The Daily Balance

So you should probably know by now that I LOVE peanut butter. Like LOOOOOOVVVVE as in ohmygoodnessiwakeupdreamingofyou LOVE peanut butter. I love the creaminess. I love how it sticks to the roof of my mouth. I love the gooeyness and I love how it pairs up so well with almost ANYTHING (hello, banana!) and is the perfect accompaniment to freshly baked bread (along with my BFF, EVOO, of course – and no, not together, that sounds disgusting!)

You also probably know that my love for PB isn’t the most figure-friendly addiction. Yes, it contains the healthy fat from nuts, but it also packs quite bit of calories. And for those of you who know me well know that I kinda HATE moderation. Because seriously? Who can stop after ONE spoonful?

Naturally, when I heard about PB2, I was very intrigued…

A peanut butter that has substantially less fat calories than traditional PB?

From the Web site:

• PB2 is made with premium quality peanuts that are slow-roasted to our specifications and pressed to remove the fat. 
• All natural with no artificial sweeteners or preservatives.
• Same consistency as full-fat peanut butter with all of the roasted peanut flavor, but with more than 85% less fat calories.

Amount Per 2 Tablespoon Serving (*when mixed with water):
Calories 53.2
Calories from Fat 16.8

The stats:

• Total Fat - 1.87 g
• Saturated Fat - 0.34 g
• Trans Fat - 0 g
• Unsaturated Fat - 1.53 g
• Cholesterol - 0 mg
• Sodium - 77.6 mg
• Total Carbohydrate - 3.4 g
• Dietary Fiber - 0.48 g
• Sugars - 1.66 g
• Protein - 5.65 g

PB2

Impressive, no?

The nutritional stats cannot be argued, but what about the taste? Will it stand up to the traditional PB (let alone my FAVORITE, Naturally More)?

If you couldn’t tell from the photo, PB2 is basically the powdered, dehydrated form of peanut butter. You can play around a bit with the PB2 powder to water ratios until you find the consistency you like. The company suggests you use one tablespoon of water for every two tablespoons of powder.

Since PB is eaten in a variety of different ways, I decided to try PB2 in several different applications.

Stand alone:

It TASTES like peanut butter, but it doesn’t FEEL like peanut butter.

Let me explain…
The taste of the nuts? spot on! The saltiness and sweet undertone that I’ve come to love? check!

What’s missing is the consistency. It’s not gooey! It doesn’t stick to the roof of my mouth. What’s up with that PB2? You said on your website that the consistency was the same! Not cool.

With bread:
Again, the taste was spot on. But there is something to be said about a gooey PB sandwich that sticks to the roof of your mouth. This almost tastes like whipped PB. If I think of it as Peanut butter flavored spread or topping, it works.

With apple:
Now this is what I’m talkin’ about! In this application the PB2 serves as a dipping sauce and is THIS close to tasting as good as regular peanut butter.

With chocolate (i.e. vitatop, muffin, etc.):
Paired with a chocolate vitatop, the PB2 really shines. Because it’s a lighter consistency it doesn’t overpower the chocolate and has a very ‘light’ taste to it. Normally PB and chocolate can be a bit rich (not that there is any problem with that!), but the PB2 provides the PB taste we love, without making the treat too heavy.

In smoothies:
PERFECT! I cannot tell the difference. The taste is right on the money and tastes just as it would if I added regular PB. You cannot tell that there is a difference in consistency. I did notice that I had to use a bit more of the PB2 than i did in the other applications, but the total calorie count was still less than if I had used regular PB. 

In conclusion:

I’ll definitely keep PB2 around! It’s a great substitute when you’re trying to save on calories and cut some fat. I bet this would work really well in peanut butter cookies, cakes, etc.

But when I want one of my favorite PB sandwiches or waffles, I’m stickin’ (get it, STICK to the roof of your mouth?! SO CORNY!) to the original. It’s interesting because I didn’t realize just how much the consistency of PB affected the overall experience (yes, eating PB is an experience). 

Note: I also tried the PB2 Chocolate — also good! My only hang-up was the consistency! I LOVED this for dipping my apples into

Have you tried PB2? What’s your favorite way to use it?

Tags: product review

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 at 10:23 am and is filed under Try It. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.