MoFo 12: Powdered Peanut Butter Test

I think the first time I ever heard about powdered peanut butter was in the pages of VegNews... quite a while ago. I was curious, but not curious enough to order it online. Then it showed up in my local health food store, and I picked it up a few times... only to put it back. Well, the other day, I finally decided to pick up a jar of PB2. Right next to it was another brand of powdered peanut butter - so I decided to do a taste test!

The facts: Just Great Stuff and PB2

JGS ingredients: organic peanuts, organic coconut sugar, sea salt
PB2 ingredients: roasted peanuts, sugar, and salt

So, other than the organics issue, the ingredients look similar. Both varieties are made with a process of defatting the peanuts, so the end result has 85% fewer fat calories than regular peanut butter. Each brand has 45 calories per serving (2 tablespoons) - but PB2 has 5 grams of protein and JGS has only 4.

(compare that to the real peanut butter in my fridge, which is 180 calories for 2 tablespoons!)

The serving method for both brands is the same. Add two tablespoons of the powdered peanut butter into a dish, add 1 tablespoon of water and mix. They look pretty similar so far...

Once mixed up, they did definitely seem a little different. The PB2 was a bit pastier, and oranger in color... while the Just Great Stuff brand was darker and smoother.

We tasted both brands independently, on a bagel, and on apple slices (from our apple tree!). In general, the PB2 was pretty salty, and the JGS was quite sweet. I like salty peanut butter, so the PB2 was okay with me. I felt like the JGS was too sweet - I tasted the sweetness more than the peanuts. This kinda bummed me out, because I really wanted to prefer the all-organic, no GMO brand. Mixing the two together was pretty good (that's the 3rd apple in the way back!) If I could only pick one, I think I'd stick with PB2. However, there are probably times when the sweeter one would be better (like in smoothies - which I haven't tried yet).

I'd be really stoked if they'd come out with unsweetened and unsalted versions in the future. After all, it's always easy to add a little salt or sweetener. Also - it seems like these products have really fun potential for adding to cookies or breads or muffins... Hmmm.

Even though I preferred the saltier PB2 over the sweeter JGS, I'm happy to have both of these in my cupboard, and this is definitely a product I'll enjoy and buy again. I really love peanut butter and these brands are not about to 100% replace my dearly beloved Maranatha Crunchy Salted Organic Peanut Butter - but they'll surely make a dent! These are both a much lower-calorie way to ingest a generous portion of peanutty goodness!

helpful hint: I learned the hard way that this stuff really hardens on your little dish. Better to wash the dish right away! :)