This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2021) |
Type | Spread |
---|---|
Main ingredients | Nuts, seeds or drupes |
A nut butter is a spreadable foodstuff made by grinding nuts, seeds or drupes into a paste. The result has a high fat content and can be spread like true butter, but is otherwise unrelated. Nut butters include:
The almond, cashew, macadamia, peanut, pecan, pistachio and walnut are not true nuts in a botanical sense. However, because they are considered nuts in a culinary sense, their crushed spreads are called nut butters. Similar spreads can also be made from seeds that are not considered nuts in a culinary sense:
Nut and seed butters have a high content of protein, fiber, and essential fatty acids, and can be used to replace butter or margarine on bread or toast. Nut butters can also be used as dipping sauces for apples and bananas, toppings for oatmeal or smoothie bowls, and ingredients in Asian sauces.
The grinding of nuts into a paste has a long history. Almond paste or marzipan was highly prized by the caliphs of Baghdad. The Kitab al-Tabikh or Book of Recipes was a collection of recipes from the court of ninth-century Baghdad. The most esteemed sweet was lauziinaq, an almond paste much like marzipan. [2] Hazelnut butter was mixed with chocolate to overcome shortages during the Napoleonic wars and WWII, which led to the invention of gianduja chocolate spreads (e.g. Nutella). [3]
The following table gives some approximate nutritional properties (for a reference serving of 1 tablespoon or approximately 15 grams) of some nut and seed butters. Many of these contain additional oils or other ingredients that may alter the nut butter's nutritional content. [4]
Butter | Food energy kJ (kcal) | Protein (g) | Fat (g) | Calcium (mg) | Zinc (mg) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Almond butter | 420 (101) | 2.4 | 9.5 | 43 | 0.5 |
Cashew butter | 390 (93) | 2.8 | 8 | 7 | 0.8 |
Hazelnut butter | 390 (94) | 2 | 9.5 | N/A | N/A |
Peanut butter – natural | 390 (94) | 3.8 | 8 | 7 | 0.4 |
Peanut butter – reduced fat | 400 (95) | 4 | 6 | N/A | 0.4 |
Sunflower butter | 330 (80) | 3 | 7 | N/A | N/A |
Soy butter (sweetened) | 360 (85) | 4 | 5.5 | 50 | N/A |
Soy butter (unsweetened) | 330 (80) | 4 | 6.5 | 30 | N/A |
Soy-peanut butter (added sweetener) | 210 (50) | 2 | 1.2 | 40 | N/A |
Tahini | 370 (89) | 2.6 | 8 | 64 | 0.7 |
Nutella is a brand of brown, sweetened hazelnut cocoa spread. Nutella is manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero and was introduced in 1964, although its first iteration dates to 1963.
Trail mix is a type of snack mix, typically a combination of granola, dried fruit, nuts, and sometimes candy, developed as a food to be taken along on hikes. Trail mix is a popular snack food for hikes, because it is lightweight, easy to store, and nutritious, providing a quick energy boost from the carbohydrates in the dried fruit or granola, and sustained energy from fat in nuts.
Pralines are confections containing nuts – usually almonds, pecans and hazelnuts – and sugar. Cream is a common third ingredient.
A nut is a fruit consisting of a hard or tough nutshell protecting a kernel which is usually edible. In general usage and in a culinary sense, many dry seeds are called nuts. In a botanical context, "nut" implies that the shell does not open to release the seed (indehiscent).
Pesto or more fully pesto alla genovese is a paste made of crushed garlic, pine nuts, salt, basil leaves, grated cheese such as Parmesan or pecorino sardo, and olive oil. It originated in the Italian city of Genoa, and is used to dress pasta and flavour genoese minestrone soup.
Nougat is a family of confections made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts, whipped egg whites, and sometimes chopped candied fruit. The consistency of nougat is chewy, and it is used in a variety of candy bars and chocolates. The word nougat comes from Occitan nogat, which means 'nutted' or 'nutty'.
Turrón, torró or torrone is a Mediterranean nougat confection, typically made of honey, sugar, and egg white, with toasted almonds or other nuts, and usually shaped either into a rectangular tablet or a round cake. Turrón is usually eaten as a dessert food around Christmas in Spain and Italy.
Mixed nuts are a snack food consisting of any mixture of mechanically or manually combined nuts. Common constituents are peanuts, almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts (filberts), and pecans. Mixed nuts may be salted, roasted, cooked, or blanched.
Crunchy Nut is a breakfast cereal made by Kellogg's with flakes of corn, honey, three types of sugar, and chopped peanuts. The product was created by Kellogg's employees at their Trafford Park factory in Greater Manchester and first introduced in 1980.
A tree nut allergy is a hypersensitivity to dietary substances from tree nuts and edible tree seeds causing an overreaction of the immune system which may lead to severe physical symptoms. Tree nuts include almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, chestnuts, filberts/hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pistachios, shea nuts and walnuts.
Hazelnut butter or hazelnut paste is a food spread made from crushed and blended hazelnuts. More commonly found in Europe, hazelnut butter is also familiar when mixed with chocolate as an ingredient in chocolate spreads. Hazelnut butter is available in both crunchy and smooth varieties, and can be made from either raw or roasted hazelnuts. Gianduja is also a type of chocolate stretched with hazelnut butter.
Gianduja or gianduia is a homogeneous blend of chocolate with 30% hazelnut paste, invented in Turin during Napoleon's regency (1796–1814). It can be consumed in the form of bars or as a filling for chocolates.
A nut roast or roasted nut loaf is a vegetarian dish consisting of nuts, grains, vegetable oils, broth or butter, and seasonings formed into a firm loaf shape or long casserole dish before roasting and often eaten as an alternative to a traditional British style roast dinner. It is popular with vegetarians at Christmas, as well as part of a traditional Sunday roast. Nut roasts are also made by Canadian and American vegetarians and vegans as the main dish for Thanksgiving or other harvest festival meals.