Organic PBFit Peanut Powder (Flour)

Peanut flour has been a staple of African cooking for a long, long time. It has been part of the American diet for a couple of decades too, but not in its powdered form.  Well, at least not in a way that you’d recognize.  If you’re a PB&J person, you’ve been eating it for years.

YOU PROBABLY EAT IT BUT DON’T KNOW IT

Particularly in North America, millions of people eat peanut flour every day as peanut butter “spread.”

The labels have subtle “code” that like to fool you into thinking that words like “peanut butter spread” or “natural” means “just peanuts.”

Doesn’t it?

Peanut oil is liquid gold.  At .$0.75 to $1.00 an ounce retail, the oil gets extracted from tons of peanuts, and sold separately.

Many commercial peanut butters, including the “natural” commercial nut-butters, are peanut flour reconstituted using other oils, like palm, so the manufacturer can call them “natural.”  Are they?

PEANUT BUTTER & JELLY AND… GASOLINE?

Large commercial operations use hexane, a component of gasoline, as a solvent to extract every last drop of oil from stubborn nuts. Hexane, aside from being a listed air pollutant, is a known neurotoxin. If you process peanuts

Thanks to our friends who lobby for the petrochemical industry,

Organic products can contain no traces of toxic chemicals, which is why I like this PBfit Organic. Make sure the product says “Organic” on the label.

OUR BIG FAT ORGANIC OPPORTUNITY

With the fat out of the peanut, we’re left with the protein. So we can control the fats in our dishes that use peanuts. Fat makes up about 8-10% of peanut butter. We often add it to already high fat recipes like cookies.  Most ooze with oils and butterfats which collectively with the calories from the sugar, make them tasty, but bad for us.

We can dial down the fat, then, while getting the full peanut flavor.  You’ll notice it in things like my peanut butter pancakes, where they’re light and airy, not heavy.

WHAT DO I DO WITH IT?

Oh, the things that you can do with peanut powder power:

• Peanut butter – An easy start. Add peanut oil back in, and you can control how much oil goes into your peanut butter. Use peanut oil, or substitute heart-healthy oils like avocado, or canola.
• Baked goods – From peanut butter cookies to my peanut butter-chocolate pancakes the peanut powder brings big peanut flavor, and you control how much fat you want from the oil(s). For extra peanutty goodness, I recommend adding a little peanut oil to improve the flavor, even if you have other fats. Just cut down one or more of the other fats slightly to balance out the recipe.
• Soups – Loads of soups, stews, and sauces use peanut flour as a flavorant and a thickener. African peanut soup recipes will amaze you!
• Stir-Fry – Many Thai, Indonesian, and Malay recipes, from Peanut Shrimp to Pad Thai, can use the peanut flour to thicken and amp up flavor!
• Fantastic Fish –  Add to the flour of a fried fish flour coating or batter for big depth of flavor!
• Meats – Part of a good spicy meat rub, or mix into my Ragoût Thiam, a spicy peanut-infused meatball in a tomato stew.
• Smoothies – Most common usage is as a protein additive to smoothies in the Northern hemisphere.

HEALTH WARNINGS

If you have an allergy to peanuts or other nut products, probably best to avoid peanut butter powder.

MY TAKE

PBFit’s Organic Peanut Butter Powder (flour) is amazing stuff, an excellent protein source, a tasty addition to your flavor arsenal, and one of the best milled peanut flours that I’ve ever tried. BUY THE ORGANIC. Costs a bit more, but then you’re assured that it’s hexane-free. It earns my four diamond award for being a great product in a corner of the food market where there are a bunch of players.