Walnut Creek Peanut Butter Spread looks totally innocent, like some sort of oddball Ohio edible: mildly amusing and easy to overlook.
In fact, it’s closer to crack cocaine, and it comes from an Ohio-grown powerhouse.
The Walnut Creek business actually started out as a guy selling cheese from the back of a pickup truck in the 1970s. Over the years, the operation grew to include Coblenz chocolate, and the operation purchased Snyder Foods, Holmes Distributing and Uncle Mike’s Beef Jerky. It all adds up to a giant mecca of wholesale and retail products in Walnut Creek, Ohio.
While its many products may infiltrate local stores and home pantries, it’s the Walnut Creek Peanut Butter Spread that is truly dangerous. You can sort of predict what’s up by looking at the label: three ingredients corn syrup, marshmallow crème and peanut butter.
And even if you’ve had plenty of fluffer nutter sandwiches in your day, that in no way will prepare you for what’s in the jar of Peanut Butter Spread. The contents are much more than the sum of their parts. It’s like a thick caramel sauce, but it tastes like a wholesome version of a Mary Jane Peanut Butter Kiss (you know, those big taffy globes they sell at Halloween).
There are no instructions on the label for how it should be used, but the instinctive drive to shove a pretzel in it has so far been the best. It’s the intense salt and sweet combo that’s magical. The Peanut Butter Spread was also tested on biscuits and bread, but the results were disappointing in comparison to the pretzel combination. Baked products make a less intense contrast and the combination becomes ordinary and mild. Apples aren’t bad. Ice cream is good. The pretzel pairing, though, is inspired and thoroughly recommended.
More information can be found online at www.walnutcreekfoods.com.
Photo by Walker Evans.