7 Flavored Peanut Butters I'm Dying to Try

I’m a peanut butter junkie. I’ve eaten it every day for breakfast for at least five years, and before that, ate it for lunch daily for nearly two decades. I’ve cycled through a number of brands, starting with Peter Pan as a preschooler, advancing to natural brands in my early 20s, and finally settling on Peanut Butter & Co. products as my go-to spreads. 

Although Peanut Butter & Co. PB isn’t as pure as the natural stuff—it contains more than just nuts and salt—it isn’t weighed down with partially hydrogenated oils, as many supermarket brands are. And it comes in a variety of tempting flavors (my favorite is Mighty Maple).

I’m loyal to PB&C, but I’m not a peanut butter exclusivist. If I see an unfamiliar jar on the shelf, I’ll probably try it, regardless of brand—and especially if it’s something a little crazy.

So which pumped-up PB’s do I have my eye on?

Pacific Beach Butterscotch Flavored Peanut Butter Spread

$13.36, amazon.com

I’m a little skeptical of this one since its name includes the word “spread”—a sign it doesn’t contain enough actual peanuts to be called plain ol’ peanut butter. But I’m willing to trade a few peanuts for undoubtedly delicious butterscotch flavor. Ice cream sundaes, anyone? 

Wild Friends Honey Peanut Butter with Crunchy Pretzel Bits

$6.39, vitacost.com

Honey peanut butter is nothing new. But honey peanut butter with little pieces of pretzel? Tell me more. The extra salty note from the pretzels, paired with the sweetness of honey, sounds like a recipe for by-the-spoonful snacking. 

Peanut Butter & Co. Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter

As a long-time fan, I follow (okay, stalk) Peanut Butter & Co. on Facebook. When they announced they were debuting a pumpkin-flavored peanut butter, I started checking the shelves of my supermarket religiously…and never found it. I recently interviewed PB&C founder Lee Zalben (for this Yahoo Health story), and asked him if the pumpkin PB was nothing more than a cruel rumor. He confirmed its existence—but with a sad caveat. 

“We were a little worried, because we haven’t come out with a new flavor in a while,” he admitted. “But we sold out of the production within days, and it’s essentially completely sold out everywhere. It went faster than we could have imagined.” Fortunately, they’ll be making a LOT more next year, he said. I’m counting down the days.

PB Crave Razzle Dazzle

$17.94 for a 3-pack, PBcrave.com

Who needs jelly when you have this flavor-packed spread? It’s a sure-to-be-delicious combination of peanut butter, raspberry flavoring, white chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, and honey. This just took peanut butter toast to a whole new level.

Reginald’s Homemade Bourbon Pecan Peanut Butter

$7, reginaldshomemade.com

As a southerner, I’m obligated to try this bourbon-, brown sugar- and molasses-infused peanut butter. In a nutty—and ingenious—move, Reginald (whoever this woman is, I need to meet her) added pecan chunks to her PB. Sounds incredible.

Reginald’s Apple Sin Peanut Butter

$5.50, reginaldshomemade.com

The whole forbidden fruit angle is cute—but I don't need to be enticed to try this apple-flavored peanut butter. Imagine: apple PB on top of apples. Your tastebuds might explode. 

Eliot’s Adult Nut Butters Garam Masala Peanut Butter

$8.99, EliotsAdultNutButters.com

Savory peanut butters aren’t normally my thing. But with this one’s blend of cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves, I’m intrigued—and tempted to swap it in for regular PB in peanut butter cookies, as the maker suggests.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Cookies

Let's go ahead and address the elephant in the room: These cookies are hideous. They're too dark to be peanut butter, too light to be chocolate. Not quite the texture of oatmeal cookies, but not completely smooth. 

I wouldn't take one off the dessert table, either.

That'd be a big mistake. I served these ugly ducklings at a recent get-together, and the crowd was, understandably, skeptical. But then someone bit into one, and declared, "Now that's a good cookie." Everyone dug in. And everyone was smitten. I declare victory.

I took a dependable oatmeal peanut butter cookie recipe, and swapped in melted Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for the peanut butter. Then, I added Rice Krispies cereal along with the oatmeal. The final result: a delightfully chewy cookie, with just enough peanut butter-chocolate flavor to tempt your taste buds into eating another.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Cookies

What you need
½ cup shortening
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
¾ cup white sugar
1 cup Reese's Peanut Butter cups, melted
2 eggs
1 ½ cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
½ cup instant oats  
¾ cup Rice Krispies cereal 
Almonds (optional)

Put it all together

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. 
2. Chop up the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and melt in a microwave-safe bowl.
3. Cream together shortening, butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and melted Reese's Cups. Beat in the eggs one a time, until well combined, then add the flour, baking soda, and salt, until well combined.
4. Gently fold in the oats and Rice Krispies cereal.
5. Roll dough into 1" balls, and place 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 11 minutes in the pre-heated oven. While the cookies are still hot, press an almond into the center of each, if desired. 

