Both of our organic peanut butters are made the traditional way from one ingredient: peanuts. Everything else about the choice between them comes down to texture, and texture decides what each does best in the kitchen. This guide explains how they are made, how they differ, and when to reach for which jar.
How they are made
We use high oleic American peanuts, toast them and stone mill them slowly, keeping a hint of the red skin. That adds a distinctive flavour and a satisfying texture to every spoonful.
The phrase "high oleic" describes the oil. Oleic acid is a fatty acid with fewer double bonds in its chemistry than linoleic acid, and the American Society of Agronomy explains that fats with fewer double bonds last longer before turning rancid. Peanuts bred to be rich in oleic acid can therefore have a much longer shelf life, which matters in a butter that contains nothing but peanuts. Peanuts themselves are legumes, not nuts. Encyclopaedia Britannica describes the plant as a member of the pea family, and the Oxford University Herbaria profile says the pods ripen underground over three to four months.
A short history
Peanut butter has no single inventor. The National Peanut Board notes early references to the Incas and Aztecs grinding roasted peanuts into a paste. Marcellus Gilmore Edson patented a peanut paste in 1884, Dr John Harvey Kellogg a method using raw peanuts in 1895, and Dr Ambrose Straub a peanut butter machine in 1903.
Smooth vs crunchy
- Organic Smooth Peanut Butter is creamy and spoonable, ideal for sauces, smoothies and baking.
- Organic Crunchy Peanut Butter has roasted peanut halves added for crunch, great on toast, with fruit or on its own.
The difference is not in the base: both start as the same stone-milled butter with a touch of the red skin. The crunchy jar simply has roasted peanut halves added. Their nutrition per 100g is the same.
When to use which
Choose smooth when the butter needs to disappear into something. Because it blends evenly, it suits satay and noodle sauces, smoothies, porridge and overnight oats, and baking, where it mixes through cookie and brownie batter without leaving lumps.
Choose crunchy when you want to feel the peanuts. Spread it on toast with banana or sliced apple, spoon it into a sandwich, or swirl it over yoghurt for texture. Crunchy also works as a topping on flapjacks and energy balls.
If you cook with crunchy, expect the pieces to stay as pieces. That is wonderful in a cookie and less welcome in a pourable sauce.
Cannot decide? Keep one of each: smooth for the saucepan and the baking tin, crunchy for the toast rack and the lunchbox sandwich. The ingredients list is identical, 100% organic peanuts, so there is nothing else to weigh up.
Ideas
- Stir into porridge or overnight oats.
- Blend into smoothies and sauces.
- Spread on toast with banana.
- Use in cookies, brownies and energy balls.
- Whisk into a satay or noodle sauce.
A quick satay sauce
Whisk 3 tbsp smooth peanut butter with the juice of a lime, a crushed garlic clove and 1 tbsp soy sauce. Add warm water a tablespoon at a time, whisking, until the sauce pours from the spoon. Taste, and add a pinch of chilli if you like heat. Spoon it over grilled vegetables, noodles or rice.
Stirring and storing
Natural peanut butter has no added stabilisers, so the peanuts' own oils separate and rise to the top of the jar. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency states that this is completely natural and does not pose a health risk. To mix it back in, stir the oil into the butter, or store the jar upside down for a while and turn it the right way up once the oil has collected at the bottom. Store in a cool, dry place and use within 3 months of opening.
Good to know
Per 100g: 25g protein and 8.7g fibre. Ingredients: 100% organic peanuts. The oil may separate naturally, so stir before eating. Gluten, dairy and soy free, and suitable for vegans and vegetarians.
Allergens
Contains peanuts. May contain traces of tree nuts. Peanuts and tree nuts are both among the 14 allergens that must be declared on food in the UK, and the NHS lists peanuts among the foods that most commonly cause allergic reactions.
Sources
- American Society of Agronomy: high oleic peanuts and shelf life
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Peanut
- Oxford University Herbaria: Arachis hypogaea profile
- National Peanut Board: Who invented peanut butter?
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency: Separation of oil in natural peanut butter
- NHS: Food allergy
- GOV.UK: Allergen labelling for food manufacturers
