Peanut FREE made easy: AllerMates guide to living happily without peanut butter.
When parents learn of their child’s peanut allergy, there are so many things that cross their mind. But you can bet one of the first and most gut wrenching is… “NO. MORE. PEANUT BUTTER?!”
The joys of peanut butter are many. Not only does it taste wonderful, it’s an easy go-to for kids’ lunches. In fact, most people won’t recognize just how much it’s in our lunchrooms until they send their peanut allergy kid to school for the first time. (But we won’t go there.)
If this hits home for you, or you’re new to the world of peanut allergies, the purpose of this post is to let you know that you do have options – and lots of them. So let’s get to it!
Veggie-based butter
Don’t scroll away! This does exist, and it tastes good! : ) There are at least a couple of companies out there making nut-free butter with veggies, specifically peas… yes, you read that right. In fact, we featured one of them in our very first allergy-friendly Goodie Box. It was The Sneaky Chef® No-Nut Butter, and people loved it. You can read about this brand in a previous post, and see why you, too, may enjoy it.
Seed-based butter
You may not have heard of them, but the companies making a peanut-free alternative with sunflower seeds are many. And among those is one of our all-time favorites, SunButter Sunflower Seed Spread. Its consistency is a lot like peanut butter, and it tastes phenomenal. Plus, it has less saturated fat, the same amount of protein and more fiber than the one you’re having to give up. But if your child also has a soy allergy, you may want to steer clear of SunButter since its products are roasted on the same equipment as soybeans. Otherwise, AllerMates highly recommends it!
Soy butter
Since we’re on the subject of soybeans, let’s introduce another option for you – soy butter. There are several brands available, and even more importantly, made in a peanut-free facility. Three that we found to be safe, according to their websites, are I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter, Don’t Go Nuts Soy Butter and WOWBUTTER. Dare to be wow’ed by those!
Tree nut-based butter
Almond, cashew, pecan… yes, you can still have a “nut” in your butter! Countless nut-based options exist, BUT you’ll need to be aware of possible cross contamination, as most of these are manufactured in the same facility with peanuts. To help you out, we did a little digging and were able to locate one that has your peanut allergy kids’ best interests at heart – Barney Butter Almond Butter, and the company “guarantees” it to be both peanut- and gluten-free!
Our hope is that this guide to going peanut butter-free helps ease any anxiety you have about giving up this treasure and introduces some lunch and snack time faves for your kiddos. Unless your child contends with additional allergens listed above, don’t be scared to bring any of these peanut-free alternatives home for your family to try. You’ll be pleasantly surprised just how much they look and taste like the real thing.
(And, as always, please be sure to check your labels. Manufacturing processes are likely to change at any time.)
Iris
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