![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_5889-300x225.jpg\" "\\"IMG_5889\\"")
<\/p>\nSince peanut butter, long America\u2019s favorite lunchbox spread, has been banned from many schools because of allergies, alternatives have stepped in to fill the void.<\/p>\n
Candidates for the other half of the jelly sandwich are nut, legume, and seed butters, often toasted first to enhance the flavors, then crushed into a paste. From there, ingredients such as oil, sugar, salt, and emulsifiers are added to make the paste edible and spreadable. They are all a good source of protein, ranging from 7 to 10 grams per 2 tablespoons (peanut butter has 7 grams).<\/p>\n
We tasted an array of spreads and butters made from almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, soybeans, and hemp, along with Biscoff Spread, a European import made from 57 percent Biscoff cookies, and advertised as a \u201cEuropean alternative to peanut butter.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tasters smeared the butters and spreads on plain crackers and took bites of apple as palate cleansers<\/p>\n
.![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/IMG_5825-300x225.jpg\" "\\"IMG_5825\\"")
<\/p>\n
We weren\u2019t thrilled with any of the choices. I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter came out ahead of the group, grudgingly we thought. Manitoba\u2019s Hemp Seed Butter garnered the most negative superlatives: \u201cnastiest\u2019\u2019 and \u201cugliest\u2019\u2019 among them.<\/p>\n
The group had a collective grimace from start to finish.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We suspect that a thick (very thick) layer of jelly would surely help put a grin on these faces.<\/p>\n
Biscoff Spread<\/strong><\/p>\n $3 for 14 ounces<\/em><\/p>\n This European spread is basically crushed cookies with sugar and oil. One of the tasters pegged it, except she didn\u2019t get the cookie correct. \u201cTastes like it has crushed graham crackers. Is this s\u2019more butter? Your child would love you for packing this in a lunch, because it tastes like dessert.\u2019\u2019 \u201cMolasses-sweet and smooth. I would use this to dip an apple.\u2019\u2019 Many guessed it was Nutella-like (hazelnuts and chocolate). \u201cChocolate-y, sweet, smooth chemical taste. Too sweet. Kids would like this.\u2019\u2019 \u201cThe color is unattractive.\u2019\u2019 And: \u201cThis tastes like liquid candy.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter Creamy<\/strong> (WINNER)<\/p>\n $4.99 for 15 ounces<\/em><\/p>\n Who thought roasted soybeans could be so unidentifiable? For the record, this is a legume butter, no soy nuts (that is the company\u2019s fanciful term). This butter got noticed for its spreadability and similarity to peanut butter. Everyone took a guess at what it was made with and none were correct. \u201cThis sticky tan spread adheres to all surfaces equally, the knife, a cracker, or your tongue. Its sculptable consistency coats your palate with a smooth sweet and salty peanut butter-like flavor.\u2019\u2019 \u201cHints of pumpkin. It is really thick – too thick.\u2019\u2019 \u201cSunflower seed? It might be greatly enhanced with jelly.\u2019\u2019 Two thought the sweet taste might come from honey. It\u2019s actually from maltodextrin and granulated cane juice.<\/p>\n Earth Balance Natural Almond Butter and Flaxseed Creamy<\/strong><\/p>\n $8.89 for 10 ounces<\/em><\/p>\n Almost all comments were favorable, but only one taster chose it as the favorite. Flavor got good marks but texture was mixed: \u201cThis makes me really happy after all the others. This might be almond butter or some nut. It sticks to the roof of my mouth.\u2019\u2019 Another guessed correctly: \u201cRoasted almond? Seems stiff when you spoon it out, but pleasant taste. Would be good on a sandwich with a ripe banana or spread on apple or celery. The only one I would buy.\u2019\u2019 \u201cSalty in a very good way. Good substitute for peanut butter.\u2019\u2019 Another: \u201cWhat a relief! The most peanut butter-like in appearance, but not as satisfying.\u2019\u2019 And: \u201cNow we are talking. We are back among the living. Creamy, would work nicely in a dan dan mien noodle dish [Chinese sesame sauce noodles]. Nice alternative to peanut butter.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Manitoba Harvest Hemp Seed Butter<\/strong><\/p>\n $9.99 for 10 ounces<\/em><\/p>\n Unanimous that this was least favorite; many comments are unprintable. It is hard to reconcile that the sweet light colored seeds that get sprinkled on yogurt and salads turn into this: \u201cHippie paste, suitable for only deeply committed vegans.\u2019\u2019 \u201cThis simply surpasses all expectations of nasty.\u2019\u2019 \u201cGrass seed?\u2019\u2019 \u201cAlgae and millet or sesame seed?\u2019\u2019 \u201cTastes like fermented hay.\u2019\u2019 \u201cVile!\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n MaraNatha All Natural Roasted Cashew Butter Creamy<\/strong><\/p>\n $5.99 for 8 ounces<\/em><\/p>\n Three tasters guessed that the nut was cashew and one chose it as a favorite. This entry got many suggestions for potential uses. \u201cLight in color and not too grainy. Naturally sweet from the cashew. I would like this with grated carrots and avocado on a sandwich.\u2019\u2019 Another suggestion: \u201cCould be used as a pasta sauce with sauteed garlic, roasted red pepper, and onions; thin with broth.\u2019\u2019 Many noted a distracting oily consistency: \u201cBarely edible.\u2019\u2019 \u201cSmell and texture is nasty.\u2019\u2019 \u201cAlthough this butter is flavorful, it is thick and oily.\u2019\u2019 One thought it would make a \u201cgood dip or be good in baking. But it sticks to the roof of my mouth.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n SunButter Natural Sunflower Seed Spread<\/strong><\/p>\n $3.99 for 16 ounces<\/em><\/p>\n Many tasters thought the texture of this spread was thin. \u201cLooser than the other spreads. Roasted sunflower butter with a little honey? Salted perfectly.\u2019\u2019 (Not honey, but dehydrated cane syrup is the second ingredient.) \u201cSweet and slippery and enduring in its taste sensation, but the oily substance seems more suited to being a lubricant. The aftertaste is unappealing.\u2019\u2019 \u201cSmooth and flowing, nice looking but odd sweet chemical taste. Not good.\u2019\u2019 \u201cThis has an oily smell. Sunflower? This might be edible in small doses, perhaps on celery.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Since peanut butter, long America\u2019s favorite lunchbox spread, has been banned from many schools because of allergies, alternatives have stepped in to fill the void.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131,83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-boston-globe","category-taste-kitchen-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2813"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2821,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2813\/revisions\/2821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"