PB2: A review

To all my peanut butter lovers out there, I thought I do us all a service a write up a little review on PB2 (aka powdered peanut butter). It comes in a regular and chocolate variety; I haven't tried the chocolate kind so my review will be on the regular stuff.


If you haven't heard about PB2, it's basically peanut powder. They grind up peanuts, defatten it, and then mix the powder with a little sugar and salt. To make PB2 into peanut butter, you just add a little bit of water and surprise! You've got a peanut butter substitute that has less calories and fat than the real thing (to compare, regular PB has about 180-190 calories in 2 Tbsp, PB2 has about 45 calories, though I don't know if 2 Tbsp PB2 powder equals 2 Tbsp peanut butter once you rehydrate it).

Now the big question is, how does it stack up the real thing? Well, it's not bad.

When you mix it up with water there's a really strong peanut scent. It looks like regular peanut butter, maybe a little lighter, maybe not as smooth. As for the taste, to me, it doesn't taste exactly like regular peanut butter but it's pretty darn close. I find that PB2 tastes more like natural peanut butter, you know the stuff that's basically just ground up peanuts. If you love the taste of Jif or Skippy, PB2 is not as sweet and smooth. Nevertheless, the stuff is pretty good. However, the texture is not quite up to par. There's nothing gross about the texture, it's just lacking. Real peanut butter has that stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth quality to it and PB2 definitely does not. In certain contexts that's not a problem, but sometimes you just want that familiar, delicious treat.

Anyways, I've tried PB2 is a couple of contexts and am relatively pleased with it. I made it into a sandwich once (grilled PB&J) and it tasted fine but with the grilling, the PB2 was just too melty. My favorite use of PB2 however is baking/mixing. I sometimes mix up a couple tablespoons of the dry powder into my oatmeal to give it a peanut butter punch (and add some protein to that baby). I find in this context it works better than regular peanut butter which can get gluey in oatmeal. I've heard of people mixing it into baked goods to get that peanut butter flavor. I did try out one-ingredient ice cream and mixed a little PB2 in it...amazing. Seriously.

So in conclusion, PB2 is a pretty darn good substitute for peanut butter if you love the PB but want something a little bit healthier. However, it's a bit pricey, a 6.5 oz jar (roughly the same size as a jar of PB) is about $5 at my local Hy-Vee. Since it's essentially ground up peanuts, or peanut flour, I've heard of some people finding cheaper options with generic peanut flour.