There’s more ways to celebrate food in November than just dining on Thanksgiving turkey and cranberry sauce. It’s also “National Peanut Butter Lovers” month, which means fans of the popular spread have a great excuse to indulge. Packed with protein and flavor, peanut butter has been around since the late 1800s but wasn’t perfected into the spreadable paste we’ve come to love until the mid-1930s. Traditionally associated with a brown bag lunch, today you can satisfy your craving for the nutty treat with epicurean delights that are a far cry from the fare frequenting grade school cafeterias.
Monkey Butter Gourmet Peanut Butter
Peanut butter options used to be pretty much confined to two choices, smooth or chunky. Thanks to boutique peanut butter crafters like Monkey Butter, those limits have been lifted. Ground in small batches using all natural ingredients, the specialty peanut butters from Monkey Butter are available in trendy seasonal flavors like Pumpkin Spice and Cookies n’ Cream. Can’t decide what exactly you’re in the mood for? Monkey Butter offers a sample pack of their 6 original flavors (white chocolate raspberry, salted caramel, dark chocolate banana, maple bacon, white chocolate pretzel and dark chocolate cherry) for indecisive types and those that like to try everything at least once.
Vosges Haut-Chocolat Peanut Butter Sea Salt Bonbons
Bonbons have a reputation for being a decadent indulgence and the peanut butter sea salt confections from Vosges Haut-Chocolat more than live up to that notoriety. Each bonbon is filled with a creamy organic peanut butter infused with pink Himalayan salt and encased in rich velvety chocolate. Crowned with a smattering of Maldon salt to add crunch, it’s a delicious juxtaposition of sweet and savory.
Vosges Haut-Chocolat is an upscale Chicago-based chocolatier founded by Katrina Markoff. Markoff has earned numerous accolades for her way with chocolate, including the Bon Appétit Food Artisan of the Year and top innovator in chocolate by Food and Wine Magazine. Vosges Haut-Chocolat was also named one of the 10 Best Chocolatiers in the World by National Geographic. And best of all, you can feel good about purchasing their naughty treats, the company is committed to manufacturing green, packaging green, shipping green and living green.
Related: National Chocolate Day Cocktails
NutLiquor Peanut Butter Flavored Vodka
For those who’d rather drink their indulgences, there’s NutLiquor. Produced by Pandora Spirits, NutLiquor flavored vodka tastes like the fluffy center of a peanut butter cup. With a creamy texture and a lingering peanut butter cup after-taste, the 69-proof blended vodka is smooth enough to enjoy. It’s also perfect for simple drink recipes that call for a nutty base. These themed cocktails from the company’s online guide are just the thing for celebrating National Peanut Butter Lovers month.
Peanut Butter Cup Martini
- 2.5 oz. NutLiquor™
- .5 oz. Chocolate Vodka
- Splash of heavy cream
PB & J Martini
- 2.5 oz. NutLiquor™
- .5 oz. Chambord
Bubbies Peanut Butter Flavored Mochi Ice Cream
Peanut butter mochi ice cream? Yes, please. The delightful combination of creamy peanut butter ice cream swaddled in a delicious sweetened dark brown rice mochi is the brainchild of Bubbies Homemade Ice Cream & Desserts. A “Made in Hawaii” product, Bubbies confections are also available at hip restaurants and upscale markets around the globe, but you don’t need to travel to experience them. Bubbies mochi ice creams are shipped worldwide, so you can enjoy the frozen bite-sized treats in the comfort of your own home.