Apparently November is National Peanut Butter Month. A few of you have mentioned this to me and I finally looked it up to confirm that it’s true. It’s ironic too because I sort of gave up peanut butter this month…
I say “sort of” because I still eat it in my granola and sometimes in other foods. I guess I’m just more into almond butter these days (after eliminating it for a week during my elimination diet it was easy for me to not go back to eating it again). Of course that doesn’t mean I don’t still love blogging about it! Earlier this month I posted about Peanut Butter and Co’s Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter. Today I’m posting about a peanut butter of a different kind. It’s one that claims to be BETTER than peanut butter…..
Yep, that’s right, Better’n Peanut Butter! Have you heard of it? When I was a senior in college I used Better’n Peanut Butter for my food science research experiment. My goal was to see if I could use this product as a replacement for real peanut butter in a banana and peanut butter muffin recipe. Before I tell you how my experiment turned out, let’s look at the differences between real peanut butter, and Better’n Peanut Butter.
First, the calories and fat are significantly decreased in Better’n Peanut Butter. Specifically, this product contains 85% less fat and 40% less calories (per 2 T) compared to regular peanut butter.
While the reduction in fat may sound like a good thing, you must keep in mind that most nut butters are a good source of healthy polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, so this product is not a good source of these fats.
They also have a low sodium version, which contains 95 mg sodium in 2 T.
The original version is fairly low in sodium too, with 190 mg per serving.
The majority of the natural nut butters will contain anywhere from 0-150 mg sodium. In my opinion, this isn’t bad at all. Heck, even JIF peanut butter only has 150 mg sodium per serving. The reduced fat JIF has 250 mg, because they have to replace the fat with something.
So what the heck does Better’n Peanut Butter have in it that replaces its fat? Here are the ingredients;
Peanuts (as defatted peanut flour, peanut butter and natural peanut oils), tapioca syrup, pure water, dehydrated cane juice, rice syrup, vegetable glycerine, soy flour, tapioca starch, natural food flavors, paprika and annato, salt, calcium carbonate, lecithin, tocopherol (vitamin E), sodium ascorbate (vitamin C).
The answer? They have replaced the fat with a bunch of fillers and processed thickeners. But this is an all-natural product (says the label). Ummm, ok, I guess. I mean the ingredients are all processed from natural ingredients, sure, but is this truly natural? Not in my opinion.
How is the taste? Not bad. In my peanut butter and banana bread I made for my research project it didn’t mimic real peanut butter very well, but when I used half Better’n Peanut Butter and half real peanut butter, my results (both subjective and objective) were fantastic!
Why Would You Use This Product?
– Trying to cut down on calories and lose weight
– Trying to eat less fat
– You want something to eat when you have an appetite, but you really aren’t hungry (especially at night). At least this product is lower in calories and won’t add up too fast!
How Can This Product Be Used?
– In recipes that call for peanut butter! But I suggest replacing only half.
– Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (significantly reduces the calories and fat, but also the taste. So again, it may be best to still use some real peanut butter)
– Smoothies (may add a nice nutty flavor and thicker consistency)
– Morning oats!
– Check out their own recipes on their website
