88 Acres Watermelon Seed Butter Review
88 Acres Watermelon Seed Butter Review
I partnered with 88 Acres to review their newly released Watermelon Seed Butters.
Wow! What a novel item, my family and I had never even heard of watermelon seed butter until I was contacted by 88 Acres’ Mora from the marketing team for this opportunity. I was told that their product is a good substitute for tahini for those with a sesame allergy and I thought, “That is fantastic! Another free from option!” I must admit that I was skeptical while looking forward to a new culinary experience.
Like my previous experiences with 88 Acres’ yummies, the Watermelon Seed Butters did not disappoint. Read on to see what the Mini-Foodies and I thought and for a surprise I could not have anticipated…
As always, when I find a new culinary item, I cannot help myself but to try out new recipes. Look for my Watermelon Seed Chocolate Spread, Nacho Cheese with Watermelon Seed Butter, Raw Chocolate Cookie Balls, and Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipes coming soon) as well as snack ideas (below).
Before I move on to the review, for full disclosure, I did receive free samples in order to review the seed butters and all the opinions found here are my own and those of the Mini-Foodies. For more information check out 88 Acres. If you are inclined to try the Watermelon Seed Butters yourself, you can order them here and other 88 Acres products can be purchased on Amazon.
Allergy Status
Both Watermelon Seed Butter varieties are Certified Gluten Free, Certified Vegan, Kosher, Non-GMO Project Verified
Further allergy information regarding 88 Acres products can be found here & below directly quoted from their Allergy Information web-page. Please make sure to read each label for ingredient details.
— “Made in our dedicated bakery free of peanuts, tree nuts, gluten, dairy, eggs, soy & sesame”
— Sourcing: “We have gone to great lengths to ensure the safety of our ingredient supply chain. Wherever possible, we source ingredients from single-source suppliers to reduce the risk of cross-contamination with allergens (the majority of our ingredients are in this category). For example, our flax supplier only grows and processes flax, our oat supplier only grows and processes oats. Our oats are harvested by an oat-only combine and processed in a gluten-free, oat-only facility.”
— Safety: “88 Acres ensures product safety for those with food allergies by enforcing strict allergen-safety protocols. Each ingredient supplier is thoroughly vetted. Allergen and gluten documentation, and Certificates of Analysis are collected for each ingredient. Our bakery is certified gluten-free through the Gluten-free Certification Organization. We bake our snacks under strict regulations and perform routine tests to ensure our products are gluten-free.”
— Cross-Contamination: “Our bakery never allows the top 8 food allergens into the facility. All staff are extensively trained in cross-contamination protocols. Additionally, our bakery uses non-latex gloves to protect those with sensitivities to latex.
Reviews by Mena & Mini-Foodies
Let’s start with a list of ingredients…
Roasted Watermelon Seed Butter: Organic Watermelon Seeds, Organic Powdered Sugar (Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Tapioca Starch), Organic Expeller Pressed Sunflower Oil, Sea Salt.
Watermelon Seed Butter with No Sugar Added: Organic Watermelon Seeds, Organic Expeller Pressed Sunflower Oil, Sea Salt.
Sweetened & Unsweetened
The nose offers a hint of watermelon while being creamy and fruity. But the nose is not strong.
Mini-Foodie A’s comments: “Indistinct.”
Mini-Foodie M’s comments: “Smells almost like sesame seeds.”
Mini-Foodie Z’s comments: “Smells delishous.”
The appearance of both versions is smooth and resemble tahini.
The mouthfeel of both butters resembles a smooth and creamy nut or seed butter, but they are not thick.
Mini-Foodie A’s comments: “Smooth and buttery.”
Mini-Foodie M’s comments: “Buttery and a little runny.”
Sweetened
The flavor is rich and creamy with a light tahini-like flavor that is a bit distinct from a roasted sesame flavor.
Mini-Foodie A’s comments: “Tastes like tahini with a little sweetener. This is a very good substitute for tahini.”
Mini-Foodie A’s comments: “Tastes like sweetened tahini.”
Both Mini-Foodie A & M indicated that they also noted a hint of watermelon flavor.
No Sugar Added
The flavor of this version is deeper, richer & sweeter than the sweetened version. It is very surprising that while there is no sugar added, the flavor is in fact sweeter and exhibits a fruitier flavor reminiscent of watermelon.
Mini-Foodie A’s comments: “Like tahini, but with a sweeter, fruitier flavor than the sweetened version.”
Mini-Foodie M’s comments: “This one tastes nuttier.”
Mini-Foodie Z’s comments: “Tastes ‘sugary’ [sweeter]. Nutty too, so delicious.”
Verdict: Do you recommend?
As a food allergy mom, I recommend these seed butters due to the clean ingredients, deep, rich flavors and the free from list. As a food allergy suffering adult, I a happy to see that there is a sesame allergy-friendly alternative to tahini that works well as a snack and as an ingredient.
* For a deep, rich & sweet flavor, choose the No Sugar Added version.
* For a rich & sweet, but not so strong flavor, choose the sugar added version.
Mini-Foodie A’s comments: “Yes. It is a good substitute for someone with a sesame and / or nut allergy.”
Mini-Foodie M’s comments: “Yes, because of the clean ingredients. The unsweetened version is naturally sweet; both are super delicious.”
Mini-Foodie Z’s comments: “Yes! They are so delishious.”
Ways to Enjoy
Besides eating these seed butters out of the jar, you can also enjoy them as a spread on rice cakes, bread or tortillas; as a simple dip with carrot chips or as an ingredient in dip recipes; with chocolate chips, etc.
*Cover photo by 88 Acres.
