80--- Peanut Butter Protein Pancakes {Powdered Peanut Butter Review too}

Have you seen powdered peanut butter? PB2 is one of the brands.  Costco now carries another brand in a HUGE container (for only $7.99). It is dehydrated peanut butter (after the majority of the natural oils have been extracted).  

Soooooo it IS a processed food.  And if you're familiar with this blog I'm typically not a fan of those things.  But I've had a lot of patients using it so I wanted to give it a try.  It contains 45 calories per 2 Tbsp and the same amount of protein as natural peanut butter, which contains 190 calories per 2 Tbsp (the calorie difference comes from the fat).  No, fats are not a bad thing.  But when you're trying to cut out a few calories for weight loss, this may be a product that you try.

You can mix the powdered PB with water, per the package instructions, and form "peanut butter".  However, I did not find that this was a very enjoyable concoction. It was gritty and did not spread well.

So I started experimenting with mixing it dry into things.

I LOVE it stirred into my steel cut oats in the morning.

It's great in smoothies.

And it is delicious in these pancakes- and adds some protein!

Peanut Butter Protein Pancakes
Makes ~8 medium pancakes

1 egg
1 1/4 cups plain Greek yogurt (I used nonfat)
1 Tbsp natural peanut butter (for the fats)
3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour (more protein than AP flour!)
1/2 cup PB powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp sugar

Combine egg, yogurt, peanut butter, and almond milk in a mixing bowl.  Whisk to mix well.

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then whisk dry ingredients into the wet mixture.  Mix until just combined.

Drop ~3-4 Tbsp batter onto a nonstick skillet heated over medium heat.  Flip pancake when bubbles form on the pancake surface.  Cook for additional 1-2 minutes.  Repeat with all remaining batter.  Keep cooked pancakes covered to keep warm until all pancakes are cooked.

Serve immediately (or freeze for later in the week).  I topped mine with a small smear of peanut butter and homemade jelly.

Nutrition Info per 1 - 6" pancake: 144 calories, 4 g fat, 10 g protein, 20 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber