Those who can’t stand the cold may disagree, but I firmly believe that the last four months of the year are the best. This is primarily because it is the holiday season! Most importantly, the holiday food season has started, which means that food brands are rolling out holiday-themed products, including some that you probably don’t need. In a world of too many choices, we’ve decided to make the holiday season a little bit easier for you by sampling and reviewing Wild Friends seasonal peanut butter flavors.
If you haven’t heard of Wild Friends nut butter by now, you may be living under a rock. The brand was started by two friends during college and is currently sold at grocery stores across the country, include Key Food, Target, Kroger, and Ralphs. The recently released seasonal flavors are all gluten-free and vegan.
Our Seasonal Variety Three Pack included pumpkin spice, gingerbread, and sugar cookie, and we rated them on a scale from one to ten. The flavors were evaluated on a basis of taste, and the ratings include both my opinions and those of my mom (Sair) and sister (Ila), to make the taste test less subjective. The evaluations also include recommended serving suggestions for each flavor, just in case eating straight out of the jar isn’t sophisticated enough for you.
Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter
Since Starbucks began developing its now-famous fall beverage in 2003, the Pumpkin Spice Latte has been everywhere. We’ve seen a rise in all sorts of Pumpkin Spice flavored treats, from burgers to homemade Pumpkin Spice Granola. Over the past few years, it seemed as though the world had seen it all. Today, we tried the Wild Friends Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter to see how it stacks up.
Sair: “It’s mild, not overpowering; not too sweet, you could use it every day.” 8/10
Pazit: “I really like this one, strong clove flavor; really tastes like pumpkin pie, which I’m not normally a huge fan of, but this is good. It does taste more like almond butter than peanut butter.” 9/10
Ila: “I’m not a huge pumpkin person to begin with and I couldn’t really taste the ‘peanut butter’ part at all. The pumpkin was there and I didn’t really enjoy it- basically, I would eat it if there wasn’t any other nut butter but overall, meh.” 5/10
The Verdict: This doesn’t have the strongest peanut butter taste, but if you like pumpkin spice, you’ll love this. If you aren’t a PSL fan, it might not be your favorite.
Average Rating: 7.33/10
Serving Recommendations: Eat this in the morning on top of your oatmeal or toast. This also pairs well with fresh berries, or simply a spoon to eat out of the jar (like I did).
Sugar Cookie Peanut Butter
Everyone has their favorite sugar cookie recipe. It’s a comfort cookie, a classic, along with gingerbread and chocolate chip. So we tried it in Peanut Butter form.
Sair: “I wouldn’t have known it was sugar cookie because I don’t actually taste much of anything, it just tastes like slightly sweet peanut butter. That one’s very mild, it’s disappointing. 4/10
Pazit: “I taste cinnamon, which I like, but it’s just too sweet. I kind of lost the peanut butter flavor.” 3/10
Ila: “It basically just tasted like sweet nut butter – which isn’t bad. I really enjoyed it, but I didn’t taste the peanut butter part of it at all.” 7.5/10
The Verdict: Overall, this one was pretty disappointing. It doesn’t really taste like peanuts or sugar cookies. It was definitely the least exciting flavor.
Average Rating: 4.83/10
Serving Recommendations: This would likely make a good frosting to turn muffins into cupcakes. Alternatively, try dipping apples for a sweet snack
Gingerbread Peanut Butter
Gingerbread is one of the most classic holiday cookies. It’s been around far longer than Pumpkin Spice and generally has a more distinct flavor than a Sugar Cookie. The molasses-filled cookie is not only delicious on its own, but we also like to build miniature houses out of it and use its flavors for other foods, like granola. This distinct flavor made us especially excited to try it as a peanut butter.
Sair: “Very strong gingerbread flavor. I would put it on dessert or something.” 8/10
Pazit: “A bit sweet; it kind of tastes like gingerbread flavored buttercream or cream cheese frosting.” 6.5/10
Ila: “OMG SO FREAKING GOOD MY GOD. It was like sweet but also had the spiciness of the ginger – it was subtle but it was there – and it really balanced itself out and it was really good.” 9.5/10
The Verdict: This is pretty sweet and tastes a lot like gingerbread. As long as you like those things, there isn’t much to complain about.
Average Rating: 8/10
Serving Recommendations: Serve on top of pancakes for a decadent breakfast, or upgrade your dessert by putting this on brownies. If you really want to get wild, try pairing it with this gingerbread loaf.
There is one holiday flavor not included in this article, and for that I apologize to those looking for a review of chocolate pumpkin spice peanut butter, which was not included in the three-pack of holiday flavors purchased for the intent of this article. That being said, if you are looking for some nut butters to sweeten up your life, head to the nearest supermarket and stock up on these delicious flavors!