As expected, it does indeed taste like oats, which are the number one ingredient in the product. There are subtle hints of brown sugar, maple, and vanilla, just like the jar says. It's mostly smooth, texture-wise. I'd say it's on par with speculoos cookie butter in terms of grittiness. It's a fine grit. Not too intrusive. It's like a pureed granola cereal. It's a little sweet, but honestly I think I might have preferred it a little sweeter. I do enjoy it with a drizzle of honey more than just by itself.
My main issue with granola butter is that it's a grain...and you're spreading it on another grain. Sure, you can drizzle it over ice cream or yogurt. You can use it as a fruit dip. But most applications for butters and spreads like this involve toast or waffles or bagels or what have you.
It's not a bad product at all. I think I just prefer good, old-fashioned peanut butter in the end. If I'm looking for something more indulgent, Trader Joe's Cookie Butter will do the trick—or any other brand like Biscoff or whatever your fave happens to be. I'd take Trader Joe's Peanut Butter with Honey, Trader Joe's Almond Butter, Trader Joe's Cashew Butter, or even Trader Joe's Mixed Nut Butter over this granola butter. But that's just me.
Sonia likes Trader Joe's Granola Butter a bit more than I do, but even she's not a big fan of putting it on toast or other bread products. She's fine with it heated up and drizzled on her yogurt parfait with frozen berries, walnuts, and pecans. I'll admit it's pretty tasty that way.
$5.49 for the 12 oz jar. Gluten free. Vegan. Kosher. It's not my thing, but don't let this review stop you from trying it. It is a bit cheaper than most other granola butter products I've seen out there from other brands and the ingredients are high quality, so I won't shaft it too badly in the score department. I give Trader Joe's Granola Butter six out of ten stars. Sonia will go with seven out of ten.
Sonia's score: 7 out of 10.
Nathan's score: 6 out of 10.
Oh wow....we looooved this one. And I've had Oat Haus at Target before, but I thought this one was just as good. I agree the primary application should not be bread like as a pb substitute, but think out of the box like a dip for an apple, warmed slightly and put over french vanilla ice cream. Spread it on a graham cracker before adding a slice of chocolate and marshmallow in a s'more. Yum
ReplyDeleteYeah I could see it being good any of those ways. I know a lot of people love this product. We'll keep experimenting with it. I just don't think I'll ever like it as much as some other spreads like pb or cookie butter, personally.
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