"peanut butter" news and stories

A passion for peanut butter can drive a person to do crazy things -- eat entire jars in one sitting (I'm looking at you, boss); leave the safety of a hiding spot for Reese's Pieces (it's ok, it all turned out okay for E.T. in the end); or, in the case of Lee Zalben, open a shop that sells peanut butter in a variety of palate-bending flavors.

In the 13 years since Zalben first introduced Peanut Butter & Co. to New York City, he's continued to reinvent the PB&J. Last year, he challenged himself to create a new peanut butter sandwich for every day of the year. He did it, and 365 exotic, clever and downright crazy concoctions later, the idea for Nutropolitan -- "the world's first PB&J art exhibit" -- was born.

The Nutropolitan Museum of Art -- a three-day pop-up art gallery featuring images of some of Zalben's sandwich creations -- is the product of Zalben's peanut-butter know-how, food stylist Patty White's execution, and photographer Theresa Raffetto's artful lens. Just in time for National Peanut Month, Zalben, together with the National Peanut Board and Openhouse Gallery, is putting his artwork on display.

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Happy National Peanut Butter Cookie Day!

For those that are tickled by a savory bent to their sweets, peanut butter cookies are a timeless treasure, with a subtle saltiness and complexity unparalleled in most desserts.

Though nuts were introduced in cookies as early as the 1900s, it wasn't until the 1930s that we find evidence of creamy peanut butter -- as opposed to chopped peanuts -- first finding its way into cookie ingredient lists. Marked by the typical cross-hatch pattern, the cookies are believed to cook to a better crisp when evenly distributed by a fork.

For a classic 1933 Pillsbury recipe for "Peanut Butter Balls," head to the Food Timeline site. If you're feeling particularly adventurous, we recommend following Flickr photographer Sevenworlds16's lead (pictured above) to baking these Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies -- she promises they're "as good as they sound and then some."

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How long will your peanut, cashew and almond butter last on the shelf?

Happy National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day!

The childhood brown-bag staple is a classic many adult Americans still hold close to heart. Though the first official record of the immortal PBJ combo was recorded in 1901, did you know that peanut butter, when it first made its appearance, was considered a specialty product? It was once served in upscale eateries paired with unexpected items, like pimentos, at New York's Ye Olde English Coffee House, or served with watercress at the Vanity Fair Tea-Room. According to Peanuts: The Illustrious History of the Goober Pea, "That peanut butter could be combined with so many divers products demonstrated that it was a relatively neutral platform providing a nutty taste and a sticky texture that bound together various ingredients."

As the price of the specialty item decreased and sugar was added, appealing to a younger audience, peanut butter became a national sensation in the early 1900s -- and it became a go-to filling for sandwiches, which increased popularity with the appearance of sliced bread in the late 1920s. According to Peanuts, "As a consequence of low cost, high nutrition, and ease of assembling, peanut butter sandwiches became one of the top children's meals during the Depression."

And the sandwich has stuck with its popularity -- to date, the average American boy will eat some 1,500 peanut butter sandwiches before reaching the age of 18!

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