*Honeyville Organic Peanut Butter Powder Review*
By: Gottin_Himmel
28 February 2019
I bought a two-pound bag of Honeyville organic peanut butter on sale a couple months ago out of curiosity. This is like bringing coal to Newcastle because my town boasts a peanut butter factory as its sole remaining industry. I grew up with the scent of roasting peanuts in the air and worked a couple summers at the factory while in college.
You might say that I know my peanut butter. After playing around a little with the powdered version, I think Jif's market share is safe for the foreseeable future.
Of course, I didn't expect the powder to produce that smooth rich goodness that most of us expect from peanut butter. The label states that it is 90 percent fat-free, which should have set my inner alarm bells ringing.
Here is the perfect teaching moment. If your inner voice is telling you not to do something, Do Not Do It.
The first small batch that I whipped up tasted nothing like any kind of peanut butter I'd ever eaten. Even following the directions strictly, it tended to run off a piece of bread. Worse, it had a really unpleasant bitter undertone.
Shaking my head, I decided to read the listed ingredients on the label.
Three ingredients is not bad at all, and you can pronounce all of them. But the result is still pretty disappointing if you love peanut butter.
For long-term storage, Honeyville had to remove most of the fat, otherwise the natural peanut oils would turn rancid over time. Why they reduced the whole nuts to a powder is anyone's guess. If I squint my eyes a little, I am tempted to think that they are trying to find another use for a slow-selling item. That's just a guess, so don't quote me on that.
The use of organic coconut sugar and sea salt looks like an attempt to cater to health-conscious consumers. Unfortunately, some of our obsession with healthy eating will fly out the window during a grid-down crisis. Your body is going to need all the fat it can get if you're chopping wood and walking everywhere instead of driving. And there will probably be a noticeable shortage of coconut sugar.
On my second try with the powder, I used the same amount of water but added a sprinkle of cane sugar, a few grains of iodized salt and a few drops of olive oil. The consistency was much better. It still wasn't Jif, but it was easier to eat.
Fortunately, the bag has a couple recipes on the back for peanut butter cookies and a Chunky Monkey smoothie. The cookie recipe calls for two cups of the powder, an entire cup of butter and a whole cup of sugar. Now we're talking. When you're baking cookies, food puritanism falls by the wayside.
The smoothie requires the addition of almond milk, two frozen bananas and chocolate chips to two tablespoons of the powder. Everything tastes better when you add those ingredients.
I have not tried either of these recipes yet, so your mileage may vary. I'm up for some experimentation because I hate throwing away food. Even as a storage food, Honeyville Dehydrated Organic Peanut Butter Powder in its two-pound plastic bag has a shelf life of about one year. You may want to store it in the freezer to prolong its freshness.
So, if you're looking for the ultimate peanut butter sandwich, stick to your favorite brand in a jar. If you want something that will add extra protein to your baked goods, dehydrated peanut butter powder might serve your needs.
When you and your family are under stress, a batch of homemade peanut butter cookies might just be the ultimate morale booster.
Gottin_Himmel
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