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Foods You're Allergic To - Alternative Options Part 2: Peanut Butter

  • thefoodallergyway
  • Aug 11, 2022
  • 5 min read

If you're allergic to peanuts, and seeking an alternative to peanut butter, this post is for you. Read below to learn more about the wide variety of peanut butter alternatives available.


As someone who had grown up eating peanut butter regularly, I was ecstatic that I had found a replacement so similar to peanut butter....

Replacing Peanut Butter

As in my previous post, “Foods You're Allergic To - Alternative Options Part 1: Cow's Milk”, this post focuses on replacing food allergens with foods you’re not allergic to. This time I'll discuss peanut butter, an American favorite that has gotten somewhat of a bad rap in recent years due to the increased prevalence of peanut allergy, especially amongst children, in which roughly 2% are affected and most will not grow out of as they reach adulthood. In my household, I experience the cumbersome nature of peanut allergy first hand. Not only do I have a mild peanut allergy according to my IgE panel (negative skin prick test), but my youngest child’s peanut allergy is pretty severe, according to both his IgE panel and positive skin prick test.


Peanuts and peanut butter aren’t altogether banned from my home, however, since my spouse and oldest son haven’t experienced adverse reactions when eating it and have exhibited no signs of peanut allergy. In fact, they’re free to consume all of the yummy peanut products they want without concern. When they consume peanut products around our youngest child, however, they do a great job of taking extra precaution to ensure the toddler doesn’t have an adverse reaction, which for him, may result in hives if it touches his skin, or worse if he ingests it. Primarily, they try to mitigate peanut exposure as much as possible by thoroughly washing their hands with soap and water, cleaning up any peanutty crumbs that may be lying around, and making sure the little one can’t reach foods high in peanut content. This can be a tricky, cumbersome process at times, since the little one doesn’t know any better, so I encourage my family to eat peanut butter alternatives when the toddler is around.


I was the first in my family diagnosed with peanut allergy, so I had the pleasure of venturing off to seek an alternative to peanut butter, preferably something that rivaled the American staple. Luckily for me it didn’t take too long, and I actually didn’t have to do much searching. Soon after my peanut allergy diagnosis, I can recall going to work and spotting a coworker eating from what I thought was a jar of peanut butter, so I paid her no mind. As soon as I walked past her she waved me in her direction; she had previously heard about my newly discovered peanut allergy, and suggested I try some of what she was having. To my surprise she wasn’t eating peanut butter, but was eating something called "sunflower seed butter", from the brand Sunbutter. She handed me a scoop on a plantain chip, I tasted it, and immediately I was blown away! This was it! The exact replacement I was looking for.


As someone who had grown up eating peanut butter regularly, I was ecstatic that I had found a replacement so similar to peanut butter. Of course, it was a little different, but not by much. I’ve since been hooked on sunflower seed butter, and honestly haven’t missed peanut butter much at all because of it. Sunflower seed butter has since been a staple in my household, and it’s rare if a jar is not stocked in my pantry at any given moment. Even my kids love it! The similarity in taste, texture, and satiety of sunflower seed butter to peanut butter made my transition away from peanut butter an easy one. The best thing about sunflower seed butter is that you can consume it just as you consume peanut butter. For example, it can be spread on crackers, eaten with apples, used in sunflower seed butter and jelly sandwiches, or SSB and J, which isn’t as catchy as “PB&J”, but you get the point. You can even eat it in spoonfuls straight from the jar! So, sunflower seed butter is a great replacement to peanut butter, regardless of how you plan on consuming it.


Despite the greatness of sunflower seed butter, as I’ve emphatically stated above, it’s not the only peanut butter alternative. One of the other alternatives I regularly consume is almond butter. I use almond butter in my protein smoothies, and since learning about flourless chocolate chip cookies, I use almond butter to bake those too. I also use almond butter interchangeably with sunflower seed butter depending on availability or my mood. Almond butter is one of the most popular alternatives to peanut butter available, but it comes at a heftier price. For example, 16-18 ounce jars of almond butter may cost more than $10 depending on which brand you’re buying, while sunflower seed butter may cost between $4-$7 for the same amount of butter, again, depending on the brand. Both cost more than peanut butter, which is roughly $2-$3 a jar, sometimes more, but when you’re allergic to peanuts, and you need the precious protein and calories peanut butter provides, it’s easy to get over the price of the alternatives.


When shopping for an alternative, keep in mind that there are a number of brands and varieties for each alternative base, such as almonds or sunflower seeds, so the flavor of each alternative may vary between different brands or varieties. For example, some butters are “natural” with the only ingredient being the base ingredient, such as sunflower seeds or almonds, and are essentially whole foods, while others include salt and sugar to enhance the flavor, and are minimally processed. Personally, when I purchase sunflower seed butter I tend to favor varieties with sugar and salt added, so that the flavor rivals “Skippy” or “JIF” peanut butter, but when I buy almond butter I prefer the natural varieties, since I’m usually mixing salt or sugar in with my almond butter as a part of a recipe. Either way, make sure you try the whole gamut of peanut butter alternatives and find the one that works for you.


Below, I’ve listed a number of brands that specialize in peanut butter alternatives. You’d be delighted to discover that sunflower butter and almond butter are only two of many peanut butter alternatives available! If you happen to be someone that dislikes sunflower seed butter and/or almond butter, there are plenty of other options although they may be more difficult to find. Some of the other alternatives you may come across include tahini (ground up sesame seeds), cashew butter, hazelnut butter, and a really interesting alternative called “Wow Butter”, which is a soy based peanut butter alternative made for those with peanut and/or tree nut allergies. Browse through the list below, and make sure to be daring on your quest and try a variety of the options available... if your food allergies allow you to do so. If you find one that you absolutely love, feel free to share your favorite peanut butter alternative in the Community Forum so that others can try it out!


 
 
 

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