Best Reviewed
Peanut Butter
- Best creamy peanut butter Skippy Creamy *Est. $2
- Best chunky peanut butter Skippy Super Chunk *Est. $2
- No-stir natural peanut butter Skippy Natural Creamy *Est. $2
- Best natural peanut butter Smucker's Natural Chunky *Est. $3
- Best almond butter Barney Butter Smooth Almond Butter *Est. $9
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Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter 18-ounce jar
- Good balance of salty and sweet
- Nice texture and aroma
- Nutty taste
- Best for sauces and cookies
- Some like Reese's or Jif better
- More sugar and fat than natural peanut butter
We found the best peanut-butter reviews five years apart from Cook's Illustrated, a magazine that specializes in food and cookware, accepts no advertising and thoroughly tests whatever it evaluates. We also found helpful reviews from the St. Petersburg Times, The Washington Post and Newsday, three large daily newspapers with good food sections (meaning less reliance on wire-service copy than most).
Skippy Creamy is a processed peanut butter; it has hydrogenated fat, sugar and salt added, unlike "natural" peanut butters. But it pleases professionals and children, placing at the top or close to it in virtually every review, including one using children ages 8 to 13 as tasters. What pleases the palate are the sweet yet salty additions to the "nuttiness," the aroma and the familiar smooth texture. A 2001 rating by Cook's Illustrated scores the peanut butters according to their taste "raw," in a peanut sauce and in peanut butter cookies. Skippy's placed third "raw" behind Reese's (*est. $3.10 for 18 ounces) and Jif (*est. $3.15 for 18 ounces), but won the other categories. Of course, if you want something less sugary, try a natural peanut better like Smucker's Natural (*est. $4.15 for 16 ounces).
Our Sources
1. Cook's Illustrated MagazineDetails/Subscribe
In this report, Cook's Illustrated reviews nine peanut butters from six different brands. Editors base their findings on two taste tests: straight from the jar and baked into peanut butter cookies.
Review: Peanut Butter, Editors of Cook's Illustrated, Oct. 2006
2. Cook's Illustrated MagazineDetails/Subscribe
Cook's Illustrated is unbiased and thorough, using 20 staffers to taste eight peanut butters in this dated but still useful review.
Review: Conventional Peanut Butters Cream "Natural' Varieties, Editors of Cook's Illustrated, May 2001
This newspaper is owned by a charitable trust and thus has better resources than most newspapers its size, and it tries to do unbiased, high-quality work. Skippy ties for second with Albertson's store brand behind Reese's in a blind taste tests.
Review: Taste: Reese's Wins Peanut Butter Battle, Kathy Saunders, Aug. 4, 2004
4. Newsday.comDetails/Subscribe
Newsday used eleven children ages 8 to 13 to taste-test eight creamy and eight chunky peanut butters spread on white bread, with no jam. Skippy Natural Creamy was first, followed by the standard Skippy Creamy. No comments from the kids, however.
Review: Skippy Takes First Place in Peanut Butter Tasting, Erica Marcus and Beth Whitehouse, Sept. 5, 2007
5. The Washington PostDetails/Subscribe
The Washington Post subjects 19 smooth peanut butters to blind taste tests, although there isn't an indication of how many tasters there were or their qualifications. Skippy Creamy finished second to Simply Jif Creamy.
Review: A Creamy Peanut Butter Taste Taste, Kathleen Stanley, Jan. 3, 2001
6. Real Simple
Real Simple doesn't say how many tasters sampled the "top three best-selling brands and the best-selling natural brand." That means there's not a lot of competition for winner Skippy Creamy (beating Peter Pan and Jif Extra Crunchy).
Review: A Peanut Butter Taste Test, Editors of Real Simple, April 2004
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