What the heck is peanut flour (and why do I love it so much)?

Protein Plus Peanut Flour - I am obsessed

If you’ve read my recipes you’ve noticed that I use peanut flour in my smoothies instead of protein powder.  And let me tell you, making the switch has been the best decision ever.  See, I used to use Muscle Milk light protein, the big bag from Costco.  And then I read this article and got grossed out.  Arsenic in my protein powder?  No thanks, I’ll pass.  So I set out on a quest to find a new, more natural way to add protein into my smoothies.

For a while I used peanut butter and almond butter but those were so high in calories and fat that I didn’t like relying on them every day.  I tried out almond meal/flour which has about 7 grams of protein but it was higher in calories and it wasn’t worth it for just that little amount of protein.  And then I read this post from Emily at Daily Garnish.  And I was intrigued.  Powdered peanut butter… Basically it’s crushed peanuts with fats and oils extracted.  So you get the same deliciousness with less calories and fat. You can use it for baking, cooking or mix it with water to turn it into peanut butter. I had to try it.  Emily’s favorite was the Trader Joe’s brand but I found out that had been discontinued so after some online research I found some other options from Protein Plus and Byrd Mill.  So I ordered a couple of brands to try – those two, plus the more well known PB2.

Byrd Mill Dark Roast - Not so much

PB2 - So tasty

For my taste test, I kept it pretty simple, just mixed the flour up with water.  PB2 is the best without having to add anything, that’s for sure.  This stuff rocks my world.  But it has less protein and is slightly more expensive than anything else I tried.  For the Byrd Mill, I made the mistake of ordering the dark roast.  Sick.  Horrible.  Gross.  No matter how much salt/honey I added to that stuff I hated it.  But they do have a light roast that I think would be much better.  I would recommend trying that one.  But to me, the overall winner was the Protein Plus.  Highest amount of protein and a great price when you buy larger amounts.  You do need to add some salt to it if you’re going to eat it as peanut butter but for my smoothies I don’t need to add anything.  I definitely get a great peanut butter taste.  I’ve also discovered it makes a great little dessert if you mix in water, a little salt and some honey.  Yum.

And in case you’re interested here are the stats in my favorite real peanut butter – Adam’s Natural Chunky (serving size 2 tablespoons):

Calories: 200
Fat: 16 g
Carbs: 6 g
Protein: 7 g

And here’s a breakdown of the 3 kinds I tried above plus the light roast version of the Byrd Mill:

And here’s where you can find them all:

PB2
Protein Plus: Company website & Where I buy it
Byrd Mill

If you like peanut butter I highly recommend trying this stuff out.  I am totally hooked on it in my smoothies and as a little treat but I also want to start trying it in recipes.  I think it would make a great peanut sauce for Thai foods and I’ve even thought about trying it as a dip for fruits and pretzels.

(PS I was not originally planning on posting this until tomorrow but I just had a conversation with 3 people about it in the break room while making my smoothie so I felt like the world needed to know this information).