We Style-Examined 13 Creamy Almond Butters—Right here Are Our Favorites

Almond butter is a staple of my weight-reduction plan: I slather it on toast and apple slices, add it to my smoothies, and stir it into breakfast bars. And I like it a lot that I’d—and sometimes do—fortunately eat it by the spoonful. For that motive, I at all times maintain a number of jars in my pantry.

Although almond butter is fairly mainstream in the present day, that wasn’t at all times the case. Once I first fell in love with the nutty unfold, it was sometimes solely out there at well being meals shops or, if I took the time to make it, in my kitchen. Fortunately for me, there are a lot of manufacturers of almond butter out there to buy in the present day. The query is: Which of them are price stocking in your kitchen?

To seek out the perfect creamy almond butter, our editors taste-tested 13 completely different manufacturers of creamy almond butters—all made with roasted almonds—you are prone to discover at your native grocery retailer or on-line. We sampled 9 manufacturers of unsalted almond butter and 5 manufacturers of salted almond butter. To seek out the successful one in every class, we tasted them in random order with out understanding which was which. We tasted the unsalted and salted varieties in separate batches so we weren’t evaluating apples to oranges. After consuming many, many spoonfuls of almond butter, we tabulated the outcomes and topped an general winner for every class, together with a number of different worthy contenders, we would be glad to maintain at residence or in our workplace desk drawers.

The Standards

Creamy almond butter ought to be lusciously creamy. It ought to be thick and spreadable; it shouldn’t be chalky or gummy; and it shouldn’t be overly free and saucy, nor so thick that it does not unfold. Although tiny chunks of almonds are welcome, almond butter labeled “easy” shouldn’t be so textured that it resembles crunchy nut butter. It ought to be wealthy and nutty, with the pure sweetness of almonds. Salted almond butter ought to be properly savory and well-seasoned, however shouldn’t be so salty that you really want a full glass of water after a single chew. Every chew ought to be earthy, nutty, and balanced.

Total Winners

The Greatest Unsalted Creamy Almond Butter: Maisie Jane’s Almond Butter

Virtually each single taster made a be aware of how creamy this almond butter was. Our senior social media editor, Kelli, and I appreciated that it was thick and spreadable however not dry. Kelli additionally liked the flavour of this almond butter: “Actually tastes like almonds!” Like Kelli, I loved the flavour of this almond butter, although I’d have appreciated it extra if it have been even nuttier. Although Megan thought it was “fairly good!”

The Greatest Salted Creamy Almond Butter: Dealer Joe’s

Everybody agreed that this almond butter was salty—and, for probably the most half, we appreciated it. “Salt is a tad harsh, however I like this one,” our editorial director, Daniel, wrote, describing its taste as “roasty almond, not disagreeable.” Regardless of discovering it “slightly salty,” Megan thought it had a “good nutty taste.” Kelli and I each thought it was good and salty, and our affiliate meals editor, Laila, appreciated the slight crunch she received from the granules of salt. “I benefit from the layered texture and like that it is salt-forward,” she wrote.

Runners-Up

Unsalted

• 365 by Complete Meals Market Creamy Almond Butter
• Good & Collect Creamy Almond Butter
• Dealer Joe’s Creamy Almond Butter

Salted

• Bowl & Basket Creamy Almond Butter
• Repair & Fogg Easy Almond Butter

Although not one of the almond butters we tasted have been fairly pretty much as good because the winners, our editors additionally loved the nut butters from the six manufacturers above. Whereas Megan didn’t suppose 365 by Complete Meals Market Creamy Almond Butter was tremendous flavorful, she and I each agreed that it was nutty and, as she put it, “completely wonderful.” Kelli discovered it barely candy, however in a great way, and appreciated that it reminded her of pure peanut butter.

Aside from Daniel, all of our tasters loved the roasted notes of Dealer Joe’s Creamy Almond Butter. “Too roasty and weirdly candy,” Daniel wrote. Megan, then again, appreciated its roasted taste. She described it as “pretty nutty and buttery,” and thought it tasted selfmade. Of all of the almond butters we sampled, Good & Collect Creamy Almond Butter was probably the most fragrant. Daniel wasn’t a giant fan, however everybody else thought it was nutty and almond-forward, a lot in order that Kelli thought she may style the peel of the almond. “This one has that mildly almond extract taste,” Megan famous, “which I do not thoughts.” 

Our tasters appreciated the salty-sweet taste profile of Bowl & Basket Creamy Almond Butter, however everybody thought its texture was barely too free. “Probably the most pourable one out of the line-up,” Laila noticed. We additionally had blended emotions in regards to the grittiness of the nut butter: Megan appreciated that it did not really feel sticky, and Laila thought the granules of salt and almonds “made for a extra attention-grabbing consuming expertise,” however Kelli didn’t look after it. Except for Laila, who discovered it bland, everybody agreed they’d be glad consuming Repair & Fogg Easy Almond Butter. I, very helpfully, jotted down “scrumptious.” Kelli had just a few extra ideas: “Strong. It tastes of almonds and is barely candy. No complaints.” 

The Contenders: Unsalted Creamy Almond Butter

• 365 by Complete Meals Market Creamy Almond Butter
• 365 by Complete Meals Market Natural Creamy Almond Butter
• Good & Collect Creamy Almond Butter
• Justin’s Basic Almond Butter
• Kirkland Creamy Almond Butter
• Maisie Jane’s Easy Almond Butter
• As soon as Once more Creamy Almond Butter
• Dealer Joe’s Creamy Almond Butter

The Contenders: Salted Creamy Almond Butter

• Barney Butter Easy Almond Butter
• Bowl & Basket Creamy Almond Butter
• Repair & Fogg Easy Almond Butter
• MaraNatha Pure Creamy Almond Butter
• Dealer Joe’s Creamy Almond Butter Salted
• Tierra Farm Natural Salted Creamy Almond Butter

Key Takeaways and Conclusion

Almonds are the primary ingredient in all the nut butters we tasted. A few of them additionally comprise salt, sugar, and palm oil, an ingredient typically used to emulsify nut butters. (As I discussed in my microwave popcorn style check, it is price noting that harvesting and producing palm oil comes with environmental penalties.)

Total, our editors usually most well-liked almond butters made with simply roasted almonds and, if salted, a contact of salt. In the end, we appreciated virtually each single almond butter we tried—it was only a matter of how a lot—and can be glad to maintain most of those jars in our pantry for spreading, snacking, or cooking with.

Our Testing Methodology

All style checks are performed with manufacturers utterly hidden and with out dialogue. Tasters style samples in random order. For instance, taster A could style pattern one first, whereas taster B will style pattern six first. That is to stop palate fatigue from unfairly giving anybody pattern a bonus. Tasters are requested to fill out tasting sheets rating the samples for numerous standards. All knowledge is tabulated and outcomes are calculated with no editorial enter as a way to give us probably the most neutral illustration of precise outcomes attainable.