8 Different Types Of Peanut Butter With Images

Peanut Butter is a popular spread to toasts, bread and even sandwiches. It can also be used in dishes and desserts such as cookies, brownie and the like. Since peanut butter spread is made of peanuts, they are actually healthy and delicious. There are different types of peanut butter out there and we will be discussing each of these types of peanut butter in this post. Read on below to know more.

Different Types Of Peanut Butter

Peanut butter has two main types: crunchy peanut butter or also called chunky peanut butter and smooth or creamy peanut butter. Peanut butter is generally made from dry roasted peanuts. In order to change the texture as well as the taste, there have been few adjustments to the peanut butter and some ingredients were added such as emulsifier, salt and sweeteners.

How to know if a peanut butter is healthy

Since there are different variations of peanut butter in the market nowadays, how can you possibly tell if the peanut butter is healthy or not.

If you are trying to find a healthy peanut butter, make sure to look for the one with few added ingredients. A natural peanut butter is one that only require one main ingredient and that is peanut. The peanuts are roasted and then ground to make into spread or paste.

If you are the one grinding the peanuts into peanut butter spread, you can be assured that the only ingredient is the peanuts and you will be getting a natural peanut butter however nowadays peanut butters that are now sold commercially may contain one or more additional ingredients.

For peanut butters with additional ingredients such as added sugar and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, it might be now considered as less healthy because it already contains extra calories and often leads to effects on one’s health rather than benefits. Adverse affects to cite an example is that it increases the risk of developing heart disease when consuming too much fat from hydrogenated oils and increase in sugar intake.

Listed below are the two main types of peanut butter along with its categories such as natural and organic, as well as its subcategories such as homemade peanut butter, peanut butter with no oil or sugar added and powdered peanut butter.

Chunky peanut butter (Crunchy Peanut butter)

Regular peanut butter

Regular peanut butter usually contains added sugar, hydrogenated vegetable oils and often added with preservatives. It is added to the peanut butter it will have a longer shelf life that is why it is added to the peanut butter. There is no need to place peanut butter inside the fridge when these additives are on the regular peanut butter. Aside from that, there is no need to mix the oil and the peanut butter. Though as previously mentioned, hydrogenated vegetable oils contains calories and can be harmful to the body.

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Natural peanut butter

A natural peanut butter only contains two ingredients: only peanuts and oil (from the nuts). It does not contain sugar or oil. And since it does not contain added ingredients to increase its shelf life, natural peanut butters needs to be refrigerated.

To increase its shelf life, you may need to place natural peanut butter in a container and place inside the refrigerator to maintain its freshness.

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Organic Peanut Butter

Chunky and Crunchy versions of a peanut butter are mostly considered organic simply because the nuts contains either little or no pesticides at all. Since it is organic, it is the most preferred type of peanut butter, though this type of peanut butter is likely to be expensive than the rest of the types of peanut butter.

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Homemade Peanut butter

Making peanut butter at home is very simple. You can simply use a food processor or a blender to grind dry roasted peanuts and turn into nut butter. To do this, add the nut into the blender or food processor then press the liquid button or start button. After a few minutes of blending and process, dry roasted organic peanuts will turn into a nut butter.

Although if after the mixing process and the peanuts are still solid, you may want to add coconut oil and then start grinding again.

After grinding process is complete, place nut butter into an airtight container and place inside the fridge to retain its freshness. Shelf life is usually up to 3 months.

Creamy peanut butter (Smooth Peanut Butter)

There are no chunks of nut in the butter of a creamy or smooth peanut butter. Most of the time, the natural oils on top of the peanut butter jar is usually mixed with the nut butter. Creamy peanut butter or Smooth peanut butter also contains hydrogenated oil, added sugar and oil. And since it has added preservatives, shelf life of these type of peanut butter takes several months.

Regular Creamy peanut butter

When making a regular creamy or smooth peanut butter, the nuts is first grinded. Then, ground peanuts are then grinded a second time around to grind the last pieces of chunks to make it into a nut butter.

Added sugar, oils and preservatives are then added to the butter for a longer shelf life. Thus, with added preservatives there is no need for it to be refrigerated.

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Natural Creamy peanut butter

Grinding organic roasted peanuts using a grinder or a food processor is the simplest way to naturally make a creamy peanut butter. And since it is natural, there are no added sugar, nor oils or preservatives to the butter. Although there are times when a small amount of oil is needed to help thin the but butter. Natural creamy peanut butter does not contain unsaturated fat nor added sugar or preservatives, therefore to maintain its freshness you may need to place it inside the fridge.

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Organic Creamy Peanut Butter

Either it is a creamy or a chunky peanut butter, organic dry roasted peanuts does not have pesticides. And since they are organic peanut butters and natural peanut butters, it needs to be refrigerated to maintain its freshness.

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Homemade Creamy Peanut Butter

A blender or a food processor is usually used to make peanut butter at home. Most of the time, it usually takes longer for the nuts to turn into butter, just continue to keep grinding until a creamy texture is achieved.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

Peanut butter can be both healthy peanut butters and less healthy peanut butters. The Healthiest peanut butters are those that contain only the peanut and a small amount of salt. Less healthy peanut butters are those that contains added hydrogenated vegetable oil and added sugar, often with added preservatives. Though those that contains palm oil and powdered peanut butters are still considered as healthy peanut butter. Make sure to take a look at the nutritional components of the peanut butter usually placed at the back of the peanut butter jar.

We hope that this guide has helped you understand and learn about the different types of peanut butter and the differences of each type based on the ingredients used to make each type.

Whichever type of peanut butter you decide to choose for your next sandwich meal, always remember to eat in small amounts and in moderation.