nut butter
Noun: A spreadable paste made by grinding nuts into a smooth, creamy consistency. It is typically used as a food topping or ingredient.
"Nut butter" is a mass noun. It refers to the substance itself, not individual servings. It is commonly used with articles like "some," "a jar of," or "this." It functions as the subject or object of a sentence. * She spread some nut butter on her toast. * This nut butter is made from almonds and cashews. * I need to buy a new jar of nut butter.
- For a quick snack, I often eat an apple with nut butter.
- The recipe calls for two tablespoons of nut butter to make the sauce creamy.
- Many people with peanut allergies can safely enjoy other types of nut butter, like sunflower seed butter.
- As a compound modifier: "Nut-butter" can be used adjectivally before another noun (often hyphenated).
- She made delicious nut-butter cookies.
- The nut-butter flavor was very rich.
- Specifying the nut type: The specific nut used is often named, creating a compound noun where "butter" is the head.
- Almond butter and cashew butter are popular alternatives to peanut butter.
- Peanut butter: The most common and well-known type of nut butter, made specifically from peanuts.
- Seed butter: A similar product made from seeds (e.g., sunflower seeds, tahini from sesame seeds), often used as an alternative for those with nut allergies.
- Nut paste: A more general term that can be less smooth than butter.
- Nut spread: A common commercial term.
The term "nut butter" specifically denotes a product where nuts are the primary ingredient, ground to a buttery consistency. While the historical reference context includes "blended with a little butter," modern common usage typically refers to products containing only ground nuts, sometimes with added oil, salt, or sweeteners. The "butter" in the name describes its texture and spreadable quality, not necessarily the dairy product.
- ground nuts blended with a little butter