is made of roasted almonds (99.5%) and salt (0.5%), no added oil or anything else. This is very “bitty”- you can see the tiny pieces of almond in it, but is is also quite runny and easy to spread. I think it goes really well on wholemeal toast, or spread on an apple. It is not my favourite flavour, but it is delicious. The oil seperates out quite easily but it does mix back in.

8/10 cherries

Meridian Hazelnut Butter

This stuff is amazing! It is quite thick and hard to spread, but it tastes so good. Hazelnuts go so well with sweet things, and this is no exception.

9/10 cherries

Meridian Cashew Butter

I first got this in Sainbury’s but since then I have only seen almond butter in their stores. It is in Holland and Barrett, other health food shops and online so easy enough to get hold of.

It is really thick and quite hard to spread thinly, so I always end up with a blob of it instead of a smooth spread. But it tastes amazing, very creamy (as raw cashew nuts do). If it was easier to spread it would be perfect.

9/10 cherries

Peanut Butter & Co Dark Chocolate Dreams

This is a treat for sure! It is made up of peanuts, cane juice, cocoa powder and butter, oil, vanilla and salt, so not as pure as the other nut butters. I waa glad when I checked their website that their palm oil is from sustainable plantations, as I am trying to make sure I am thinking about making ethical food choices. I got it from www.americansweets.co.uk along with some pumpkin puree and a few other bits. It is lovely- chocolate and peanut butter are such a good combo- I have had it in a pitta bread with some sliced banana and that was so good. It would also be amazing on ice cream! I am making the jar last as long as possible! It is very runny so you don’t need much to spread around.

I may attempt at making my own once it has run out as it was expensive to order and probably I could add some cocoa powder and maybe agave (to make it more runny) to some smooth PB.

10/10 cherries

Whole Earth Smooth Original Peanut Butter with no added sugar

This only has peanuts, palm oil (from RSPO member) and salt as ingredients.

I wish it didnt have the salt though. I find the crunchy whole earth really salty, but this is not as bad. It is smooth, but you can see little flecks of dark in it (like when you have vanilla ice cream with bits of pod in it)- shows it is made from real peanuts. It is much less oily than some other brands, nice and thick for a smooth spread.

9/10 cherries (it would get 10/10 if it was free from salt)

Whole Earth Crunchy Hazelnut Chocolate Spread

Nutella has nothing on this!  Imagine Nutella, but with lovely chunks of hazelnut throughout and you end up with this! Again not the healthiest, but lovely for a treat, plus the palm oil at least is more ethical.

9/10 cherries

Meridian Crunchy Peanut Butter

This is very chunky indeed- the chunkiest ever peanut butter! It is very thick- the oil seperates out naturally and can be stirred back in, and I find it quite hard to spread on toast or bread. I tend to use this if I am baking because it adds a lovely chunky texture to cookies. Real peanut flavour too. I like that is has no sugar and no added salt (again why it is good in sweet things).

9/10 cherries

Peanut butter raisin chocolate cookies

Yesterday evening I decided to do some baking and fancied half peanut butter cookie, and half oatmeal raisin. So I have combined and changed my fave recipes to make a brand new one!

Here it is: Peanut butter, chocolate and raisin cookies.

Put 100g raisins in a cup and soak in water while you make the mixture.

Preheat the oven to 170C.

In a bowl mix 110g butter (or spread) with 100g golden caster sugar and 100g soft brown sugar, beat together until creamy.

Add one egg, 1tsp vanilla extract and 120g crunchy peanut butter. Beat together.

Then sift in 175g wholegrain spelt flour (I love this in cookies), 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda and mix well.

Then mix in 75g chopped dark chocolate (optional but so tasty) and the raisins (drain the water off first).

Put blobs of the mixture on a baking tray (I like to put on greaseproof paper first)- this recipe makes around 20 cookies.

Then bake in the oven for about 13-15 minutes until they are starting to go brown.

The paler they are the chewier they will be once cooled.

Leave them on the tray for a couple of minutes, then gently move to a wire rack to cool completely.

The cookies are so yummy- they went well with a cup of tea after a walk yesterday evening.

New running kit + palm oil free peanut butter

Today I was originally going to go on an 11 mile run (my longest before my next half marathon), but the weather was forecast to be raining and I didn’t fancy a 2 hour run in the rain, so I have put it back to tomorrow. When I woke up it hadn’t started raining so I had a 2.5 mile run before breakfast. I have not done a pre-breakfast run for ages, and had forgotten how much I like them (as long as they are short). Running when the world is waking up is a nice feeling, plus getting home, having a shower and having a breakfast before most people are up watching TV in their PJ’s is so satisfying. Plus you get that post-exercise feeling all day. Great!

I managed it in just under 26 minutes (partly due to there being no traffic about so I didn’t have to stop at all, and probably partly due to the hungry feeling getting bigger!) plus it didn’t rain until I was back home-bonus! I also got to try out my new running top- it’s a Nike vest from here: http://www.sheactive.co.uk/item_detail.html?&itemno=7128&type=brand&group=00000070 and it was fab! I like sleeveless tops and the ones I have are getting a bit stiff from all the washing now, so I have been replacing them. I normally buy one, and then get another one if I like the fit, but the last one I found that I liked (a Ron hill one) went out of stock once I had the first one- so annoying! I am a bit fussy with running tops; I like sleeveless ones, but I don’t like high necks, halter necks or funny racer back styles, or v-necks (so basically normal scoop vest tops) and also I do like proper fabric and not cotton. Anyway as soon as I had tried it I went to order another one and guess what…. They are already out of blue in my size, so I ordered a pink one instead. It’s not a colour I would usually choose for running in (clashes with my red face!) but I can match everyone else at the Race for Life.

