NUTS. I love nuts. Filling, satisfying, crunchy, whats not to love? Nut butter? I’m obsessed. I often have a big spoon of almond butter and call it a snack or dessert. It’s indulgent, delicious and satisfying. I bitch and moan at Trader Joes when the Raw Unsalted Crunchy is out of stock.
Now with peanut butter, I’m a little picky. Any “Jif like” product contains hydrogenated oils and has a weird filmy texture. My dog loves it, but it’s not for me. I do enjoy a good, all natural peanut butter from time to time–mostly in desserts 🙂
Nut butters are high in fat, which for me is a good and a bad thing. I maintain a pretty plant based diet and sometimes I really need the fat in nuts to satiate my hunger and keep me satisfied. However, I am a junkie for sweets, so any way to naturally reduce the fat and calories in my sweet treats is worth a try.
Enter Powdered Peanut Butter. I saw this product (Just Great Stuff the Original Organic Powdered Peanut Butter) when I was picking up my dog’s peanut butter yesterday and bought it out of curiosity. Just Great Stuff is Organic, Non GMO, Gluten Free, Corn Free and Low Glycemic–wohoooo! I also love the short and simple list of ingredients: Organic Peanuts, Organic Coconut Sugar, Sea Salt.
Powdered peanut butter is basically dehydrated peanuts with salt and sugar (sans oil). This is why the powdered version has 90% less fat. Since the majority of peanut butter’s calories come from fat, the powdered version has about a quarter of the calories. A popular powdered brand on the market is PB2. I saw this product but decided to spend the extra money for organic and GMO free. Peanuts are a highly sprayed crop, so it is worth paying extra for organic and GMO free peanut products.
So I mixed up one serving of powdered peanut butter (2 tablespoon dry) with one tablespoon of water to do a taste test after lunch yesterday. Sadly, two tablespoons dry yields a little more than 1 tablespoon wet, so in reality I would double the calories and fat if you are looking for two tablespoons of creamy peanut butter. The taste is very similar, but the texture and mouth feel cannot compare to a nut butter with natural oil. I do foresee myself using the powder in desserts, mixing it in my Greek yogurt and adding to protein shakes and smoothies. I’ve even pondered mixing it with coconut oil for some healthy fat. Stay tuned, there will be a powdered peanut butter concoction on the blog next week!
In addition to the lack of creamy mouth feel, you miss out on all the healthy fat that clean eaters need to stay energized! This society has a fear of fat, when the real culprit in Americas’ diet is sugar. The powdered version yields the same amount of sugar as creamy peanut butter (which is relatively low). Powdered peanut butter has half the protein when compared to it’s creamy & oily counterpart, another reason to keep the real thing in your pantry.
If you have not tried powdered peanut butter yet, i recommend giving it a whirl. If you have already added it into your recipe repertoire, tell me how you use it!
Broke Girl Fitness 