Nut butter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A nut butter is a spreadable foodstuff made by crushing nuts. The result has a high fat content and can be spread like true butter, but is otherwise unrelated. Nut butters include:
- Almond butter
- Cashew butter
- Hazelnut butter
- Macadamia nut butter
- Pecan butter
- Pistachio butter
- Walnut butter
Similar spreads can also be made from other seeds that are not considered to be nuts. Examples include:
- The most common is peanut butter (the peanut, despite of its name, is a legume and not a nut)
- Pumpkin seed butter
- Sesame seed butter (usually called tahini)
- Soybean butter
- Sunflower seed butter
Nut and seed butters are rich in protein, fiber, and essential fatty acids and can be used to replace butter or margarine on bread or toast.
The following table gives some of the nutritional properties of a selection of nut and seed butters: [1]
| Butter | Calories (1 tbsp.) |
Protein (g) |
Fat (g) |
Calcium (mg) |
Zinc (mg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Almond butter | 101 | 2.4 | 9.5 | 43 | 0.5 |
| Cashew butter | 93 | 2.8 | 8 | 7 | 0.8 |
| Hazelnut butter | 94 | 2 | 9.5 | N/A | N/A |
| Peanut butter - natural | 94 | 3.8 | 8 | 7 | 0.4 |
| Peanut butter - reduced fat | 95 | 4 | 6 | N/A | 0.4 |
| Sunflower butter | 80 | 3 | 7 | N/A | N/A |
| Soy butter (sweetened) | 85 | 4 | 5.5 | 50 | N/A |
| Soy butter (unsweetened) | 80 | 4 | 6.5 | 30 | N/A |
| Soy-peanut butter (added sweetener) | 50 | 2 | 1.2 | 40 | N/A |
| Tahini | 89 | 2.6 | 8 | 64 | 0.7 |
[edit] References
- ^ Reed Mangels (November-December, 2001). Guide to Nuts and Nut Butters. Vegetarian Journal. Retrieved on 2006-08-07.
