Yes, the following is better than peanut butter.
I know, you’re all rolling your eyes right now, saying, “How can anything (besides chocolate) be better than peanut butter?” Hear me out; this spread has the one-up on regular pb because it:
- is easier to spread
- is lower in calories (more about this at the end of the post)
- tastes sweeter, without any added sugar, and has a serving of fruit
Above, spread on top of Banana Bread for One.
Another bonus: This recipe doesn’t make as much of a mess as trying to smush sliced banana into a sandwich. As usual, the recipe is so simple that I feel a little silly writing it down.
Banana Butter
- 1 medium banana
- 2 to 4 tablespoons peanut butter, depending on how pb-y you like it (or almond, cashew, walnut butter, etc.)
- optional: I like to add a little cinnamon
My favorite ratio is 4 tablespoons peanut butter to 80 grams (without peel) banana (about 1/2 a large banana). And I often use a frozen banana, which makes this spread taste like peanut butter ice cream!
Procedure: Whir the two ingredients in your food processor or blender until smooth. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge. (If possible, it’s best to let the mixture sit for a few hours before enjoying, as the taste becomes more robust with time.)
Above, spread over a Breakfast Pizza Cake.
Other Ideas for Use:
This creation can be used anywhere you’d use regular peanut butter—warmed up and drizzled over oatmeal, as a sandwich spread, dip, or pudding, as a smooth-and-velvety topping for waffles or pancakes, on vegan ice cream, or simply eaten plain off a spoon (or out of the blender, depending on your level of self-restraint!).
As for calories… Ok, so I’m having a bit of a dilemma: Recently I’ve been getting quite a few requests from readers asking if I can add calorie counts to my recipes. I don’t count calories, but I know that a lot of you (readers and fellow bloggers) do count. So, since I really try hard to make my recipes—and my blog in general—suitable for everyone, and since it’s not hard for me to figure out the calorie counts anyway, I thought I’d ask: Do you want me to add calorie info to my recipes? Please vote; either way, I’m interested in hearing your opinion. And until I figure this dilemma out, here are the nutritional stats for the banana butter:
Banana Butter Calories:
Serving Size: 1 tablespoon (based on my favorite combination)
Calories per serving: about 40 calories
(As a reference, regular peanut butter has about 100 calories per tablespoon.)
Variations:
Yes, there is a chocolate version.
🙂
Peanut butter used to take first place but since I’ve discovered sunflower seed butter, peanut butter is only second best! My dream combination is sunflower seed butter plus carob or chocolate–delish! Only even more amazing with banana…and peanut butter…wait is that possible in one jar?! Let’s pretend it is!
Oo giveaway!!
But first of all, Happy Birthday! I hope you had a great day! what cake did you end up celebrating with?
As for nut butters, hmmm, all of those flavors look really good. I really want to try coconut butter but it’s always so expensive. Same for macadamia. I think something like coconut ginger would be really good.
I know I also mentioned I sometimes mix in fruit spreads or jellies with my nut butters so some really amazing concoctions I”ve made have been cashew butter/ apricot spread, almond butter and rose jelly from a middle eastern market, or almond butter with guava jelly. I love Sunbutter with agave too 🙂
Ok that was wayyy more than one flavor, but I hope it still counts as my entry!
My dream nut butter would be maple pecan butter because that is my all time favorite clif bar and i think it would be amazing. Or I would have dark chocolate almond butter. I love almonds and dark chocolate too. So hard to decide:o)
I just bought the new Maranatha Dark Chocolate Almond Spread and I have a feeling it will beat out Mighty Maple PB Co for my new favorite!
Dark chocolate almond butter is my all time fav!
I”m pretty sure I’ve already left a comment, but just to be safe…my fave is either Justin’s maple nut butter (oh holy yum!) or sunflower seed butter!
Yum I’m definitely going to have to try this…it looks like it was made to be eaten with oatmeal or oatbran!
My favorite nut butter is straight up plain old almond butter. Oh, and I’ve been eating this banana butter on toast every morning for the last week!
My favorite nut butter is homemade raw almond butter. Next time I make it, I will throw a banana into the blender as well. 🙂
Happy (belated) birthday, Katie!
Ooooh, I’m so excited to have read about this coconut delicousness you speak of. I’m actually allergic to most nuts and seeds, so my favorite nut butter is by default soy nut butter. It is the only one that I don’t have a horrible allergic reaction to!
I’ve never heard of coconut butters before. Even if I don’t win, if these spreads are lacking peanuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, etc, I am going to have to give them a try! How have I not come across this stuff before?! 😛