15 Oct 2025
Elena Hogg, founder of local culinary company FOOD by Elena, explores the versatility of the perennially popular spread.
If there were an award for the most poshified grocery item over the last decade, it would undoubtedly go to peanut butter. Long gone are the days when the choice was between Sunpat and Sunpat. Now even the smaller supermarkets stock a decent selection, some brands offering organic, others fair trade, with options for crunchy, smooth, or just a little bit crunchy.
And we’re only ever a few clicks of the mouse away from a treasure trove of online suppliers offering unusual and esoteric flavours that are as mind-spinning as they are mouth-watering, like habanero honey or chai spiced peanut butter.
I bought my husband a variety box of artisanal peanut butters for Christmas last year, lovingly hand-crafted by the Butter Bike Company.
Never did something actually rather good for you taste so deeply indulgent. Founded by a brilliant woman called Jeni, and helped by a serious peanut-grinding machine affectionately known as ‘Big Boy’, Jeni fills and labels each jar by hand before sending them off to salivating customers across the nation.
Of the six jars in the variety pack, first place was tied between ‘Cinnamon & Raisin’ and ‘Everything Bagel’, which contained a moreish combination of onion, garlic and black pepper. Spreading some of these unctuous concoctions on you slice of toast takes your mid-morning pick-me-up to a whole new level.
And pick-me-up is right: peanut butter has recently been catapulted from the sugary-salty naughty step to top of the class in terms of slow-release energy and healthy fat. I now know that having a slice of toast and jam will spike my sugar levels and then send them crashing, but the same slice of toast spread with pure peanut butter causes no such rollercoaster.
Even healthier is that ‘70s throw-back of peanut butter loaded onto celery sticks – just a shade more calorific than the unloaded kind, I grant you, but the contrast of crunchy and creamy, and also of watery and viscous, is deeply enjoyable.
Another retro classic that made a recent comeback is the PBJ – or peanut butter and jelly (or jam) combination.
Somewhat divisive, this sweet-salty melange gets my vote any day of the week and twice on Sundays, and it even holds a place on one of my menus in the form of peanut butter and raspberry jam blondies.
The fruity tang punctuates the rich peanut beautifully and, if you then add a cup of strong tea into the mix, we’re away.
Peanut butter and banana is another winning partnership and one I’ve begun to steer my son towards when he gets the 8pm munchies, which I’m told is commonplace among the permanently hungry fourteen-year-old population.
Usually residing somewhere between ‘unwilling’ and ‘vaguely persuadable’ in terms of preparing himself food, he is now wont to make himself a peanut butter and banana smoothie, which – as far as snacks go – is pretty nutritious and almost manages to keep him full until bedtime.
My all-time favourite, however, is peanut butter and chocolate. We’re talking dizzying levels of addictiveness here. Some time ago I came across a very simple recipe for chocolate cookies that you pebbledash with bashed-up peanuts before baking and then sandwich together with a peanut butter ganache. I like to add a little grind of sea salt to my ganache for the full bliss effect.
Finally, I can’t go without mentioning peanut butter in its savoury guise. A littlelike coconut, which lends itself to a variety of cuisines, perhaps most famously Indian and Thai, peanut butter gives a similar earthy sweetness and richness. I mix it with ground coriander, garlic and soy sauce and add it to chicken or pork stir-fries to bring about a satay vibe, for example. Or I combine peanut butter with miso paste and spread over basa or coley fillets before roasting in the oven for a quick, affordable and nutritious dinner.
And on those difficult days, when the week feels long and all but opening the cutlery drawer is too much effort, your trusty jar of peanut butter requires only a teaspoon to hit the spot.
