As many of you may know, I grew up in the fine state of Alabama, the nation’s third largest producer of peanuts. Indeed, in Alabama peanuts are about as prevalent as confederate flags and cheese grits.

Accordingly, memories of my childhood included shelves lined with this stuff:

While I have long since discovered the joys of natural peanut butter, it wasn’t until recently that I introduced to a spiffy, healthified version:

Upon my first taste of Naturally Nutty peanut butter, I realized that in the peanut butter world, there is much more beyond Bama.

Naturally Nutty is the producer of a variety of natural and organic nut butters—not just peanut butter. All Naturally Nutty products are enhanced with organic flax and organic hemp seeds, making them even more nutritious than your typical natural nut butter. Plus, they’re available in several unique flavors…read on for my thoughts on three such flavors.

White Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter

In the midst of my usual foodie ponderings, I’ve always declared that I would someday create a peanut butter featuring hints of coconut. Apparently, the nut butter gods have answered my prayers and created said concoction for me, in the form of Naturally Nutty’s White Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter.

I generally liked this flavor, but there are a few tweaks I would suggest. See below for the full details:

• The sweet factor. I found this flavor to be intensely sweet—a bit too sweet, if such a thing is possible. Organic cane sugar is among the ingredients list.
• Perfect texture. Requires no refrigeration and maintained a flawless consistency and meltability.
• More coconut, please. The flavor profile was decidedly more white chocolate than coconut. I was tempted to mix in a bit of my beloved coconut butter for extra tropical taste.
• Where’s the V? You won’t find the certified vegan symbol on this flavor due to its inclusion of powdered dry milk.

Nutrition:

Serving Suggestion:

Naturally Nutty Sunflower Butter

It’s no secret that I am a big fan of Sunbutter—I mean, who wouldn’t love liquid sunflower seeds? Nonetheless, I am always open to trying new brands of my favorite products.

In the battle between Sunbutter and Naturally Nutty’s Sunflower Butter, I’d say it’s a tie:

• Just a touch of sweetness. Unlike Sunbutter, whose second ingredient is sugar, Naturally Nutty’s version lists organic evaporated cane juice as its last ingredient. This relative reduction in sugar translates into a subtle sweetness that delights the tastebuds.
• Texture fail. Unfortunately, this variety fails in the texture department—it is a bit clay-like in that it never melts. despite being plopped atop a steaming bowl of oats. Compare:

• Nutrition mystery. While the Naturally Nutty website lists its ingredients, full nutritional information is not available for this variety.

Serving Suggestions:

Naturally Nutty Vanilla Almond Butter

I like vanilla, and I love almonds. This flavor was bound to be a hit…and indeed it was. Vanilla Almond Butter=Joy-in-a-Jar.

This flavor was by far my favorite—so much so that I have yet to finish it because I want to savor every last lick of my sample jar. Here are the details on this culinary masterpiece:

• A dynamic duo. There’s a reason that so many cereals, desserts, and indulgent beverages feature vanilla and almonds together—they combine to make one heavenly flavor. Naturally Nutty’s pairing of this dynamic duo is no exception; I declare it seriously addictive.
• A+ Meltability. Clearly, nut butter texture is important to me, and this variety gets an A+ on this dimension. Just liquidy enough for maximum spreadability yet maintains a lovely thickness.
• Clean Eating Appropriate. Despite the deceptively sweet taste, there are very few added sugars in this product. The ingredients are simply almonds, flax, hemp seeds, vanilla powder, and palm fruit oil, and the vanilla powder includes a small amount of organic sucrose.
• Protein deficient. While a typical two-tablespoon serving of almond butter contains 8 grams of protein, this version has only 6 grams.

Nutrition:

Serving Suggestions:

General thoughts on Naturally Nutty

-I like that their nut butters are no-stir/low-stir, and don’t require refrigeration.

-The inclusion of palm fruit oil is less than optimal. Not to be confused with the highly saturated palm kernel oil, palm fruit oil is relatively healthful, with approximately 50% saturated and 50% unsaturated fats. Still, I would prefer that my nut butters contain little to no added oils.

-There is so much variety and creativity in terms of flavor choices, I can try a new flavor every time I order!

-At $6-10$ per 15 oz jar, I predict that these nut butters will be an occasional indulgence rather than a pantry staple.

What’s your favorite nut butter these days?

Filed under: Product Review