Peanut Butter Powder

[Kim Shook]

Just bought a bag of this stuff and I'm wondering if anyone has any good ideas of ways to use it.  They suggest smoothies, which sounds good, but I was thinking it might be a good way of getting extra PB flavor into baked goods.  Since it's dry, would I need to hold back on flour?

[gfweb]

Is it PB in maltodextrin?

[pastrygirl]

I think you would definitely want to reduce the other dry ingredients.

[Lisa Shock]

Just watch out about reducing flour quantities too much, you'll lose the binding effect of gluten. It might be an interesting addition to some savory foods like homemade pasta, or a bread.

[mgaretz]

Just bought a bag of this stuff and I'm wondering if anyone has any good ideas of ways to use it.  They suggest smoothies, which sounds good, but I was thinking it might be a good way of getting extra PB flavor into baked goods.  Since it's dry, would I need to hold back on flour?

 

Hi Kim.  Haven't tried it in baking but I've made some great PB "ice cream" (non-dairy) with it.  I have made PB-only, PB and chocolate and PB, chocolate and banana.

[shain]

My guess is that you can use as if it was finely ground peanuts. My way of thinking about it is to use the powder to substitute ground almonds which are more commonly used:

• Macarons
• Madeleines
• Pie crust
• Shortbread
• Financiers
• Pancakes
• In streusel topping for cakes or muffins (or in the muffins, maybe banana+peanuts?) 

 

I guess you can also use it in savory applications, in order to thicken sauces (maybe curries or stir fries sauce?).

It can be interesting to try and use it instead of almonds in Chinese almond tea.

 

I saw (on Google) that most powders are reduced fat, but it shouldn't be a problem with most recipes.

[blue_dolphin]

I'd never heard of this stuff before but was visiting a cousin last week and saw a bag in the cupboard.  Some brands contain some extra sugar and salt, if not, then it would be pretty much like a defatted nut flour, as shain said above.   I noticed some people are using it as a flour substitute in gluten-free baking, not something I have any experience with.

 

Like shain suggested, it could be useful to thicken a sauce, soup or stew.  I'd be curious if any flavor would come through if substituted for flour when dredging poultry, pork or fish before sautéing or to bind something like a fritter as LindaK did using almond flour in the butternut squash fritters she posted over in the Squash Cook-off thread.

 

I think I will look into picking some up to play with so do post back with your experiences.

 

Edited to add:  I just realized that you posted this in the Pastry and Baking forum so I suspect my thoughts are not at all what you're interested in - feel free to ignore away!

Edited November 11, 2015 by blue_dolphin (log)

[KennethT]

I guess the question is what is it? Is it peanuts somehow ground into a fine powder, or is it peanut butter mixed with N-Zorbit (tapioca maltodextrin) which absorbs fats and turns the peanut butter into powder?

If it is the N-Zorbit variety, it should not affect your dry ingredients very much since it dissolves in water - it doesn't absorb it like flour would. That's why, if you put the peanut butter powder of this variety on your tongue, it instantaneously 'melts' back into peanut butter.

If this is what you have, using this in a baked good would be a waste of money - it would be cheaper to just add a little bit of peanut butter - the powder is also used as a bulking agent, so most of the volume of the powder is actually pretty flavorless, and dissolves completely in any non-fat liquid. So, if you added the powder to a mixture that also had any amount of liquid (like eggs), the powder would turn back into the peanut butter it was made from - albeit a lot less than you'd expect from the amount of powder added.

[ChocoMom]

Somewhere in the past few weeks, I recall one of our members posted pics of concord grape PdF.  And that made me think...what about dusting grape PdFs in PB powder, or mixing it with a little sugar and then rolling or dusting?   I know that idea might seem completely childish and elementary...but, with three kids running around here....my mind tends to gravitate toward "kid-foods".    And, PBJ definitely falls into that category.  

 

A PB-Chocolate smoothie sounds darn good too!   

 

For a savory sort of application, if you make a breading for chicken, add some of the powder to that and fry/roast to your liking. Not sure why it tastes so good with chicken, but...that might be an option to experiment with. 

[Alex]

For a savory sort of application, if you make a breading for chicken, add some of the powder to that and fry/roast to your liking. Not sure why it tastes so good with chicken, but...that might be an option to experiment with. 

 

Interesting idea. Peanuts and chicken, as a stew or soup, is a classic combination in West African cooking.

[Kim Shook]

Thank you everyone!  Lots of ideas brewing now.  Also - this stuff is just roasted peanuts.  I'm thinking a spoon is one option! 

[KennethT]

Interesting... I wonder how they ground the peanuts into a powder without it turning to peanut butter? I wonder if this is the ground left-over de-fatted peanuts after making peanut oil?

[Kerry Beal]

I think the oil has been removed by pressing first - then the remaining mass is ground into the powder.

[rajoress]

I love this stuff but have only used it for savory dishes - mainly peanut sauce for noodle dishes. But thanks for making me think of dessert uses!

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Very interesting thread! Thanks, Kim Shook for starting it and everyone who contributed.

 

I love the idea of being able to add peanut flavor without the usual accompanying high fat.

 

Where did you find yours? Where could one find the unadulterated product like Kim has, hopefully without resorting to online sources? I have access to pan-Asian (Korean/Chinese/Thai/Japanese, and I'm sure others that I'm too ignorant to recognize), Indian, Mediterranean and Latin American grocers locally as well as some halal markets I haven't checked out yet. Is this a product of an established culture or a Modernist Cuisine ingredient? Either way, I'm intrigued.

[hummingbirdkiss]

did you taste it out of the bag Kim? I have looked at that they have huge bags at the commissary now and I wondered if the grandkids would like it ..how does it taste dry? I hate to buy a huge bag and not know what to do with it but it would be good for the earthquake kit I would think? 

[Kim Shook]

Making my PB cookies for Christmas today, so I thought I'd add a bit to the flour mixture to see how it works.  I'll report back once they are baked.

 

Thanks for the Crepes - It's a Jif product and I just found it at Kroger, I think.  

 

hummingbirdkiss - it tastes wonderful.  Like REALLY dry peanuts!

[Kim Shook]

Good grief  !  Ok - I added 4 T. to my regular PB cooky recipe:   http://www.recipecircus.com/recipes/Kimberlyn/COOKIES/Almost_the_Best_Peanut_Butter_Cookies.html.  I didn't change the recipe or ingredients in any other way.  I expected anything from no change to a slight change.  But this stuff gave a REAL boost to the PB flavor.  They are absolutely the best I've ever made and maybe the best I've ever eaten.  And since my perfect PB cooky would taste like pure peanut butter, but in cooky form, that is saying a LOT.  The only difference is that they are possibly SLIGHTLY more crumbly.  

[Lisa Shock]

I bet this would be a great addition to batter for fried chicken, along with some spice it would make an easy satay flavor fried chicken without a marinade.