I have been working most of the rest of the day, plus reading loads of other blogs as distractions (seriously writing reports is such a boring thing to do!). I saw chocolate covered Katie has been again raving about coconut butter here; http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2010/05/28/chocolate-fat-and-a-giveaway/#comments and she is even giving away some of it. It looks so amazing, I have been searching for it online but can’t find it for UK delivery (I found a few and they turned out to be coconut body butter- not edible!). I am not sure what looks nicer, the normal coconut or the one with added chocolate. Maybe the normal one looks more versatile (would add nice flavour to plain yoghurt) but the chocolate one looks so good, it is all ready to be spread on hot toast or crumpets.

Speaking of crumpets I had a nice lunch today; 2 crumpets each with a dollop of almond butter (ah meridian I have missed your products recently) and a little blob of cherry spread- sort of like bakewell flavour! I love PB and cherry spread, and decided to try the almond butter instead. Result- a new combo that I will be having again.

I also had a pear sprinkled with cinnamon which is also super tasty.

After that I popped to the shops, one of the items I needed was peanut butter (love that healthy fat) but I was disappointed to see that Sainsbury’s own brand normal stuff has palm oil in it. Palm oil production has been credited for a lot of rainforest destruction, and so I try to only buy it in products which list they are from sustainable plantations (such as in Nairn’s oatcakes as oppose to most own brand oat cakes). The Tesco’s stuff has sunflower oil instead, and my fave stuff is Meridian peanut butter as it has only peanuts and a sprinkle of salt (they also do a no added salt one which is just peanuts), no oil added at all. The only trouble is that it is hard to get hold of (usually order online or get it from Holland and Barrett but I don’t go there that often, and don’t like paying for postage so I tend to save up items and order a big bunch of stuff all at once. Also Whole Earth only use palm oil from sustainable sources so that is another brand I am ok with. Anyway I am glad I read the ingredients as I don’t like wasting food but I would not have been pleased to have bought it. Especially as Sainsbury’s are increasing their things like Fairtrade products I would have expected them to make ethical food choices for all their products. I think I might contact them to see what they have to say about it.

For dinner this evening I have made a pizza, (basic dough) spread with red pesto, then sprinkled on chopped yellow pepper, sliced courgette and some light mozzarella. It is in the oven now and I can’t wait because I am starving! It will be served with a huge salad, complete with balsamic dressing and flax oil (another healthy fat). Yum.

I am trying to drink more water again this evening, and will have a nice walk later if it stops raining.

Healthy fats

Healthy fats;

I was reading on another blog (www.chocolatecoveredKatie.com – she makes some tasty looking recipes) about celebrating healthy fats during her so-called “hug-a-fat” month. So I have decided to rave about one of my favourite healthy fats…..you guessed it- peanut butter!

Peanut butter does contain fat, but the huge majority (80%) is unsaturated and it has no trans fat at all! Some research has shown that the fats in peanut butter also help to lower blood cholesterol levels.

As well as all those good fats which are great for skin, hair, nails, it also contains Vitamin E, folic acid and niacin. As vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin it only appears in fats, and needs fat to be absorbed by your body. So it is a win-win situation!

Now although I love PB as it is healthy, I mainly love it because it tastes so good! I love it in cookies (replace butter with PB for delicious cookies- see my previous review on the best recipe), I love it in PB&J sandwiches (or wraps), I love it on a crumpet (maybe with a dollop of cherry spread too), I love it in Trek peanut butter bars, I love it in home-made cereal bars, I love it spread on a pink lady apple….

I love peanut butter!

So there is me hugging (well, raving about) my favourite fat! Hooray for hug-a-fat month!

Coincidentally (actually not quite) I had for lunch hazelnut butter on wholemeal bread (also some good fat so it links that way!).

I am so glad it is Friday, I have an 11 mile run planned tomorrow, but the route I did last week I didn’t really like so am going to be getting on www.mapometer.com to plan a new one.

Randomly I was sent a coupon (for my birthday) from Alpro soya. I have no idea how they knew it was my birthday, I must have signed up to something before. Anyhoo, I got some of those dessert pots (like custard really) as I have tried the yoghurts before and am not keen on the weird flavour- can’t put my finger on it but they tasted strange. So I have a new fave dessert; one pot of dark chocolate Alpro, 80g blueberries (on reflection cherries would be nicer but I had blueberries) and half a pack of Bear Granola Nibbles- Cocoa Cherry Pie flavour. It was so delicious, the granola added the perfect crunch, chewy bits of cherry added a nice chewiness and sweetness. I also have the apple crunch flavour which I think would be lovely with the caramel dessert, and maybe a cooked apple too.

My plans for the weekend (once I have done my work) include more planting, a trip to London and maybe some oatmeal raisin cookies.

Peanut butter cookies

This evening I was looking though my Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook hoping for inspiration. I fancied cookies, and came across the recipe for peanut butter cookies- heaven! The recipes in the book are rather generous; I halved the recipe and still made 20 (fair sized) cookies. The entire recipe was supposed to make 24! I also added some chopped white chocolate as well as dark chocolate, as white chocolate goes so well with peanut butter. I also used wholegrain spelt flour (from Doves Farm) instead of normal flour and that seems to give them a more wholesome flavour. I think wholemeal things go with peanut butter anyway. When they first went in the oven they puffed up massively, but by the time they came out they were lovely and flat, and are really chewy and delicious (even if I do say so myself!). I will definitely be making them again. Am going to see if I can freeze them as I didn’t think I would end up with that many!