Peanut Brother Peanut Butter Returns to Saint Meinrad Archabbey After Three Years

Peanut Brother peanut butter returned to Saint Meinrad Archabbey's shelves this week, ending a hiatus of more than three years for the small-batch, monk-made spread that built a following well beyond the monastery walls in St. Meinrad.

"We're delighted to bring Peanut Brother back for our benefactors, monks, seminarians, co-workers, oblates, and all those connected to Saint Meinrad and the wider community," said Archabbot Kurt Stasiak, OSB.

The relaunch is intentionally scaled back. Where production previously focused on wholesale distribution, the monastery is returning with a smaller, more sustainable model. Peanut Brother will not expand into broader wholesale distribution at this time, according to the Abbey. Three varieties are now available at Saint Meinrad Books & Gifts: The Original Grind, Heavenly Honey, and Chocolate Covenant. The Original Grind contains just two ingredients: peanuts and salt.

The product traces its origins to early 2017, when Father Thomas Gricoski suggested to Brothers Nathanial Szidik and Kolbe Wolniakowski that they try making their own nut butter. The three were looking for a healthier alternative without the sugar and additives found in commercial brands. What started as a small experiment quickly became popular among the monks themselves, eventually reaching customers and supporters far outside the monastery. At its peak, up to 20 monks worked together to make, jar, and label each batch in the monastery dining room.

Brother Nathaniel Szidik, one of the project organizers, described the production as deeply communal. "It is really made by the monks of Saint Meinrad Archabbey," he said. "It's not one person, or two people or three people. It's a community effort."

The return was driven by sustained demand. Consistent interest and requests from customers and supporters pushed the Abbey to bring the product back, with a focus on meeting that demand while maintaining the care and quality the product became known for.

Plans are underway to launch a dedicated Peanut Brother website that would expand access beyond the Books & Gifts shop, though no launch date has been announced. Saint Meinrad Archabbey, founded in 1854 by Benedictine monks from Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland, has operated in southwest Indiana for more than 160 years.