Rapunzel Peanut Butter Schoko-Caramel

Rating: 3/10

• 🥜 Category: Peanut, Smooth, Plain
• Country of origin: Germany

Here we are, bravely wading through the emotional archives as I clean out my chaotically organised notes apps (multiple) and trying to decode tasting notes from The European PB haul. That trip feels like a different era: a tiny sun-drenched chapter that feels both recent and very far away. Recent evidence suggests that underneath it all though I remain fundamentally the same person, i.e. someone who would book a trip around a marathon (see screenshot from a few days ago):

As we know, growth is not always linear. To quote a recent French class conversation: je suis montée... je suis descendue (oh là là, je suis tombée!). Sometimes life is just going up and going (falling) down, and maybe all we can hope for is some decent peanut butter review content in between (I'm working on it, OK??????).

This pot is Rapunzel's Peanut Butter Schoko-Caramel, which I bought in Berlin (ja, genau). Unfortunately, this tastes less like actual chocolate and more like fake caramel and Halloween "choc" (a.k.a. chocolate compound) with distinct notes of lipstick. It's like something you would apply to your lips in 2004 from a tiny plastic pot (or if you are me, 2026, as I am also obsessed with anything pumpkin spice flavoured and decided that the Trader Joe's cinnamon roll lip mask would fix something in me).

The texture does not help: it is glossy and thick in a petroleum-jelly sort of way, and somehow keeps its shape like lip balm. I think it's the added oil (I spy palm, sunflower, clarified butter). I wanted a fairytale but I got a nightmare 😱

Pic's Peanut & Chocolate Butter

Rating: 8/10

• 🥜 Category: Peanut, Crunchy, Flavoured
• Country of origin: New Zealand

Happy 2026!

New year, new review, and some very fun life admin. I was kindly gifted a sourdough starter at the end of last year (its name is Doughy), so I have been regularly baking beautiful boules and doing what feels morally correct: generously slathering my favourite spreads on still-warm homemade bread. Bliss. I also start marathon training on Monday (for my first international marathon!!!), which means PB4PB will soon be fully back in action. I am a runner fuelled by peanut butter and groovy jams (it says so on my Strava).

I was also blessed last year when I went into the office and two colleagues absolutely nailed it with gifts: Pics Peanut & Chocolate Butter (little treat from Aotearoa), and an echidna plushie (little treat from Japan) to add to my cute anteater collection.

This jar originally launched back in 2021 and quickly sold out, then made a welcome, but only occasional, return thanks to fan demand. It is a solid 8/10!!! It's not as dark as I like my chocolate/peanut butter usually, but it's a pleasant milk/dark choccy combo that is not too sweet. And I do love Whittaker's chocolate, the Kiwis do have that going for them. Plus the crunch of peanuts is very satisfying - would take this over Nutella any day.

If you can get your grubby mitts on a jar, I think it's worth your time.

🥜🍫

Ground Up Cinnamon Snickerdoodle Almond & Cashew Butter

Rating: 6/10

• 🥜 Category: Almond/Cashew, Smooth, Flavoured
• Country of origin: USA

Checking in from sunny Seattle, Washington, with a spontaneous mini review!

I've been staying in an aparthotel while I've been here because I wanted more excuses to check out the fancy grocery stores/delis that Seattle and its surrounds had to offer, and make myself food. Eating out all the time sounds glamorous until it isn't, you know?

I found these single nut butter sachets at Whole Foods and decided to use this one as a topping on my brown sugar and vanilla protein oats (another purchase from the same trip), with almond milk, so I have no other serving suggestions besides that and straight-out-of-the-sachet. We listen and we don't judge.

Flavour-wise, this nut butter leans heavily on the coconut. The cinnamon is more of a whisper in the background. The texture is boosted by the MCT oil. Classic almond grittiness meets cashew creaminess. It’s a familiar formula, and it works. The sweetness is nice - the honey is mild-flavoured - and the salt level is great. It isn't giving me snickerdoodle cookie, though - more a slightly sweet snickerdoodle inspired granola bowl. Pretty good, but not craveable.

