I'm convinced...Peanut Butter really is the essence of life.

It seems like I eat a little peanut butter every day. I am in love with it. You can imagine my excitement when Brittany from Sunland Inc. sent me three kinds of Sunland Natural Peanut Butter to try. H-E-A-V-E-N. The three varieties she sent were...

 

...Almond & Peanut mixed nut butter, banana peanut butter, and valencia peanut butter. You better believe that upon arrival I cracked them open to dip in my finger and make sure they were tasty. The good news is they are not just tasty; they are divine. My favorite is the banana peanut butter. I made it a point to put it with my chocolate peanut butter oatmeal the morning after I got it, which was a great move. It was really REALLY good!

They also have other crazy flavors like dark chocolate, caramel peanut butter, and cherry vanilla peanut butter. Imagine the possibilities...I wanted to make a healthy recipe sample for my boot campers tonight, and I wanted to use my new peanut butter, so I came up with a delicious peanut butter cookie recipe. I used the plain peanut butter, and it was extremely tasty. It was a great mix of smooth PB with a few crunchy peanuts here and there. The cookies turned out REALLY good, and are only 50 calories each. BOOM! Such a great little snack to have on hand, and totally low fat.

Low-fat Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup sugar free maple syrup (you can use honey or splenda as well)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 ripe banana mashed
2 egg whites
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (I used the Sunland Natural Valencia Peanut Butter and it worked great)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oatmeal
Directions: Combine all ingredients together

Bake at 325 for 8-‐10 minutes.

Recipe makes 36 cookies.

The nutrition facts for these cookies are:

Not bad, huh? Thanks again to Brittany for the finger-licking-good peanut butter! These peanut butters are all natural and made from Valencia peanuts. I would totally recommend them...especially the banana PB!!

What is your favorite way to eat Peanut Butter?? I LOVE PB & banana/apple, PB& honey sandwiches, PB & jelly, any form of peanut butter confection, ohhhh and PB and chocolate combos? Unreal. I used to be afraid of peanut butter until I realized how healthy it is for you. Do you have any amazingly delicious Peanut Butter Recipes for me??

P.S. I know some of you were having a hard time watching the Step Up Push Up Video from yesterday's exercise of the week. It should be fixed now if it wasn't working for you!!