If it’s like our current selection (Peter Pan, Jif or Skippy) then it’s out of kilter, full of hydrogenated vegetable oils and sugar. I have purchased all-natural peanut butter in the past but got so tired of stirring it every time I wanted a toasted PB&J (yes, I like to toast my bread first and then spread the PB&J–makes for a totally ooey gooey yummy sandwich) that I soon went back to the old aforementioned favorites. When we put it in the refrigerator the peanut butter would become unspreadable and tear holes in our wimpy low-cal bread. And did I mention my kids didn’t like the taste? With four kids I tend to  pick my battles and peanut butter just wasn’t one of them.

Then along came Earth Balance and their line of award-winning Natural Spreads (award-winning for taste, mind you). The 100% natural, nutritionally beneficial ingredients of their spreads are of the highest quality but they have also won The American Culinary Institute’s ChefBest Award for Best Taste (that same award you see on the side of some Dreyer’s “healthier” ice creams). Like many of you, I’m big on how my food tastes so I wanted to see if Earth Balance’s Natural Peanut Butter in both creamy and crunchy would pass my kids’ taste test. But that wasn’t all I was interested in. The “no stir” graphic emlazoned in the upper right corner caught my attention as well. A no-stir all-natural peanut butter? Was it really possible?

Well, yes and no. We received our Earth Balance peanut butters and broke open the crunchy version first. It had a little oil on the top which we did have to stir in, but it took a lot less muscle than your typical all-natural jar of peanut butter. And once mixed in it only required a quick and easy stir or two when we opened the jar for the next PB&honey. No biggie since I tend to stir the non-oily versions anyway. As for the taste, the crunchy passed everyone’s taste test but my oldest wasn’t a big fan of the creamy. She IS my pickiest eater so I wasn’t surprised. I thought both tasted great and much better than that all-natural brand I’ve tried in the past.

So it tastes great, doesn’t require much in the way of stirring and is made from all-natural ingredients. sounds pretty good, but what sounds even better is Earth Balance’s proprietary blend of expeller-pressed oils, which actually helps increase good cholesterol while lowering bad. Oh, and it’s also rich in Omega-3’s, free of GMO’s, gluten, trans fats, hydrogenated oils and artificial ingredients. So maybe Earth Balance’s peanut butters are a bit out of balance as well, but in a really, really good way.

Earth Balance also has a line of Buttery Spreads, including olive oil, vegan and organic options, and even Earth Balance shortening. Yes, heart-healthy shortening. We didn’t receive samples of those but I enjoyed the Earth Balance Peanut Butters so much I’m going to have to give their other Natural Spreads a try! –Emily

tags Earth Balance, Food, gluten, Health, nutrition, Peanut Butter

This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 10:51 pm and is filed under Daily Dish. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.