Big Spoon Roasters Cowgirl Cookie Peanut Butter

Rating: 9/10

• 🥜 Category: Peanut, Smooth/Crunchy, Flavoured
• Country of origin: USA
• Serving suggestion: Anything that works with coconut and chocolate - pictured is my Greek yoghurt overnight oats, home-squeezed mango puree, banana coins, shredded coconut, A-grade cinnamon with a huge dollop of Cowgirl Cookie PB; or for moments where you care not for decorum, straight out of the jar with a big spoon (ha ha)

This is not a straight nut butter: it includes granola so is more a nut/granola butter (I know granola butter is more of a concept in the US, definitely rarer to find local to me) so my blog's categorisation is slightly wrong. For all intents and purposes though I will rate it as a novelty/flavoured peanut butter. I have also seen a rise on social media recently of nut butters with mix-ins (we love to see it) which I have decided will fall in the same tag.

This is incredible - so very moreish. In the words of an influencer recording a video with their hand behind the jar to show the label to the camera, I am obsessed.

The ingredients list: peanuts, pan-roasted pecans, granola, coconut nectar and maple syrup, dark chocolate chips (sourced from French Broad Chocolate of Asheville NC), vanilla and sea salt. It seems like it would be too much, but they have the flavour balance on point. Close your eyes and you can taste all the notes. My one very tiny textural fault is that because of the relative size of the pecans, you might get a spoonful where you are missing one.

It's a novelty product - I'm not going to pretend for one second that I care about versatility here. But it's a limited edition jar - you enjoy your delicious treat made even more special by its transience. If you can get your hands on it, buy for a sweet and salty dessert-masquerading-as-breakfast dollop on your morning Greek yogurt bowl, or on your toast, or even as a dessert topper (if I were more of an ice cream person, I would mix this through a really good vanilla ice cream or coconut sorbet and add a swirl of passionfruit - yum).

Or just spoon it straight out of the jar - I quite literally cannot judge 😉

Mayver's Smooth Chocolate Protein+ Peanut Butter

 Rating: 5.5/10

• 🥜 Category: Peanut, Smooth, Flavoured
• Country of origin: Australia
• Serving suggestion: Mixed with Dutch processed cocoa powder and a splash of hot water to loosen, spread onto toast and topped with sliced banana

I think this was actually my second time purchasing this (the first pre-peanut butter blog), and, strangely, both occasions were very similar. On my most recent trip to Sydney, we stayed at a serviced apartment (for multiple reasons - proximity to a long run location, more space, access to a laundry, etc. etc. but also because it had a working kitchen) and I purchased this spread to make breakfast bagels. On the previous trip to Sydney, which was to run City2Surf, I also stayed at a serviced apartment and purchased this same spread to top my pre-run breakfast toast. Perhaps the combination of 'chocolate' and 'protein' just gets me excited when I'm looking for a quick thing to snarf before running unexplored roads, and, I reason, I won't have to buy additional flavourings (cinnamon, cardamom) or the protein bread I like if I know I won't get enough protein later in the day. (Note: I'm not obsessive about macros but I am very active and try to eat lots of plant-based meals, so I do think about protein.)

Anyway, I had the same reaction as I did the first time - it's okay, maybe slightly better than okay, but requires some dressing up to actually make this exciting when I'm at home, in my kitchen, and I do have access to additional flavourings.

Let's start with what I like about it - the base, as with all Mayver's products I've tried - is enjoyable, as in the peanut flavour comes through with no staleness. It's not too sweet, as I expect: it's not marketed as a Nutella/chocolate spread alternative but more a flavoured peanut butter, and this is reflected in the sugar content being quite low to begin with.

Now the not-so-good: the chocolate flavour is so slight it's almost not worth it. As per my serving suggestions, I am pretty much always adding extra cacao powder (Gewürzhaus has a gorge one) to amp the flavour right up because I love to be punched in the face in the morning. Also, yes, there is slightly more protein compared to the regular degular PB as per the jar's claim - owing to the extra peanut flour - but this makes the spread really gloopy (which I fix using a bit of hot water).

Are these tradeoffs worth it? You decide. (By you, I mean the future Retno who is on the next Sydney trip deciding which breakfast spread to buy at an unfamiliar supermarket.)

Fix & Fogg Peanut Butter and Jelly

Rating: 7/10

• Served with: Stovetop oatmeal porridge (made with lactose free dairy milk and sweetener), cinnamon, Chobani Fit blueberry Greek yoghurt, sliced strawberries, sliced banana
• 🥜 Category: Peanut, Crunchy, Flavoured
• Country of origin: New Zealand

It has always been an absolute treat for me to go to the grocery store and stare at the peanut butter aisle, but it became even more so when I moved within walking distance to a Woolies and could therefore easily access Fix & Fogg peanut butters.

