For the Love of Peanut Flour

Before I babble about my new favorite food item, I want to take a minute to thank all of my recent de-lurkers and new readers. It's so nice when you guys come out of the woodworks and say "well, hey!" Welcome to all of you! But I know why you are here, and it's not my charming personality either. You're here for the food. ;-) So let's get to it!

In a previous post involving peanut flour in a protein cake, I divulged my undying love for peanut flour. I will just admit it. I'm absolutely gonzo over this stuff. Sure, I consume plenty of full-fat nut butters, but sometimes if I want to slash some calories without a huge sacrifice in taste, I turn to my new drug of choice: Peanut Flour. And no, PB2 is a sorry second. So if you like PB2, but wish it had more flavor, this stuff is for you.

[Lovely, generous, kind] Allie of Pimp My Protein Shake brought me two types: 12% fat, dark; and 28% fat, light. Both are amazingly flavorful and honestly I can't tell which I like better. Head over to Allie's place and ask her all about it because I know she has firm opinions on which one is best for sauces, etc. There are two other types as well: 12% fat, light; and 28% fat, dark. Oh my mind spins with the possibilities!

Here is the heart-breaking part of the story: to the best of my knowledge, the only place to get this stuff is online here. It's Byrd Mill, not to be confused with Bob's Red Mill! Ack, the confusion is enough to make you go nuts (heh)


From the website:

The 12% Dark Peanut Flour is described like this:

Serving size is 1/4 cup (24g).
Calories 100.
Total fat 3g.
Calories From Fat 26.
Total Carbohydrates 7g.
Dietary Fiber 3g.
Protein 12g.

This very low-fat, robust roasted peanut flour is loaded with protein at 50% and works great in low-fat and high-protein recipes. Its flavor level is slightly less than the 28% fat peanut flour we offer. It has a dark roast and is all natural and gluten-free.

The 28% Light Peanut Flour is described as:

Serving size is 1/4 cup (22g).
Total Calories 120.
Total fat 6g.
Calories from fat 60.
Total Carbohydrates 5g.
Dietary Fiber 2g.
Protein 9g. This is a high-protein, low-fat peanut flour. It has a light roast and is all natural and gluten-free. It can be used in many low-fat, high-protein recipes.

Umm, how much do I love those stats?

Sweet Peanut Spread:

I definitely could have added a few drops of water for a creamier consistency. But literally only a few.

This one couldn't be easier:

• 1 T peanut flour
• sprinkle stevia (if desired) or other sweetener
• tiny bit of salt if desired
  
• tiny bit of water- added a teaspoon at a time- to thin to desired consistency.
• Pretend it is real peanut butter for a fraction of the calories and spread on anything and everything.

Peanut 'Butter' Ice 'Cream':

For this recipe, I'm using up my frozen milk cubes. Have I mentioned that I have a tough time parting with perfectly good food? Especially if its final destination is the trash or the sink. So as I mentioned in a previous post about making ice milk, I freeze milk into ice cube trays and defrost them as needed. Or I use them for my new favorite recipe: Ice 'Cream.' Let me just tell you- when you use the frozen milk cubes to make Ice 'cream' you will hardly believe there is nearly no fat in the finished product.

You will need a Vitamix or ice cream maker for this one really, really delicious. Magic bullets work, but not quite as well.

• 6 Frozen milk cubes
• 1 Tablespoon Peanut flour
  
• 3-4 ice cubes
• splash of water
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2-1 tsp maple extract
• (optional) Splash Peanut Butter Torani Sugarfree Syrup (available at Amazon here) It is also available at certain Low Carb Markets. Cost Plus World Market and Smart & Final also carry sugarfree syrups (DaVinci is another one) but I have never seen Peanut Butter in the latter two locales. :-(
• sprinkle of xanthan and guar gums (For questions about these, see previous post about them here and here.)
• sprinkle of stevia or other sweetener.

Method: Add everything to vitamix or other blender with a tamper. You will need to use your elbow grease for this as you keep mashing it down. All of a sudden, the blades seem to 'catch' and a louder, more high pitched noise is made (as if that's even possible). This is the magic moment to stop the process. If you overblend, you will melt the ice 'cream'.

I love the fact that I can create a recipe on The Daily Plate and it gives me the stats AND a handy pie chart (squeals with delight.)...

Love these stats, no?

Love the Pie Chart courtesy of The Daily Plate

Topping: 20 g of chopped nuts (that's a LOT) - about 130 calories' worth. So total is 260 for something incredibly decadent and filling.

Q: Are you a numbers junkie? Or do you just wing-it with calories? Do you count? Guesstimate? Ballpark? Have you had success or failures with either? I have lots to say on this topic- will cover it in another post for another day! ;-)