Crunchy vs creamy peanut butter is arguably one of the most heated food debates to ever exist. The debate is so serious that surveys have been done, Twitter continuously showcases opposing opinions and I'm betting friendships have been ruined (OK, maybe that last one is a bit dramatic). Facts are facts, though: creamy peanut butter is better than crunchy peanut butter, and the following six reasons prove it.
Surveys have shown that creamy PB is preferred
The National Peanut Board states that 56 percent of people prefer creamy peanut butter to crunchy peanut butter. They’ve also discovered that women and children enjoy creamy peanut butter more, while men lean toward crunchy peanut butter. Remember the age-old phrase “women are always right?” Well, clearly we are here.
According to an interview by Columbia University with Jon Krampner, the author of "Creamy and Crunchy: An Informal History of Peanut Butter, the All-American Food," 80 percent of peanut butter sold in the United States is creamy peanut butter. Only 17 percent of the country invests in crunchy peanut butter (the remaining 3 percent of sales comes from jars that contain a mixture of peanut butter and jelly), and that should speak for itself.
Beyond professional surveys, I decided to take matters into my own hands by creating a poll on Twitter, asking my followers to vote for their favorite type of peanut butter. My first poll wasn't working, but when I finally figured it out, 60 percent of the voters professed their love for creamy PB, which is on trend with other peanut butter statistics.
A Spoon University poll also revealed that 70 percent of college students prefer creamy peanut butter, as well. While studies are generally the strongest element behind any argument, there are several more reasons for why creamy peanut butter is better than crunchy peanut butter.
Crunchy peanut butter ruins soft bread
I honestly can’t say it any better than Thrillist’s Kevin Alexander: “Have you ever tried to take a knife and use it to spread gravel mixed with Elmer’s glue onto a soft porous surface?"
Using crunchy peanut butter to make a PB&J involves some serious risk taking. The bread either tears or ends up as flat as cardboard due to a vigorous attempt at spreading the evil, clumpy paste. A squished PB&J is the equivalent of dry mac and cheese – it’s sad, and slightly gross.
Creamy peanut butter is much sexier
Creamy PB is as smooth as a baby’s bottom and is the shade of warm Hawaiian sand. Crunchy PB, on the other hand, is a bumpy brown mess. It doesn’t come out of the jar on a spoon in the perfect, round mound in which creamy PB does. Instead, it’s a gross runny and lumpy blob.
If you want to take “sexy” literally, creamy peanut butter is much friendlier for bedroom activities, if you know what I’m sayin’. No one wants to chew on anything while they're in the bedroom, unless we're talking breakfast in bed.
The Aztecs invented peanut butter, and that shit was creamy
That’s right — creamy peanut butter was the first kind of peanut butter to exist. According to The Huffington Post, we know that the Aztecs are noted as being the first to create PB, although their's was closer to a peanut paste. They would mash up peanuts until it the nuts transformed into a relatively smooth paste.
In 1884, peanut paste was patented – the key word being “paste,”(so, on the creamy side). Given the technology at the time, a paste was the smoothest consistency that peanuts could be reduced to. However, in 1922, a chemist named Joseph Rosefield discovered a way to create legitimate creamy peanut butter. Later, he then went on to create Peter Pan Peanut Butter.
Notice that through this history lesson, creamy peanut butter has always been the goal. In my opinion, that’s because they knew they could just eat peanuts instead of tainting the perfection that is creamy PB. Thank you, history.
Creamy PB works better for baking and smoothies
Let me preface this with the fact that nuts truly take any baked good from an 11 to a 3. I do not want crunchy bits in my chewy brownie, dammit!
Crunchy peanut butter takes so much away from the soft, cakey texture of any and all baked goods. Can you imagine a crunchy buckeye? Or even worse, crunchy peanut butter fudge? This is the stuff that nightmares are made of, truly.
As for smoothies, they’re supposed to be just that: smooth. Unless you’ve got an incredible blender, putting crunchy PB in your “smoothie” is going to result in a smoothie that needs to be chewed. I, among my creamy PB people, am not here for that.
You can technically shave your legs with creamy peanut butter
OK, so it's not the most enjoyable experience to clean sticky peanut butter out of your razor, but imagine running chunks of peanuts over your legs and picking actual peanuts out of your razor. At least with creamy, you can just run your razor under soap and water to clean it. Nonetheless, shaving with peanut butter leaves your skin smooth and moisturized.
Crunchy peanut butter’s single saving grace
Alright all you crunchy lovers, this is your (only) time to shine. According to Prevention.com, crunchy peanut butter is slightly healthier than its creamy counterpart. While both types of PB generally have an equal amount of calories, fat, sugar, and carbs, crunchy peanut butter contains less saturated fat and has 2 percent more fiber per serving.
However, creamy peanut butter does have more protein, but we’ll let crunchy have its healthy title, especially since it doesn’t really have anything else going for it.
As we near the end of this peanut butter journey, I think it’s safe to say that in the debate of crunchy vs creamy peanut butter, creamy is the clear winner. While it technically may not be proven to be as healthy as its crunchy counterpart, creamy peanut butter is more popular, is easier to spread, and is much more visually appealing. Creamy PB, we love you. Thank you for all that you do.