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.
🙂
Yumm, almond and dried cherry nut butter – awesome!!!!
it is soooo difficult to say what my favorite nut butter is because i havent had the chance to even try most of the nut butters out there! so i guess my favorite of all that i had would be dark chocolate dreams, its amazing! but i think my dream flavor would be mocha cinnamon almond butter, yummmm =) thankyou so much!
My favorite nut butter flavor is simple peanut butter. All the other flavored ones are good only once in a while.
this is a tough question! i would say my favorite flavor that i’ve tried so far is either roasted hazelnut butter or salted raw vanilla almond butter (i make it myself and tastes like cookie dough!).
My favorite has got to be choco-peanut butter. It’s the absolute best of both worlds!!
dream flavor? i’m overwhelmed by possibility! i think, it would be roasted almond and pecan, no salt, with a hint of pumpkin and maple. i need to try making that!
Cashews, cinnamon, and honey….mmm!
Chocolate PB!
My current favorite is cinnamon raisin swirl pb! But I’m dreaming of a pumpkin flavor to hit the shelves.
call me boring (i prefer classic!) but my favorite flavor of nut butter is raw almond butter. just almonds, nothing else. so simple, but so freaking good. :]