I LOVE nut butters. I make them and and eat them and love them. I do not, however love the calories in them. And sometimes I need a thinner version of nut butters, but not as thin as PBU.
So I decided to tweak some almond butter and came up with the following recipe for nut butters that are creamy and spreadable with a slightly lower calorie count than straight-up nut butters. The secret? Thin with a liquid, then make it creamy with coconut flour and guar gum.
Ya think I have enough measuring spoons?
Here is the recipe for what I am calling Nut Butter Silk, and in this case: Almond Silk:
- 1 Tablespoon Almond Butter
- 1.5 Tablespoons water
- .5 Tablespoon Coconut Flour
- 1/8 tsp Guar gum
- (optional almond extract)
- (optional stevia)
Mix together the water and coconut flour to make a paste. Add the rest of the ingredients. Let sit on the countertop for a few minutes for the guar gum to stabilize the mixture and get thicker.
This batch turned out a bit thick. You can thin to desired consistency with your liquid of choice.
Incidentally if you want to go all chemical on me, you can substitute the water for sugar-free Torani or Da Vinci syrup in any number of nut flavors. The possibilities are endless.
Spread on Apples, bananas, crackers etc. Or use as a sauce for drizzling or dipping.
This recipe makes one portion and has 125 calories. Enjoy!
Q: Do you have any creative ways to “thin” nut butters? I know that PBU is quite popular!
37 comments:
Great idea! The same feeling about the calories in lovely nut butter is how I started experimenting with protein nut butter!
You are a genius. I've got some ideas and I want to run to my kitchen RIGHT NOW and play with this idea.
That is brilliant! Almond butter is so dangerous for me. I truly could eat a whole jar in a few days - I love it on everything!
I'm so intrigued by Guar Gum. I'll have to get some right away :)
This sounds very interesting, I just made a huge pot of almond butter as I just love it soooooooo much! Like you I'm not so keen on the calories! x x x
That's a really good idea! However, I wouldn't eat almond butter if not for its high level of healthy fats, vitamins, and protein. I do think this is an amazing idea for those of us (ahem, me) who have trouble sticking to a single serving.
This is a genius idea. I like the idea of making a mass quantity of PBU or Almond Silk or whatever floats the person's boat. Making one serving is a little tedious.. I used to make dressing for every individual use with a really psycho mindset of making sure the calories were lower and everything.. (1 T olive oil was like death!) And adding water, vinegar, mustard etc to thin it out just got to be too much. So now I either make a big batch of dressing, or don't use any at all!
Omg Deb- I do have like 5 different nut butters with me though... its only been one week, and idk how fast I'm going through them! aghck. :/ Had popcorn and carrots last night and thought of you. ;)
I CAN EAT THAT (she proclaims from the mountain top)!!!!
I LOVE YOU.
I know, I still to this day often wonder how such a small amount can contain so many calories?? Great idea, thanks!! :)
Genius!
What a smart idea!! I do love me some nut butters and if I can eat more this way them I'm doing it :)
Thinning nut butters = agave, maple, or even almond/coconut milk.
I am posting on this VERY thing later today!!!
Have you ever tried PB2? Or what are your feelings on it?
Confessions: Yes, I use PB2 all the time. Heart it mucho. Use it for the same purposes as the "silk". Just nice for me to have other flavor options. I find that PB2 gets lost in smoothies so I don't waste it in them. But solo- I love it!
oooooh i LOVE this! great idea girl :) is coconut flour the only option? orrr can i use regular whole wheat flour?
Julie- I have a feeling that coconut flour would make it creamier, but there's only one way to find out...get back to me on that, right?!
This is brilliant! I usually just do PBU, but find that the flavor sometimes gets lost when I eat it spread on toast or something. And since I tend to eat a jar of peanut butter a week, something that makes it last a little longer is definitely welcome!
I really like using PB2 because I can control the consistency, plus it's much lower in fat and calories than regular nut butters (granted, it does have sugar, but not much!).
I will experiment with this without the coconut flour - I promise!! I loved PBU back in the day :)
Yes, you are a GENIUS. I will confirm that. And I have all those ingredients so I can make it soon!! Yea.
Thanks.
LC
You just might be my new favorite person ever! :)
Reason 5,460 why I need the gums. Bills/gums? Bills/gums? I digress...
I am so amazed that you even think of stuff like this! Me, I'm like "I wish Almond Butter was more spreadable... oh well." And then I make a big mess trying to make it work. You are a smoothie/nut butter savant!
Very interesting and creative..
Honestly, you have a brilliant mind but we all knew that before this super creative idea!! I recently starting storing my nut butters in the pantry instead of the fridge and I can't believe I didn't do it sooner. My super big treat these days is heating together sugar-free Mrs. Butterworth's with a couple of teaspoons of natural PB and pouring over protein Ezekiel French Toast - yum!
How would it be as a baster for chicken or fish, etc.?
Looks so good.
Michelle- YOU are brilliant- the sf syrup and pb- genius.
Rhoda- yes that sounds like it would be a really smart use for it- as a marinade- thanks for thinking of that!!
Deb,
I went back and reread some of Bekah's comments and noticed your little 'hi' to me. Thx! Oh boy, do we miss Bekah. But I am just so proud of her and happy for her. She is going to do fantastic at the CIA.
Blessings to you my friend. I had so much fun meeting you in December in Phoenix.
Love,
Tenaya - aka protein mama
wow what a great way to spread out the almond butter :) Will have to try that soon!!
ps. bought xanthan gum recently and i LOVE how thick my green monsters are now!! thanks for that post a while back on the gums!
you could write a cookbook and call it "all about the gums" or "gumtastic" or you get the idea..
this is brilliant! i never made PBU when it was a big thang in bloggie land and then i forgot about it!
DEB i already miss you.
I have never thought to thin out my nut butters. Not a bad idea.....you can eat more volume if you do and still retain the flavor. Gotta try, thanks!
This stuff looks awesome!! I love how you take yummy higher-calorie stuff and turn it into yummy lower-calorie stuff. Do you have to use coconut flour? Could you use almond flour or something similar?
Bring on the calories - in the form of nut butter of course. I cannot bring myself to thin out a nut butter. Nope, I would rather have the calories and the fat, but your creation does look good!
This looks great!! Actually I do have a way to "stretch" peanut butter, (mostly for my mom while she was dieting.)
I use a 3-2-1 approach with 3 parts nut butter, 2 parts almond milk and 1 part pumpkin. It almost cuts the calories in half.
I love the guar gum in this recipe. I'll have to try it ASAP!
Brittac- I TOTALLY understand your point and if my bootay would allow it, I would never low-calorify anything ever again! :-) I do eat straight up nut butters (a lot) but sometimes if I feel I've done enough caloric damage but still feel like having a nut butter, then this is the sacrifice I make-sniff.
Ohhmay- THAT my friend is pure genius- Pumpkin! You can bet I'll be trying that one for sure!!
I made a sunflower seed version of this and loved it! I have been eating it nonstop! Thanks for the recipe!
Took me time to read all the comments, but I really enjoyed the article. It proved to be Very helpful to me and I am sure to all the commenters here! It's always nice when you can not only be informed, but also entertained!
- John
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