Nutter Butter
Nutter Butter is Nabisco's peanut-shaped sandwich cookie: two crunchy peanut butter cookies pressed around a sweet peanut butter creme filling. The cookie itself is drier and less rich than a soft peanut butter cookie, which is exactly what makes it hold up well when crushed into crumbs for crusts, truffles, and milkshakes.
Varieties
Nutter Butter Bites are a smaller, bite-size version with a higher filling-to-cookie ratio, which makes them sweeter per gram and better suited for snacking than for crushing into crumbs. The gluten-free version uses a different flour blend and crumbles more finely, which changes how much butter a crust recipe needs.
Buying tips
Check the box date if buying in bulk, since stale Nutter Butters lose their snap and get tough rather than crumbly. A gluten-free version exists but crushes into finer, more delicate crumbs than the original, so use slightly less butter when building a crust with it.
Substitutes
Store-brand peanut butter sandwich cookies — 1:1
Nearly identical crunch and filling ratio; the closest match for crushing into crumbs or eating whole.
Vanilla wafers plus peanut butter — 1 cup crushed wafers + 2 tablespoons peanut butter per 1 cup Nutter Butter crumbs called for
Crush vanilla wafers first, then work in softened peanut butter until the mixture clumps like Nutter Butter crumbs; use for crusts, not for eating whole.
Crumbled soft peanut butter cookies — 1:1 by weight, minus 1 tablespoon butter per cup of crumbs
Soft cookies have more moisture and fat already, so cut back slightly on any added butter in a crust recipe or it turns greasy.
Graham crackers plus peanut butter — 1 cup graham crumbs + 3 tablespoons peanut butter per 1 cup Nutter Butter crumbs
Gives a peanut-flavored crust with a lighter, less sweet base than the original cookie.
Storage
Keep unopened packages in a cool, dry pantry; once opened, reseal tightly or transfer to an airtight container to keep the cookies crisp for 2 to 3 weeks. Crushed crumbs stay fresh in a sealed bag or container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
How to use
Crush for no-bake pie and cheesecake crusts, fold into blondie or brownie batter for pockets of peanut butter flavor, blend into milkshakes, layer into no-bake truffles with cream cheese, or eat straight from the package with milk.
What it pairs with
Pairs well with chocolate (ganache, chocolate pudding, or a drizzle of melted chocolate chips), ripe banana, vanilla ice cream, and strong black coffee to offset the sweetness.
Nutrition
Two cookies (about one serving) run roughly 130 calories with 6g fat and 9g sugar. They contain peanuts as a primary ingredient and are made in facilities that also process tree nuts, so they're not safe for peanut or tree nut allergies.
FAQ
Can Nutter Butter crumbs replace graham crackers in a crust?
Yes. Crush about 1.5 cups of cookies (roughly 24 cookies) and mix with 4 to 5 tablespoons of melted butter, pressing into a pie pan and chilling for at least 30 minutes before filling.
Are Nutter Butters vegan?
No. While the ingredient list doesn't include eggs or dairy directly, they're produced on shared equipment with milk, so they're not certified vegan and aren't a safe assumption for strict vegan diets.
Why did my crushed Nutter Butter crust turn out greasy?
Nutter Butters already contain fat from the peanut butter filling, so adding a full stick of butter as if using plain graham crackers oversaturates the crumbs. Cut the butter by about a third.
Can Nutter Butters be frozen?
Whole cookies freeze well in a sealed freezer bag for up to 2 months and thaw at room temperature in about 15 minutes without getting soggy, since the filling is a stable sugar-based creme rather than a dairy one.
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