Cook Vegan — September 2017

O

nce upon a time, peanut

butter accompanied jelly in

sandwiches, and rare and

natural forms only found

their use in the diets of the serious

health enthusiasts. Fast forward to

2017, and nut butters are a staple in

the western world’s food cupboard.

Their variety has grown from the

traditional grounded roasted peanut

to a whole conglomerate of high

protein smooth and crunchy, salty or

sweet spreads making their way into

anything and everything edible. Toast,

cake, sauce, sandwiches, chocolate,

smoothies, cereal, seitan, salads, soups,

ice cream and milk — you name it.

Nut butters have been there, done that

and made it into millions of Instagram

post.

The wrong kind of nuttiness to

spread

Whilst there are zero rules to cooking

and consuming nut butters, there

is one element that needs to be

considered — natural nuttiness vs.

additive nut butters. The peanut

butter that has long lived on

supermarket shelves tends to feature

lots of added ingredients that aren’t

necessary unless you are in need of a

sugar/additive influx. For example,

don’t go dolloping American’s

beloved Reese’s peanut butter in

your health smoothie every morning

because that specific blend has added

monoglyceries (glycerol molecule) and

one fatty acid used as an emulsifier to

prevent ingredients from separating),

molasses (a sweetener obtained from

the process of converting sugarcane

or sugar beets into sugar that is

strongly flavoured and dark in colour),

vegetable oil and sugar.

The right kind of nuttiness

to consume

Differentially, natural nut butter

blends tend to feature three

ingredients that usually go along the

lines of the nut, coconut oil and salt.

And when it comes to opting for the

best nut butter blend you have to

treat it the way you do many things in

life — less is more. Mainly, because if

you’re looking to consume nut butters

for their nutritional worth as well as

their delicious flavours, opting for an

ingredient list with fewer ingredients

benefits your body more.

How you wonder? The unshelled

truth is nut spreads are often avoided

because of their high calorie and

fat content. Gradually over the past

few years many health conscious

individuals and nutritionist have come

to realise the perks of consuming nut

butters in moderation. Below, we’ve

stripped back each individual of the

natural nut butter gang to debunk the

debate that nut butter is bad for you.

Nutbutters

WHICH NUT DOES WHAT?

THE CLASSICS:

Peanut butter
With over 290.48 million of the American
population reporting last year to Statista in a
survey that they eat peanut butter, it’s evident
that peanut butter is the leader of the nut
butter pack. Providing you stick to an organic
brand that doesn’t sneak in hydrogenated oils
and added sugar and fats, peanut butter is a
high-protein snack rich in omega-3 fats and is
a carbohydrate that is easier burned off than
starchy kinds. You can add this classic nut butter
into sweet treats, or whip up a satay sauce if
you are on the clean eating band wagon. Dr Axe
recommends it is best consumed with Omega-3
foods. However, natural peanut butter comes
in many adaptations. Crunchy or smooth,
deep roasted or wild, in fact one brand has
added maple syrup into the mix to enhance
its naturally sweet flavours. (It tastes so good
you’ll probably end up spooning it out the jar —
whoops!)

Almond butter
This type of nut butter takes second place on
the nut butter popularity board. Made from
raw or roasted almonds, the nut is grounded
into a paste. (Some nut butter brands also
naturally sweeten it with coconut). The rise of
almond butter is arguably due to its substitution

purposes across multiple recipes. Add some

cacao to the nut butter and you suddenly have

thick, chocolatey nutty mixtures, perfect to top

cakes or pop in the freezer to create your own

home made chocolate. However, we cannot

avoid almond paste’s endless list of nutritional

benefits either. From being a high source of

protein that takes longer to digest, meaning

it’s a steadier source of energy, to positively

affecting insulin levels — many individuals who

are looking to lose weight may aid fat loss and

management by introducing this spread into

their diet in moderation. Plus, with high calcium

and copper content almond butter is believed to

keep your brain sharp and skeleton strong.

Cashew butter

Whether you fancy using cashew nut butter as

your smoothie bowl topper, or blended with

sweet potato and coconut to make a thick

creamy soup, its subtle taste makes it the most

versatile nut butter you can get your hands on.

However, it is also one of the most expensive.

Cashew nuts are actually the seeds of a cashew

apple which is the ‘fruit’ of a cashew tree.

The nut is sourced from the hard part of the

fruit that is highly poisonous so extracting

this fruit to be grounded into a spread can be

tricky, making it pull a little harder on your

purse strings. Although, cashew butter has

nutritional benefits like being jam-packed

with amino acids and healthy fats that

contribute to heart health, as well as being a

good source of magnesium; which is believed to

speed the metabolism and improve immunity.

This arguably makes the price worth it.

Hazelnut butter

Typically hazelnut butter has been mixed with

chocolate to create a chocolate hazelnut spread

(aka Nutella). Or, for the vegan version it’s often

mixed with cacao to create a dairy-free take on

the worldwide famous sweet treat. However,

the hazelnut butter alone is also a good nutty

spread to use in cooking or to simply use as a

sandwich spread. Whilst hazelnuts don’t hold

as high protein content as fellow nut butters,

it’s packed with energy boosting nutrients

plus vitamins and minerals like vitamin E,

magnesium, potassium, iron,

fibre and folate.