NuttZo not so GreatZo
As a kid, I was a picky eater (my son’s apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree), but as I aged, I started to branch out and try new things. However, there are still things I’m apprehensive to try.
Writing food reviews has helped me get beyond some of my fears, so I tell myself, “Buck up!” and try it, even if it sounds terrible.
But if I’m being brutally honest with myself, I find the more interesting a product sounds, the more interested I am to try it–especially if it’s a healthy twist on something I already love (that perhaps isn’t so healthy).
In a past blog, I voiced that I don’t care for peanuts, but I do end up liking most peanut products I try.
I know I’m strange, so whatever.
And in my recent food scavenger hunt, I came across something I had never seen on the shelf before, and it wasn’t another peanut product, but instead a spin-off of peanut butter: nut butter.
The only variation I’ve seen is sunbutter. If you aren’t familiar with sunbutter, it’s basically peanut butter, but instead of peanuts, sunflower seeds are used.
It’s a great alternative
for those that have a nut allergy, but still want the sort of luxury peanut butter eaters have (only the easiest sandwich to ever throw together for a work or school lunch).
On Thrive Market last week, when I was browsing the “Nut Butters” category, I came across a jar of “nut” butter made by a company called
It was ridiculously expensive, costing
$12.99 for a small 12 oz jar…
I usually buy the really big container of peanut butter at the store for about $7.98.
Honestly, I really don’t even know why I purchased it, other than being intrigued.
The jar of nut butter contained 7 different seeds and nuts. All seeds and nuts that I was pretty fond of, minus the peanuts. THERE WERE NO PEANUTS.IN.THIS.JAR.
Cashews, almonds, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, flax seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds and celtic sea salt.
NuttZo promised me the highest quality ingredients were used, with no added sugars, oils, preservatives, absolutely nothing artificial, and no palm oil. The product is USDA certified organic, certified Kosher, Plant-Based and Paleo.
Just a little bit of the nutritional label (and peanut butter comparison):
The biggest difference between the two? NuttZo seemed to be higher quality using clean ingredients.
NuttZo was founded back in 2009 by Danielle LiVolsi. She was frustrated with finding a good alternative to a favorite of hers as a little girl, peanut butter. She had two adopted sons, and both of them were very picky eaters.
Danielle set out to make a nut butter that both of her picky eaters would eat.
And of course, Danielle isn’t the only mom with picky eaters.
My son is a picky eater as well, so maybe I can get him to eat some of this too, which is one of the biggest reasons I plopped down over $13 to try this product.
And, it wasn’t just my son who I wanted to try the nut butter, but it was also my husband, who can be pretty selective about what he eats sometimes. Especially when it comes to “health” foods ;)
When I received my order from Thrive Market, I pulled NuttZo out of the box and was immediately confused.
The label on the jar was upside down. Hmm.
I investigated further.
On the side of the NuttZo jar, was a sticker that noted:
And then it mentions the stirring hack: “Use a hand beater to combine until smooth.”
The jar notes something else, “Dip it! Smear it! Eat it by the spoonful!”
Oooh. This sounded promising . . .
So yes, I did as instructed and tried it by the spoonful first.
Then… I will be making myself a pea- Nope! Not peanut butter. Just, Nut Butter- remember?
And then… I will be making myself a nut butter sandwich!
Side note: My little guy is so cute, and I guess has been non-discriminatory towards the nut butters all along, and calls his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, “butter jellies”. That seems more inclusive.
I went right to it and quickly unscrewed the lid, excited to try this new nut butter.
I started pulling at the safety seal on the jar, getting more and more frustrated the harder I pulled on the seal, with no luck.
I had to call in reinforcements, and get something to cut off the safety seal. Gosh, that could have been easier, but at least I knew the nut butter was safe and sound from hackers.
As soon as the safety seal was removed, I expected a strong whiff of some sort of nut or blend of nuts, but nothing.
I had to put the jar closer to my face in order to capture any scent at all, but it wasn’t disappointing.
It smelled like pumpkin seeds straight out of your oven–fresh ones taken from carving a pumpkin on Halloween.
You could smell light smells of a few other nuts- the cashews being the strongest, a little bit of almond, and maybe just a tad of hazelnut.
I tried to stir the jar with my handy dandy spoon, and
GAH! Not another inconvenience.
I’m now remembering that the jar recommended using a hand beater to mix until the butter was smooth… I don’t have a hand beater. So I am stuck with my spoon.
I stirred vigorously. It was a definite challenge, and the not-smooth edges on my spoon were hurting the palm of my hand from how tough it was to stir.
Once I got it a little closer to “smooth,” it started to become more of a slimy, almost liquid consistency. It was very runny. So much so, it was just rolling off my spoon every time I tried to get a spoonful.
I’ve been fooled!
The jar lied! You cannot eat it by the spoonful! It will not let you!
This nut butter must have a lot of oils (natural oils obviously) in it; it’s just running off the spoon like oil.
I tried my best to get a spoonful of it to taste, but it kept sliding off the spoon. So I just went in and licked the spoon.
Disappointment. All over again.
Pumpkin seeds was the second to last ingredient listed, but it should have been the first.
The nut butter tasted of pumpkin seeds, almost entirely. There was hardly any hints of other nuts, but maybe flax seeds and a bit of cashew.
The butter was smooth visually, but had a bit of a grainy texture in the mouth, and I really didn’t care for that.
Don’t get me wrong, I love salted pumpkin seeds, but I wouldn’t ever buy a pumpkin seed spread. I wouldn’t be interested in the slightest.
So NuttZo, you’re telling me I just ordered a $13 pumpkin seed spread?!
Alright, I will give you one more chance…
I’m going to replace the peanut butter on a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich with the nut butter. And we’ll see how that tastes.
It’s kind of wild that I keep finding products on Thrive Market that work well in pairs, but not really by themselves.
Well, you could absolutely replace peanut butter with this, because add the jelly and put it between two slices of bread, and voila!
The grape jelly (and I now wish I had strawberry to try with it) really brought out different nutty flavors.
The cashews were more prominent now, along with a little background of almond and hazelnut, and obviously still with a pumpkin seed taste.
So I was able to get beyond NuttZo’s first impression, and I like the non-profit the company supports which ensures better futures for underprivileged children (and I would donate to that cause), BUT…
I can’t get behind a $13 jar of nut butter–even if it’s a decent tasting product.
In my brutally honest opinion, you gotta be nutty to buy this stuff.