Many people enjoy having dessert or breakfast for dinner, and one of those desserts is often called “dreamy” because it is usually quite rich.
A few years ago, one such dreamy dessert was chocolate milk with some warm nut butter spread over top. This combination is delicious and very popular.
Many people have asked if you can microwave nut butters, so we will go into detail about that here!
Can You Microwave Nut Butter?
Absolutely! And not only are most brands manufactured in a facility where this is done regularly, many companies even advertise how to do it. It is especially helpful when you are on busy nights and need a quick way to make a snack or meal more nutritious.
However, there are a couple things to watch out for when baking and microwaving your favorite brand of nut butter. These tips apply to any type of peanut butter too!
This article will talk about whether it is safe to heat regular natural peanut butter in the oven or in a microwave, as well as whether or not it is okay to use pre-packaged processed jam like Chobani Style Yogurt and Chocolate Chip or Simply Spreads Peanut Butter.
It doesn’t work as well as when you bake it
A few years back, people started talking about how you could microwave chocolate using a method called thermal diffusion. This theory goes that molecules of each other break down and become more exposed to each other in the heat, which helps them bond with each other. When this happens, your chocolate can taste slightly burnt or melted and some say this changes the flavor and texture.
Some claim that this isn’t an ideal way to cook with chocolate because there are not enough molecules left intact to create a solid product. However, since most people use the microwaved version for something like dessert topping, it is definitely possible to eat it!
If you do decide to try this technique, be very careful if you already have nut butter in the mixture! If the nut butter seizes or curdles, then no, you cannot microwave the nut milk separation.
It’s not the same as when you bake it
Technically, yes, you can microwave nut butter! But please don’t because it won’t be quite like eating it directly from the jar. When baking or toasting nuts in fat, they will lose some of their flavor and/or nutritional value due to the heat.
Nut butter is comprised of two main components: protein and fat. The fats in most natural kind of nut butters are unsaturated, which means they do not contain any carbon atoms with one or more pairs of electrons. These healthy oils help keep your heart healthy by lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol and helping maintain blood vessel health.
When heating milk or other foods containing calcium, an important nutrient for our bones, the water content decreases and the solid part of the food may even completely melt away. This is why people often suggest boiling milk before drinking it- the liquid changes state and you can drink it without having chunks of curdle in it.
With nut butters, if there is enough salt present, then the chemical compound in the butter will form small crystals that survive the microwaving process. However, this doesn’t happen very much since salty ingredients are already spread out naturally within the container.
Overall, both types of nutrients are lost during the cooking process, making baked goods and drinks made with raw nut butter less nutritious than ones using melted or toasted nuts.
It depends on the Nutella
As we mentioned before, Nutella is an ideal addition to your breakfast or lunch menu! But what about when you are too busy to make something else first? Or you just do not have time to cook these items- microwaving is your best friend!
Microwaving one batch of Nutella will most likely melt it down.
It can make your toast soggy
As we know, chocolate is one of the main components in nut butter. When baking with nuts like cashews or Brazil nuts, they will to some degree melt down into the food being cooked- this includes milk!
When cooking with nuts, watch them carefully as they may burn if not supervised properly. Because cocoa powder contains acid, it will begin to break down when heated, which could cause an overly salty or sour flavor.
This article’s title asks if you can microwave Nutella, so I would probably avoid doing that unless the person asking has specified that they only wanted to use warm Nutella for spreading onto bread.
Otherwise, yes you CAN cook the spread directly from the jar in the oven or stove top. Just be sure it does not go beyond a soft, melted state- any further and it might end up breaking down enough to lose its defining qualities. This could also mean it ends up running and seeping slightly.
Overall though, just remember that like most spreads that contain cream, Nutella is susceptible to burning when basted with heat, especially when starting out.
It can make your banana chips soggy
When baking with butter or oils, you must be very careful to not overheat them in the microwave. As you probably know, when fats are heated too high they may actually break down into an even more harmful compound called oxidized fat.
This is why it’s important to use a medium heat setting for most things that contain oil, like chocolate or coconut. If you have to cook something in the oven or under a broiler then immediately after, there’s no need to also put the oil in the microwaves!
With Nutella being made of both cocoa powder and sugar, however, this isn’t quite as easy to achieve. Because of its mixture of ingredients, it can become slightly burnt which will cause oxidative damage.
Microwaving food containing olive oil or melted chocolate can also result in the leftover oil burning in the empty space left by the cooked material. This creates additional oxidation that could potentially harm your health.
It can make your popcorn get all mushy
Having trouble deciding whether to buy or not buy the most popular new item at stores, you know what we’re talking about! That thing that is constantly advertised in commercials, magazines, and online sites – the one that everyone seems to have and rave about!
The easy way to describe it is just plain nut butter with chocolate spread in it, but there are some theories as to how it got its name. Some say it is because it sounds healthy (duh!), while others believe it was due to the alleged health benefits of cocoa powder.
Either way, it is very easily made and does not require too much equipment or time.
It can make your Waffles tough
As we mentioned before, chocolate is an integral part of most anything that requires heat to set or complete melting. This includes milk products like cream and nut butter!
Most people have heard stories about people who tried microwaving their favorite foods and everything changed color and/or completely broke down. That isn’t always the case though, some recipes are designed to be heated in the oven or stove top.
If you ever wanted to try to warm up some Nutella in the microwave, I would recommend doing so with a spoon instead of a knife. The reason for this is because when you use a knife, it could potentially break down the texture and consistency of the jar which would not taste good.
So if you want to know whether you can cook Nutella in the microwave, the answer is yes, but only if you do it slowly and using a spoon otherwise it will not work.
It can make your French toast crunchy
If you are ever in need of some quick, dessert-like toppings or spreads for your morning wake up call (think: crackers, plain yogurt, warm chocolate chip cookies), then nut butter is your friend.
Nut butter is an ingredient that many people have enjoyed since childhood. They use it to spread onto breads, top their favorite foods, and sometimes even eat it by itself.
Most people know what peanut butter is, but there are several different types of nuts and other ingredients used to create it. Some recipes require cooking the nuts first to set a texture inside the finished product.
When baking, dried fruits such as raisins may be mixed into the melted butter or left alone as a topping. Both work well!
Many people enjoy adding just a few drops of liquid to their spread to achieve the right consistency. Watermelon cream is one popular variation with most people knowing it simply as “nutty milk” because of this small addition.
And yes, you can probably melt the nut butter and mix it with another item before serving it, though chances are it will not taste very good and likely burn slightly.