Nutella is delicious. Nobody's going to deny that Italy's super-famous hazelnut spread is anything but a nectar of the Gods. It's good on bananas, on toast, on ice cream. On anything.
But Nutella isn't vegan. And it's loaded with saturated fat and processed sugar. So what's a plant-based eater with a sweet tooth to do? Well, Sweet Spreads is solving the problem with their better-for-you CocoNutter treats.
See also: Miami's Ten Best Vegan Desserts
With his background in fitness and nutrition, co-founder Alex Stewart would often eat a spoonful of nut butter as a healthy snack. His then-girlfriend, now-wife Melissa picked up the habit when they started dating.
"Melissa soon took to eating a more healthy eating lifestyle," Stewart explains. "Though unlike myself, Melissa needed some variety in her meals and started to search and quickly found many flavors of nut butters on the market and we were hooked."
Then, coconut butter and oil became all the rage as a super-healthy new (or newly discovered) option.
"We combined some coconut butter in a dessert one day and both looked at each other and said 'Wow, this tastes good!' That was our ah-ha moment. Would there be a way for you to flavor coconut butter the same way they have done with nut butters? After what seemed like months of trial and error Melissa and I found something we liked."
Instead of using animal products to create a decadent consistency and taste, Coconutters are, essentially, coconut butter with all natural flavorings added. They come in varieties including vanilla cupcake, white chocolate, cinnamon roll, maple pancake, chocolate brownie, and dark chocolate mint.
Ingredients common to all flavors include organic unsweetened coconut shreds, extra virgin coconut oil, raw pecans, all natural vanilla extract, and organic cane sugar. Other ingredients vary based on flavor (cinnamon, maple, cocoa powder, etc.). They're gluten-free, too.
So what are the best ways to eat Coconutters?
"My favorite way to eat Sweet Spreads is drizzling the cinnamon roll flavor on a sweet potato or adding some to some Ezekiel Bread. Melissa go-to breakfast is protein pancakes with maple pancake flavored on top. She also loves the chocolate brownie or dark chocolate Mmnt flavors on Greek yogurt or frozen yogurt as a night time treat."
.
The spreads are available at the following locations, and on their website for $12.99 apiece:
- Fitness Depot-First Store 1681 SW 107th Ave., Miami
- Nutritional Power Center (six locations)
- Extreme Nutrition (six locations)
- LA Sports Nutrition 18600 NW 87th Ave., Hialeah
- Fit4All 12226 SW Eighth St., Miami
- Elite Power Nutrition 10421 NW 41st St., Doral
Follow Hannah on Twitter @hannahgetshappy.
Follow Short Order on Facebook, Twitter @Short_Order, and Instagram @ShortOrder.