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Reese's Puffs Cupcakes with Chocolate-Peanut Butter Filling

 

I usually shy away from cake mixes. The one time I dared use one, everyone asked me, "Wow, is this carrot cake homemade?" Embarrassed, I threw out some lame, fumbling excuse, like, "No, my grocery store was out of carrots." They then gave me false looks of understanding, that really said, "You took the easy way out." 

       Maybe I'm being paranoid. But still. I was traumatized.

       Even so, when I spotted Reese's Puffs Muffin Mix at Target, I didn't think twice about tossing it into my cart. I'm a sucker for novelty products. I'm also a sucker for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Sold. 

       Although the streusel-topped muffins on the package look delightful, I had a sneaking suspicion that they would taste more like cupcakes than muffins. Here's scientific proof: In a 2012 Yale study, Reese's Puffs ranked third to last in a nutritional analysis of 43 cereals. (The only cereals that fared worse were Pebbles and Cap'n Crunch.) Why? Because the peanut-buttery puffs consist of 34 percent sugar. What that tells me: I should be eating them for dessert, not breakfast.

      I don't need any more convincing.

      I found a handy little tool called the MuffinMeal on the free table at my office. It creates  cylindrical indentations in the center of your muffins (or cupcakes), which just beg to be filled with frosting, fruit, or cream cheese. (No MuffinMeal? No worries: You can also use an apple corer to create holes in your cupcakes after baking.) This inspired me: Instead of piling frosting on top, I would pipe a creamy combination of peanut butter and whipped chocolate frosting into the centers of the cupcakes.

Perfect little indentations, soon to be filled with sugary goodness.

     My instincts didn't fail me. The cake tastes exactly like Reese's Puffs cereal—that is, tantalizingly sweet, made even more so by the chocolate-peanut butter filling. I ate one cupcake for dessert, of course, but then I broke my own rule: I ate one for breakfast, too. 

 
Reese's Puffs Cupcakes with Chocolate-Peanut Butter Filling

What you need

1 box Reese's Puffs muffin mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
¾ cup water
2 eggs
1 container whipped chocolate frosting
1 small jar creamy peanut butter
Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Minis

Put it all together

1. Combine the muffin mix, vegetable oil, water, and eggs. If you have a MuffinMeal kit, follow the device's instructions. Otherwise, line a cupcake tin with paper baking cups. Fill the cups about two-thirds full. 
2. Bake according to muffin mix directions. 
3. Allow to cool completely, then position an apple corer on the top center of the cupcake. Press down and turn until you've carved out a cylinder of cake. Pull out the corer, and remove the cake cylinder.
4. Thoroughly combine the frosting and peanut butter. Spoon into a large Ziploc bag, and snip a small triangle from one corner of the bag, squeezing the frosting mixture toward this corner. Pipe the peanut butter-chocolate into the the center of each cupcake, using a circular motion and extending the frosting about an inch above the top of the cupcake.
5. Sprinkle a few pinches of the muffin mix streusel over the frosting, then top with a Reese's Cup Mini.

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Peanut Butter Brownies with Chocolate Ganache

Are you tired of peanut butter yet? Because I'm not. I've nearly worked my way through all 12 jars of my Peanut Butter & Co. peanut butter freebies. In fact, to plow through the PB, I've made peanut butter pie parfaits, Elvis whoopie pies, and triple chocolate peanut butter bars, and eaten peanut butter every single morning for breakfast. (My current obsession is a mix of crunchy and dark chocolate peanut butter swirled on an English muffin.) 

       I was committed to trying something new—I have three lemons in my fridge, I promise—but then it was my boyfriend's father's birthday. And he loves peanut-butter desserts.  So, sorry, another peanut-butter recipe. But don't hate me for being boring, because the outcome was, as all things peanut butter are, delicious. 

       The layer of ganache is rich and slightly bitter, sort of like dark chocolate, while the brownie has a robust, nutty flavor that is unfortunately rare among peanut-butter desserts.  Too often, they're only mildly nutty, so the peanut butter seems like an afterthought. But, with these brownies, the peanut-butter flavor is strong and undiluted, providing a creamy contrast to the chocolate's depth and intensity.

Peanut Butter Brownies with Chocolate Ganache

From Gourmet via SmittenKitchen.com

What you need

Brownies

2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened

1 ¾ cups sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 large eggs, plus 1 large egg yolk

2 tsp vanilla 

2 cups flour

1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips

½ tsp salt

Ganache

1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips

½ cup heavy cream

1 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Put it all together

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9X13" baking pan.
2. Make the brownies: Beat together butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, then add peanut butter, beating until well incorporated. Mix in the eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low, and beat in the flour until just combined.
3. Fold in the chocolate chips (1 ½ cups), then pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Smooth the top with a spatula.
4. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
5. Cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack, about 1 ½ hours.
6. Make the ganache: Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan, and pour it over the  chocolate chips in a heat-proof bowl. Let stand for 1 minute.
7. Gently whisk in the butter, until both the butter and chocolate are melted.
8. Spread ganache on cooled brownies. Let stand until set, about 15 minutes.

Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Boredom doesn't bode well with me. I don't have cable (weird, I know), and my (stolen) internet connection tends to be spotty. So, instead of binging on Hulu, I dig through my pantry, mix random ingredients, and pray the resulting creation doesn't explode in my oven. I've had a few failures: collapsed butter cake, delicious dough that turned into disgusting cookies, a pie that overflowed into a goopy mess. But my latest experiment was a sweet success: I constructed a three-layer bar from a tongue-teasing, sweet-and-salty combination of peanut butter, white, dark, and milk chocolates, graham cracker crumbs, and nuts. In other words, ingredients that guarantee eat-the-entire-pan results. 

 Triple Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

What you need

Bottom layer
1 cup butter, melted
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams 

Middle layer
5 oz. white chocolate
¼ cup salted peanut halves
¼ cup Peanut Butter & Co. White Chocolate Wonderful

Top layer
1 ½ cups milk chocolate chips
¼ cup creamy peanut butter 

Put it all together

1. Make the bottom layer: In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and dark chocolate peanut butter. Press into an ungreased 9x13 baking pan.
2. Make the middle layer: Place the white chocolate and white chocolate peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for about 1 minute (or until melted), stirring every 30 seconds. Pour over the bottom layer, and spread evenly with a spatula. Place in the freezer for about 20 minutes, or until chocolate has hardened.
3. Make the top layer: Place the milk chocolate chips and peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for about 1 minute (or until melted), stirring every 30 seconds. Pour over the hardened middle layer, and spread evenly with a spatula. Place in the refrigerator for an hour before serving. 

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Peanut Butter & Co. Elvis Whoopie Pies

I hate bananas. So much so, in fact, that I've only ever eaten one banana. But I love Elvis. And Elvis loved to pair bananas with peanut butter (and bacon). So I felt obligated to at least give his signature combo a chance. My compromise: Elvis Whoopie Pies, which consist of two pieces of soft banana cake, honey-peanut butter filling, and bacon crumbles dotting the edge.

I was skeptical.

But I was proven wrong.

The cake's banana flavor was subtle enough so as not to overwhelm my banana-hating palate. The decadent filling tasted like melted peanut butter pie. And the salt of the bacon was the perfect complement to the sweetness of the cake. As one taster described it, it's  "heaven between two slices of heaven." 


Elvis Whoopie Pies 
Courtesy of Peanut Butter & Co. 

What you need


Cake

2 sticks of butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 large very ripe bananas, mashed

½ cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups flour

1 ½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Filling

2 sticks of butter, softened

¾ cup The Bee's Knees peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
3-4 cups powdered sugar
4-6 Tbsp milk


Garnish
1-2 strips thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled

Put it all together

1. Make the cookies: Cream the butter, sugar, and eggs until well combined. Stir in the bananas, milk, and vanilla. In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture—about ½ cup at a time. Chill the dough for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
3. Use an ice-cream scoop to drop balls of dough onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, until the cookies’ edges are browned. Transfer to a cooling rack, and let them cool completely before adding filling.
4. Make the filling: Cream together the butter, peanut butter, and vanilla. Slowly add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the milk, one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. If necessary, add the remaining sugar so the mixture is easily spreadable but not runny.
5. Spread a large dollop of peanut butter filling on one cookie, then top with a second cookie. (Don’t press too hard, or the filling will squeeze out.) Sprinkle bacon bits on the frosted sides. Serve immediately.

     

Maple Cinnamon Peanut Butter Pie Parfaits

Much to my delight, I recently received the entire line of Peanut Butter & Co. peanut butter in the mail. That's 12 incredible jars—a lot, even for a daily peanut butter eater. So, to ensure no spoonful goes uneaten, I'll be featuring peanut butter in my baked goods for the next few months. I'm not complaining. 

     This recipe, devised in the middle of the night due to lingering jet lag, features both PB&C Mighty Maple and Smooth Operator (classic creamy) peanut butter. The authentic maple flavor, combined with Sweet Cinnamon Cool Whip, gives the parfait a bit of an autumnal taste. I know, it's springtime, but you won't mind the cool-weather vibe once you taste the rich, creamy flavor. It's like peanut butter pie with a whole new dimension.

Maple Cinnamon Peanut Butter Pie Parfaits

What you need
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3.5 Tbsp butter, melted
6.5 ounces cream cheese, softened

½ cup Peanut Butter & Co. Mighty Maple peanut butter

½ cup creamy peanut butter

¾ cup sugar

2 cups Sweet Cinnamon Cool Whip* 
Cinnamon


*You can also use regular Cool Whip, mixed with ½ to 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. 

Put it all together

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. 
2. Combine the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter, and press into a 9" square baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
3. Thoroughly combine the cream cheese, both types of peanut butter, sugar, and 1 ½ cups of the Cool Whip. 
4. Break up the graham mixture until crumbly. Spread about a tablespoon of the crumbs in the bottom of a parfait glass,* then layer the peanut butter mixture on top. Continue alternating the graham and peanut butter mixtures until the glass is full. The top layer should be the peanut butter mixture. 
5. Use a small ice cream scoop to place a dollop of Cool Whip on top of the parfait. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Repeat in additional parfait glasses.

*I used brandy glasses.