Product Review: Wild Friends Foods Vanilla Espresso Almond Butter

Product: Wild Friends Foods Vanilla Espresso Almond Butter – $1.99+

I am not very good about blogging about various spreads and nut butters that I try.  I don’t know why…but mostly because it’s hard to wax rhapsodic about different varieties of nut butters…because…while they don’t all taste the same…it’s the same thing.  Besides, I’m a  Trader Joe’s Creamy Peanut Butter girl.  That doesn’t change.

Except…when something leaps out at me and catches my eye.

That was the case this past visit to Birmingham, Alabama.  I went to my mom’s favorite natural food store, Organic Harvest, and was shopping around for some products to try that I had never seen in my area.  I was walking the aisles, doing my initial scouting when I spotted little sample packs of almond butters at the bottom of one of the shelves.

The brand: Wild Friends Foods.

The flavor: Vanilla Espresso Almond Butter.

HELLO!!  How could I not buy this?!  I had to.  So, it was one of the items that I chose to bring home with me to try.  And…that’s what happened.  All I needed was the perfect opportunity to use it and to allow it to shine.  I mean…vanilla…espresso…almond butter.  That’s three of my favorite things all rolled into one product.  I was elated.  I was in heaven.  I…needed to find something to use it with.

And so…it all came together one morning when I was toasting up some gluten-free cinnamon raising English muffins.  I had pulled out some butter and honey to top the English muffins with, but then I recalled this spread.  So I decided to do half of the English muffins with the butter and honey, and the other half with this amazing sounding almond butter.

I made a fantastic choice.

The Wild Friends Foods Vanilla Espresso Almond Butter is just as amazing as it sounds.  It has all the texture and flavor of almond butter, but elevated with the bits of ground up espresso beans and the amazing aroma and flavor of vanilla.  It’s almond butter taken to the nth degree.  And there is nothing wrong with that at all.  This packet, once kneaded as instructed, provided a creamy, flavorful topper for the cinnamon raising English muffin.  The espresso bits don’t get in the way or overpower the natural flavor of the almond butter.  In fact, they serve as a bit of a flavor enhancer.   And it was AWESOME!!  Trust me, even my roommate was raving about it.  Seriously…I wish I could find this stuff here.

So, let’s talk about the ingredients.  One very important thing about Wild Friends Foods is that the creators wanted to make fun flavors of nut butters without the white sugars, preservatives, additives, or oil.  So, instead of using slick oils and processed sweeteners, they use natural ingredients that are awesome…and…yes…healthy!  The Vanilla Espresso Almond Butter contains almonds, organic agave, natural vanilla flavor, espresso, and sea salt.  That’s it.  It is non-GMO, dairy-free, gluten-free, and kosher.

Nutritionally speaking, you can’t beat these statistics when it comes to almond butter.  The Wild Friends Foods Vanilla Espresso Almond Butter has a serving size of 2 tablespoons.  This serving will provide you with 190 calories and 17 grams of fat (but it’s the healthy fat you get from nuts…so don’t freak out, okay?).  You will also be getting 95 mg sodium and 2 grams of sugar.  And finally, you will be taking in 3 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein.

And it really does taste amazing.  Possibly my favorite almond butter I have had to date.  I wish I had more than just the sample pack.  From a quick check on the Wild Friends Foods Web site, it looks like a regular jar of this flavor is a whopping $11.99.  One jar.  But…I would say it was worth it.  For now, I guess I’ll just supplement with the amazing little sample packs whenever I go to Birmingham.

If you can order it online to try it…or if you can find it locally…don’t hesitate…just do it!