Favorite / Healthiest Nuts (or Nut Butters)

Lately, I've been crazy for almond butter! But I don't like peanut butter as much. Are there any other nut butters that you have tried & tested? Recommendations... or stay aways? (I see a lot of different types out there.... hazelnut, walnut, etc)

As for whole nuts, which one is the healthiest? With the most benefits.... or how are they different nutritionally? (ie. which one has the most healthy fats vs. saturated fats.... or is lower/higher in cals)

Which ones do you enjoy most and in what form do you like them (ex: hickory smoked almonds vs. plain almonds.... or caramelized pecans or walnuts)

Ooo, I loooove love love hazelnut butter!!! I just can't get enough of it. Which is why I don't buy it anymore. :( I don't know how healthy it is comparatively though. My favourite form of hazelnut would be in praline chocolate!!! :P

I would really like to try macadamia nut butter, but I decided not to once I found out it has tons more fat than most nut butters. Nontheless, I think it would be tasty. (Especially seeing as how white chocolate/macadamia nut cookies are so good lol.... Man, I like unhealthy foods lol. Good thing I started clean eating.)

I have heard that almonds are supposed to be good for your heart or cholesterol? My doctor told me to eat a handful a day. Plus they are yummy. My favorite actually. And only 170 calories for 1/4 cup (palm size)-doesnt seem like much, but really it is.

Other than that, I'm useless to this thread =P

Walnuts seem to rate Highest of the High... Healthy Omega 3 Fats? Almonds very close, very good... raw satisfies me better than the roasted-- I can't get enough when nuts are roasted/flavored! Too Dangerous!!!

I'm interested in the PB2 product... it seems awesome! Anybody here tried it?

Almonds are my favorite.  Especially lightly salted/smoked.  It can be challenging not to OD on them.  On the container I bought it says that according to scientific studies they promote a healthy heart and provide antioxidants.  According to Whole foods website, they also provide healthy fats and can also lower cholesterol and risks of heart disease.

I've always wanted to try almond butter but its always more expensive then peanut butter.   

I'm not too fond of pecans unless they are full of sugar/spices and roasted, which isn't considered a healthy way of eating them unfortuneately.

i've had cashew butter, which i liked, but ti does resemble peanut butter so maybe you wouldn't like it

Almond, macadamia, cashew all rank highly with me. Walnuts are one of the healthiest nuts out there but I don't like their taste so much. Macadamia nut butter with some cranberries is very nice.

macadamia nuts - raw or roasted

Raw nuts have a much different taste than roasted, they're sweeter.  Try them if you want to mix it up a bit.

As far as healthier raw nuts win, any raw nuts are better than roasted and salted from a health perspective. In order of mono-unsaturated fats its walnuts, pistachios, then almonds. Myu wife and I have fallen in love with raw pistachio's.

Cashews, cashews, and more cashews.

I've got a thing about nut butters too. Hazelnut is my favourite. I like to mix it with dairy-free chocolate spread and its just like nutella :)

Almond is good too. I think macadamia and walnut are the highest cal. I haven't seen them in any shops here though. I've tried almond (2nd favourite) and cashew as well. The cashew was a bit too... intensely cashewy!! But nice with jam.