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6 alternatives for the p in pb&j

Taste Kitchen

THIS STORY APPEARED IN

February 22, 2012|By Debra Samuels

(WENDY MAEDA/GLOBE STAFF )

Since peanut butter, long America’s favorite lunchbox spread, has been banned from many schools because of allergies, alternatives have stepped in to fill the void.

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).

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 “European alternative to peanut butter.’’ Tasters smeared the butters and spreads on plain crackers and took bites of apple as palate cleansers.

We weren’t thrilled with any of the choices. I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter came out ahead of the group, grudgingly we thought. Manitoba’s Hemp Seed Butter garnered the most negative superlatives: “nastiest’’ and “ugliest’’ among them.

The group had a collective grimace from start to finish. We suspect that a thick (very thick) layer of jelly would surely help put a grin on these faces.

Biscoff Spread

$3 for 14 ounces

This European spread is basically crushed cookies with sugar and oil. One of the tasters pegged it, except she didn’t get the cookie correct. “Tastes like it has crushed graham crackers. Is this s’more butter? Your child would love you for packing this in a lunch, because it tastes like dessert.’’ “Molasses-sweet and smooth. I would use this to dip an apple.’’ Many guessed it was Nutella-like (hazelnuts and chocolate). “Chocolate-y, sweet, smooth chemical taste. Too sweet. Kids would like this.’’ “The color is unattractive.’’ And: “This tastes like liquid candy.’’

I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter Creamy (WINNER)

$4.99 for 15 ounces

Who thought roasted soybeans could be so unidentifiable? For the record, this is a legume butter, no soy nuts (that is the company’s 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. “This 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.’’ “Hints of pumpkin. It is really thick - too thick.’’ “Sunflower seed? It might be greatly enhanced with jelly.’’ Two thought the sweet taste might come from honey. It’s actually from maltodextrin and granulated cane juice.