Bye Bye Cookie Butter! Trader Joe's Has A New All-Star Spread You're Going To Love

Trader Joe's is more than just a grocery store: It's a consistent snack innovator that regularly introduces new seasonal treats while keeping fan-favorite mainstays stocked. Reigning over all those mainstays is the grocer's Speculoos Cookie Butter, a warmly spiced spread that tastes similar to the Lotus Biscoff brand. Over the years, Trader Joe's has introduced a number of other spreads, ranging from classics like Creamy Peanut Butter to more unique offerings like its sweet-and-salty Sunflower Seed Spread. They're all perfectly fine, but in terms of taste, uniqueness, and versatility, they haven't been able to compete.

But that may change soon. Trader Joe's recently introduced a new spread — Granola Butter — that's poised to give cookie butter some competition. It begins with a ground oat base blended with oil and is flavored with maple syrup, brown sugar, and vanilla. While it sounds tempting, I also had to put it through its paces to see how it compares to other spreads and to see whether it was worth buying.

I based my expectations for Trader Joe's Granola Butter on the promises made on the label. I was looking for something that not only tasted like granola, but that offered the other flavors it lists, including maple, brown sugar, and vanilla. 

In addition, I compared the Granola Butter's taste, texture, and versatility to other Trader Joe's nut butters I've tried, as well as offerings from other brands. An ideal nut butter alternative, in my opinion, should work just as well at breakfast as it does at dessert, which is why that versatility component was so important.

To that end, I tasted the granola butter three ways: directly out of the jar on a spoon, spread on a piece of plain white toast, and drizzled over ice cream — a serving suggestion I got from a product listing on the Trader Joe's website.

It's wild how much this tastes like granola in liquid form. It seems redundant to say that granola butter tastes like granola, but that's the best way to describe it. It's distinctly oat-y, and the notes of maple syrup, brown sugar, and vanilla — which are all common store-bought granola mix-ins — help to evoke a granola flavor profile. 

On toast, the granola butter tastes almost exactly like a honey graham cracker: sweet and mild. It spread well with both a knife and a spoon, coating the bread in a glossy, even layer. I found the layering of carb-on-carb to be a bit overwhelming, though, so I'd recommend sticking to a thin layer. 

Over ice cream, the granola butter did something interesting: It almost immediately hardened into a shell, similar to Magic Shell. Paired with the rich vanilla flavor, it didn't bring much to the table taste-wise, but it did add a nice bit of texture. When it was broken up into bite-sized pieces, it resembled pecans spread throughout a sundae. You could easily pair this with other toppings without going overboard.

Compared to other nut butters, the granola butter was distinctly less salty and a little sweeter. I was a bit concerned by its gritty appearance on the spoon, but that didn't translate to the texture at all. It was similar to an organic nut butter and coats the mouth in the same way. It didn't appear to be separated at all in the jar and lent itself well to both spreading and drizzling.

Trader Joe's Granola Butter is a solid nut butter alternative that's every bit as versatile as peanut- and hazelnut-based spreads. It's a lot less indulgent than the Speculoos Cookie Butter, but every bit as tasty. I could eat this for breakfast or a midday snack and feel fine afterwards, whereas I can only imagine eating cookie butter as a dessert. Notably, Trader Joe's granola butter is gluten-free, nut-free, and vegan, so I could see this being a great substitute for both nut butters and traditional granola for someone with these dietary restrictions. 

In the future, I'm excited to try granola butter with other pairings, which speaks to its other versatility. I plan on sprinkling a little cinnamon on my toast with it next time (or just using cinnamon toast) to see if it resembles a cinnamon graham cracker. Like regular granola, it would also go well drizzled over Greek yogurt and/or paired with a tart fruit like strawberries.

Trader Joe's Granola Butter will run you $5.49 for a 12-ounce jar, which is a bit much. It's priced $1 more than a 14.1-ounce jar of Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter. At that price, I'd consider picking the Granola Butter up if I saw it again, but I wouldn't run out just to get more. 

The Granola Butter has just a bit more fat and significantly less sodium than Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter and it has a comparable number of calories for a 2-tablespoon serving. The Granola Butter has less than half the sugar and 2 fewer grams of carbs. The oat-based spread is just a little higher in protein (2 grams versus 1 in the cookie butter). I was surprised, however, to learn the Granola Butter only contains 2 grams of fiber, even though oats are a high-fiber food.

At the time of writing, Granola Butter is readily available at Trader Joe's locations nationwide. The store I visited had multiple shelves full of it spread all throughout the store, including a big, flashy display front and center. Granola Butter does not appear to be a limited-time-only product, but Trader Joe's has been known to discontinue even its fan favorites from time to time.