PB2 & PB2 Chocolate: Powdered Peanut Butter {Review & Giveaway)

When I agreed to review PB2 & PB2 Chocolate I seriously thought it was a gourmet peanut butter. After all, I'd reviewed a couple of gourmet peanut butters in the last year or so and have found it fascinating how folks can take peanut butter to new levels of fanciness. You know, folks, peanut butter has really come a long way since Mr.Carver developed it along with lots of other uses for the lowly peanut. But I digress.....

Imagine my surprise when I opened the package and saw the two jars of powdered peanut butter. I thought, "Seriously! How in the world can you scoop out a spoonful and simply eat it?" and also "Seriously! This is going to take some investigative recipe hunting!"

The first thing I tried was reconstituting it with water. The directions say 2 tablespoons powder to 1 tablespoon water. This proved to be a watery mess in my opinion. Knowing that many folks use and really like this product, I thought, "Well, got to be something I'm missing here!" I'm not a smoothie drinker, so tossing a little into a smoothie for added taste and protein is not an option for me but would be a win-win for others.

So I decided to try my hand at doing a bit of cooking with it. Having cooked up many batches of fudge through the years, and to a goodly portion of those adding a scoop or so of regular peanut butter, I decided to improvise a bit with old fashioned fudge.

I used some coconut oil, some butter (real), regular cocoa powder, a bit of milk, and sugar. I reconstituted 1/2 cup of the PB2 Chocolate and water (according to the 2 to 1 directions). After cooking the sugar, cocoa, and milk for awhile I added the fats. After cooking them awhile I added the PB2. I continued cooking until it formed a soft ball in cold water (regular old-fashioned method for testing state of being ready). I then beat it awhile with my electric hand mixer and added chopped pecans.

My husband really likes this fudge!

My opinion: I really am not fond of this product for my own personal use or for cooking in our household. I will pass along my unused portion to family members who drink smoothies. I can see the value for a "peanut flour" but it is not a product I would enjoy using.

GIVEAWAY: PB2 will provide 2 jars of PB2 to one of Chat With Vera's readers.  ET.Open for USA addresses only.

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Product Description (from PB2) - PB2 is made with the highest quality peanuts that are slow roasted and then cold pressed to remove the fat and oil.  All that’s left is a delicious natural roasted peanut flavor.  PB2 with chocolate is simply PB2 blended with the finest cocoa beans to give you rich chocolate flavor. Both are all natural, made with no preservatives and are gluten free.  If you have any doubts about the benefits of PB2 versus traditional peanut butter, keep in mind that PB2 is all natural without the fat or added hydrogenated oils of other brands.  PB2 and PB2 with chocolate have only 45 calories per serving (2 Tbsp) and 0 grams of saturated fat.  When compared to traditional peanut butter which is 190 calories per serving (2 Tbsp) and 3 grams of saturated fat.

DISCLOSURE: I received 2 complimentary products to facilitate this review. Opinions expressed are solely my own.  I was not compensated for this review.