I am sorry to have to tell you this, but there is a nut butter you need to try. Maybe you have a normal personās pantry, in which case I donāt apologize. But if you are anything like meāinclined to overstuff your cabinets with blended, spreadable, nut-based creationsāI know this is bad news.
My kitchen contains so many nut butters, a collection that ebbs and flows as I sample new brands and return to old favorites. In particular, Iām a fan of the specialty stuff, which I gravitate toward like a fancy little squirrel: pretty glass jars with interesting ingredient lists and price tags that would make a Skippy-head do a spit take. I donāt need another nut butter; I don't have space for another nut butter; I should probably spend my money on a vegetable instead of another nut butter. And yet I must report that Fix & Fogg nut butter, which will set you back ~$10, is so good that Iām currently debating shelling out for a fourth jar.
Avid nut butter consumers will tell you that there are really three categories: Utilitarian, Wacky, and Secretly Dessert. Fix & Fogg makes some of each variety. First, there are the Utilitarians, basic jars of either smooth or crunchy butters which F&F makes with peanuts, almonds, or cashews. These are pleasant and homey, made with only nuts and salt, and stretch easily between sweet (cookies!) and savory (noodles!) applications. For many, plain peanut butter is a nostalgic and personal thing: Itās unlikely that a new brand could unseat your old-school fave. Iāll wager that if any jars could come close, itād be these. They elevate the flavor to something a little more adult and versatile.
Then there are the Wackiesāfor me, the real reason to seek out Fix & Fogg. The peanut butter-coffee version is spiked with maple syrup and makes a dreamy pancake topper. The Everything Butter, a blend of eight nuts and seeds, is hearty and savory. Itās great with jam, of course, but also whisked into sauces and salad dressings, blended into hummus, spooned on a rice bowl, or spread on a loaded vegetarian sandwich. Most unexpected of all is the spread called Smoke and Fire, which is peanuts blended with Hatch chiles, Manuka smoke, and sweet smoked Spanish paprikaāa combination that makes me do all sorts of wild and incredulous gestures with my hands and face. Itās a peanut butter for burgers and barbecue, which is something I didnāt know I needed until now.
As for Secretly Dessertāstyle nut butters, Fix & Fogg goes hard on chocolate. Chocolate-hazelnut, chocolate-crunchy almond, and dark chocolate-crunchy peanut butter are the kinds of rich, decadent spreads that are almost too good to qualify for breakfast (but that make a truly bananas paniniāwith or without bananas). Theyāre flexible, too, in their own way: Spread the love anywhere you would that other nutty, chocolaty condimentāon top of fruit, crepes, or ice cream, swirled into brownies, or even sandwiched into a grilled cheese.
The couple behind Fox & Fogg started jarring their perfect, palm oilāfree spreads in New Zealand in 2015, but only brought the product to the internetāand then the United Statesātwo years ago. This was a big leap: The companyās website calls the U.S. āthe home of peanut butter,ā which is literally true but also felt flattering to readāwe love our PB and weāre tough on lame impersonations. But the F&F products took off and are now available in stores across the country and from a peanut butter retail window (my new favorite phrase!) in Houston, Texas. If you live nearby, please visit and let me know if itās as magical as I imagine: a peek into one version of heaven, which is a room lined with jars of blended nuts.
Fix & Foggās jars, if you care about this sort of thing, are extremely cute, thanks to a bold typeface, color-block labels, and stickers on the seal that read āMAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TOAST.ā Iām personally a fan of the reminder, printed upside down on the side of the jar, to store it inverted every so often to avoid natural separation. With the three upturned jars in my pantry right now, breakfast is a bit of a choose-your-own-adventure. Iām only four flavors away from having one for each day of the week, which is unfortunately now my lifeās greatest ambition. At this rate, Iāll be there by spring.
