Add Peanut Powder to Your Cooking Kit
I’m currently addicted to peanut powder. It has all the flavor of raw peanuts and peanut butter, but the powdery texture is nothing short of food wizardry. Plain, sticky peanut butter has always been used for a concentrated flavor, but its thick, buttery texture can be a real problem when it comes to cooking and baking. To enjoy peanuts the way you could ever imagine, add peanut powder to your cooking kit.
What is peanut powder?
Peanut powder is made from defatted crushed peanuts. This glamorous description doesn’t accurately reflect his taste and abilities, but I digress. The oil in the peanuts is what makes peanut butter calorie-dense, gives it a sticky texture, and is what you see floating on some jars. Degreasing removes approximately 90% of this oil, making it dry enough to powder. Peanut powder is different from powdered peanut butter and slightly different from peanut flour. Peanut powder is simply defatted peanuts ground into a fine powder, with no other additives. Powdered peanut butter usually contains additives such as sweeteners, salt, and possibly other flavorings. Peanut flour can have a little more fat than powder, however sometimes they are the same and it depends a lot on the brand. I did not find that the discrepancy exceeded three percent. For our purposes, they operate in the same way. Since you can use this aromatic dust in more than just desserts, I suggest giving yourself more choice and avoiding sweetened foods.
Now that our crushed peanuts are sorted, let’s start the fun part. You can add peanut powder to cooking and baking in a new way, as it won’t add a lot of oil to your recipes, which can weigh them down or create an unwanted sticky consistency. You can blend it into a dry smoked seasoning without resorting to a thick sticky layer of peanut butter. Add some powder to marinades and it will add flavor and viscosity without overpowering the liquid texture. Make a dipping sauce for meat or vegetables, or add a touch of peanut butter to Mrs. Buttersworth’s Bacon Vinaigrette . Add it to smoothies or oatmeal for a low-fat, rich peanut flavor. You can add rich peanut butter flavor to cake batters, frostings, and buttercreams without sacrificing the structural integrity of the mixture.
How to use peanut powder
For both sweet and savory uses, start your powdered peanut research with these guidelines to ensure success. Start adding powder from the conservative side, taste it if you can, take the consistency into account and adjust from there. For dry rubs, keep peanut powder at less than a quarter of the mixture. For example, to a spice mix consisting of ½ tablespoon paprika, ½ tablespoon chili powder, and ½ tablespoon salt, add ½ tablespoon peanut powder or less. When adding powder to liquid mixtures such as marinades and dressings, start small and add little by little to monitor how thick the mixture becomes. Taste it to see if it’s peanutty enough. If this is not the case, add more powder and adjust the wet ingredients to account for the change in density. I usually add a teaspoon if I’m making a dressing or sauce. For the two nine-inch cake batter, add 1/4-1/3 cup peanut powder to the dry ingredients and proceed as usual for a fluffy, flavorful cake.
Enjoy your latest “powder tool” in your kitchen shed. Chocolate peanut butter lovers, test your new skills at making powdered peanuts with this no-bake pie . The peanut flavor should be the background to the chocolate, but the mixture is forgiving, so you can always add an extra tablespoon or two to boost the nutty flavor.