Manna Organics Nut Butters | Tasting Table - Chicago

Peanut butter's everyman appeal and low cost has led to decades of nut-butter dominance. Even the best all-natural versions rarely top $7 per jar.

But a Lisle-based company, Manna Organics, has us clearing space on the shelf and happily paying a bit more for its unusual, organic nut butters, which it launched this past summer after years on the vegan scene with its sprouted bread and kale chips.

The butters are made from soaked and dehydrated organic nuts. Some are roasted, some are raw, but all are highly devourable.

The flavors of almonds, cashews, hazelnuts and walnuts are all perceptible in the coarsely ground Nut Medley ($13). It's seasoned with Himalayan pink salt, and we recommend adding a generous drizzle of honey, too. The vehicle hardly matters: This is as good on apples and crackers as it is on spoons and fingers.

Coconut-cashew butter ($13 for 12 ounces) is fiercely nutty, sweetened with cane juice, and makes for a superb banana-topper. Amaretto almond butter ($13.50) is so called because of the intense flavor its raw Sicilian and Spanish almonds impart, similar to that of the liqueur that shares its name.

Sorry, peanut: Your days of sandwich hegemony are over.

Find Manna nut butters at Dill Pickle Food Co-Op, Olivia's, Stanley's, Amish Healthy Foods, Sunset Foods and online.