Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams

Several weeks ago I was grocery shopping with my son and daughter. When we arrived at the peanut butter and jelly section of the store the two of them spotted a jar of what appeared to be alternating stripes of peanut butter and jelly -- of course, my children had to have it! Thinking I might humor them (and use it as leverage to gain their cooperation to get through the rest of the store) I picked it up to review the nutritional contents -- need I say more?! Anyway, as you can imagine this stuff was loaded with garbage -- tons of sugar, unhealthy oils, artificial flavorings. Needless to say, I couldn't bring myself to buy it for my kids, even if it meant hearing their cries of disappointment, which would regretfully extend my "quick trip to pick up a few things." So, in an effort to ease the blow, I suggested we go to the health food section of the store to see if they had an interesting flavors of peanut butter they might enjoy (and be more healthful). Happily, there we found the brand Peanut Butter & Co.. Peanut Butter & Co. is all-natural peanut butter that comes in a variety of slightly offbeat flavors, including Dark Chocolate Dreams, Cinnamon Raisin and White Chocolate Wonderful. On this day the kids decided to try Dark Chocolate Dreams -- a blend of peanuts and cocoa. This peanut butter is beyond delicious -- the perfect blend of dark chocolate and peanuts, making it not too sweet as well as maintaining a peanut butter flavor. This peanut butter can be enjoyed a variety of ways -- spread on toast, made into a sandwich (particularly good with sliced banana) or used as an alternative to regular peanut butter in your favorite baking recipes. Our two favorite ways to enjoy this chocolate peanut butter is on homemade banana bread and mixed into a banana and yogurt smoothie for a delicious, protein-rich morning shake. My daughter even likes it as an afternoon snack served along side pretzels for dipping.

Peanut Butter & Co. uses no hydrogenated oils, refined sugars and is gluten-free.

By the way, if you are ever in New York City, Peanut Butter & Co. has a restaurant devoted to everything peanut butter at a Greenwich Village location.