As soon as I saw this psychedelic jar labelled 'Peanut Butter and Jelly' I knew I had to get it into my hot little hands. The idea of a PB&J spread gave me so much nostalgia and took me right back to the younger version of me who lived in Malaysia and had a penchant for the French toast whose exact recipe I read in a kids magazine one time, Rotiboy coffee buns, and Smucker's Goober Peanut Butter Jelly Stripes. That's right - I had the real peanut butter and jelly, and I wanted to relive that experience.

This is definitely a slightly more grown-up, put-together older sibling of the Goober stuff, no fake jelly and texturally-too-consistent peanut spread, but instead F&F's chunky peanut butter with chewy pieces of freeze-dried raspberries and mixed berries (and apple, apparently). It doesn't shy away from its inner child, though. It's literally (naturally) dyed pink and tastes a lot like raspberry candy.

It's not for everyone. But what it is is whimsical and playful and a good time, and would be lovely in a smoothie or on top of your oats or as a biscuit filling.

Justin's Cinnamon Almond Butter

Rating: 6.5/10

• Served with: Stovetop oatmeal porridge (made with lactose free dairy milk and sweetener), cinnamon, Chobani Fit salted caramel Greek yoghurt, sliced strawberries, sliced banana
• 🥜 Category: Almond, Smooth, Flavoured
• Country of origin: USA

OK, OK, OK. I couldn't talk a big game about my 'famous stovetop oatmeal porridge' and not actually make it for breakfast sometime this week. Saw a perfect opportunity when I looked at my work calendar first thing in the morning and found a very chock-a-block morning awaiting me. CoolGruel/Fuel to the rescue.

I couldn't be bothered bringing back entire jars of nut butter this time since I was only in San Francisco for a short business trip. I only found 3 types of Justin's sachets when I went to the Safeway closest to my hotel so sadly this is the last of my mini-haul. As predicted, though, it turned out to be my favourite.

Texture was pretty similar to the Justin's Maple Almond Butter, a slight graininess as is expected from an almond butter, but I find it's much less noticeable if you use it as a topping on oatmeal rather than on toast (even adds a bit of a contrast). This one seemed to be even more homogenous/consistent than the other one though - points for this.

As I've found with the other Justin's products I've tried, the advertised flavouring was quite mild; I definitely had to enhance my breakfast with a generous dusting of cinnamon of my own. I have read online reviews saying that it's not a bang for your buck product - I don't remember how much I paid, and for the purposes of this blog I didn't prioritise this - but I do see what they mean.

All in all, not a bad little nut butter number. If they had these next to the oatmeal bar that some airport lounges have, I'd definitely add some on top of my bowl, along with that really sweet compote they often provide (too specific?).

Justin's Honey Peanut Butter

Rating: 5/10

• Served with: Sliced strawberries and sliced banana & cinnamon on on toasted Helga’s wholemeal & seeds bread
• 🥜 Category: Peanut, Smooth, Flavoured
• Country of origin: USA

Full disclosure that I will be harsher when rating peanut butters because it's my favourite and that is probably what I will be reviewing the most!!! (Maybe a spoiler but surely you cracked it from the blog title???)

This one is average - not bad by any means but quite unmemorable. A slightly more grown-up version of that classic sweet/salty Kraft (now Bega)-style spread, with a more ‘natural’ feel. I love honey with peanut butter so I’d love to have tasted it - the flavour doesn’t come through at all, just comes off as a slight, generic, sweetness. A floral/fruity number would have been fun. Saltiness was fine, texture was ok, unsure why peanut butter would need added palm oil given it’s already more fatty than almonds (and surely peanut oil if not???). Aftertaste was slightly odd - it doesn't taste stale to begin with but it does at the end, and had a hint of unchanged oil.

Justin’s Maple Almond Butter

Rating: 5.5/10

• Served with: 2 slices of toasted Helga’s wholemeal & seeds bread; half a sliced overripe banana; cinnamon
• 🥜 Category: Almond, Smooth, Flavoured
• Country of origin: USA

The first of the sachets I bought from Safeway and brought back with me on a whirlwind trip to the States!

Subtle maple flavour from the maple sugar, not too sweet and quite a nice balance with the saltiness. Texture honestly wasn’t awful (yes, I did follow the sachet directions!) for almond butter, but this was probably because of the added palm oil. Still snagged the bread a little but no major dramas. No staleness but flavour was unremarkable, if not a little bland. May have been nicer just with plain Greek yogurt, but that wasn’t really what I was after for late breakfast/brunch.