Low-cal Peanut Butter Substitute

A friend suggested this, and it works great for me; I love the taste of peanut butter, but 1 ounce (1.66 T, no salt or sugar added) is about 167 calories. I prefer 2 tablespoons, but can't afford the calories. The solution is simple.

1 16 ounce jar of peanut butter
1 16 ounce package of soft or silken tofu
water for consistency control

• Place the tofu in a food processor. Add a small amount of water until the consistency is creamy (I don't like to use the water that's been in the package).
• Add the peanut butter. Blend extensively. Add water until you like the consistency. Err on the side of slightly too runny; it will harden when refrigerated.
• YOU MUST REFRIGERATE THIS MIXTURE, otherwise the tofu goes bad. It will typically last a week (depending on the expiration date of the tofu).

VARIATION;

3 ounces sugar-free Torani Hazelnut syrup
[NOTE ADDED 12/8/2007: Sugar-Free Almond Roca flavor syrup works better than Hazelnut]
4 ounces unsweetened cocoa

• Blend thoroughly with the peanut butter mixture. If you squint, you'll find it tastes a bit like Nutella. These two ingredients add very few calories per serving. Make sure to use SUGAR FREE and UNSWEETENED Torani syrup.

Tip: If you don't have a four ounce measure, get one. It makes measurement of small quantities so much easier.

CALORIES: 46 calories per tablespoon [corrected 8/3/2012]

calculation: 1 ounce of silken tofu is 15 calories, one ounce of PB is 167, for a total of 182 calories in two ounces, or 91 calories per ounce. A tablespoon is 0.6 of an ounce, yielding a figure of 46 calories per tablespoon, just about half that of peanut butter.

SODIUM: less than 10 mg