Saturday, August 7, 2010

Product Review: Barney Butter!

Those of you who read my blog know that I LOVE Barney Butter, so when the kind folks at BB asked if I would do a formal review of their product on my site it was a no-brainer. 

For those of you who have just arrived, Barney Butter is incredible almond butter.  But you know what?  Saying that it's just ' incredible almond butter' seems too underwhelming.

I really SHOULD say "almond butter that doesn't look like any other grainy, wierd, flecked almond butter that's already out on the market".  Or maybe "almond butter that looks like peanut butter - seriously, it LOOKS just like it, spreads just like it - and you don't have to mix the jar like those awful organic peanut butters that separate with the oil on top."

Or lastly "your husband who always loved peanut butter and wont have it anymore because of your allergic child and absolutely hates sunflower butter and swore he would NEVER taste another substitute, but took a spoonful of this stuff and actually had teeny little tears in the corners of his eyes when he tasted it?"

Too wordy?

Let me start over.  The kind folks at Barney Butter sent me some 90 calorie sample packs of their almond butter last month to review and I've been finding all sorts of creative ways to use them. 

Here are the details of the 90 calorie packs:
  • 90 calories (7.5 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of fiber, 1.5 grams sugar.  Since they are low in calories (2 points a pack if you're on weight watchers) I don't feel guilty having them.
  • Ingredients: Almonds, Evaporated Cane Juice, Palm Fruit Oil, Sea Salt
  • Gluten Free
  • No Transfats
  • No Hydrogenated Oils
  • Vegan and Vegetarian Friendly
  • Made in an almond only facility
  • Guaranteed free of peanut particles and contaminants
And here's what I did with them:
  • Ate the first one straight from the packet (what? like you wouldn't have?!)
  • Gave a couple to my girlfriend who was running a marathon and needed 'fuel' for the race
  • spread one on a half a bagel (yum)
  • made a dipping sauce for dumplings (added soy sauce, hoisin, chili and rice vinegar - again, yum!)
  • added one packet at the end of a stir-fry to thicken things up
  • used one to dip banana into
  • added one to a smoothie
  • and last but not least, made an honest to goodness AB&J (almond butter and jelly)
And that's just in the last few weeks!  Just think of how much more you can do with it.  Actually, just look on their site - there you go!

Here's the thing:  this stuff is great.  Smooth, great flavor, easy to spread.  Easy to bake and cook with and no strange aftertastes.  You could easily fool someone with this.  Trust me, my daughter is STILL a little freaked out by it even though she can read the label and knows it's OK for her to have. 

If these folks ever decide to go out of business I might just need to buy the company and keep it going.

I'm not kidding.

Thanks, Barney Butter, for the opportunity to spread the word about your product!!

Disclaimer:  This is a product review.  Barney Butter provided me with samples of their product to review.  I was not compensated in any way (beyond the samples).

6 comments:

Kelly said...

We loooooove Barney Butter too! My favorite thing to do with it? Mix it in with chocolate ice cream - yum! And AB&J is a favorite at lunch time here. :)

Anonymous said...

i thought there was a high incidence of cross contamination bw tree nuts and peanuts!??

Gab said...

There is definitely a risk of cross contamination if the nuts are processed in the same facility, but this is an almond only facility and the product is free from peanut particles. We checked with our allergist before trying almonds/almond butter and he steered us in the direction of dedicated growers/processors. This company takes precautions to prevent cross contamination so we are comfortable giving it to my daughter.

Anonymous said...

ah, ok! thank you! sounds like a great product!

caramama said...

You had me at: "your husband who always loved peanut butter and wont have it anymore because of your allergic child and absolutely hates sunflower butter and swore he would NEVER taste another substitute, but took a spoonful of this stuff and actually had teeny little tears in the corners of his eyes when he tasted it?"

If that's not the perfect endorsement to get me to buy it, I don't know what would be!

Thanks for doing the review and linking to the product. I see I can order it online, so I'm definitely going to (have my husband) try it!

Renee said...

I had read your review but hadn't been able to find it & tried a diff almond butter wasn't crazy bout it. Then wasted $$ on trying nutella out of my Husbands craving for his pb&j fix. Tht was gross. So I finally found Barney butter at whole foods (&on sale). I was in heaven it is the best thing ever I even like it better than PB!! I can't wait for tmrrw to make mr another sandwich:) thanks so much I would of never tried it had I not read your review!