Fabulous Low-Carb Peanut Butter Pudding Recipe

I love peanut butter, and I especially like peanut butter in other stuff – like pudding, for example. Unfortunately, if you Google “peanut butter pudding” you come up with a lot of recipes that basically say “prepare pudding mix according to package instructions, then add peanut butter.” Um … not exactly low carb, and certainly not easy to adapt to a homemade recipe using wholesome ingredients. And – surprise, surprise – the one low-carb pudding recipe I found said “prepare sugar-free pudding mix …” Well, I also don’t want to use a packaged sugar-free pudding mix, either, because the ones I’ve seen at the store are sweetened with aspartame, which I prefer to avoid, or because they are expensive and/or not available in the local stores. (Dixie Diner, for example, makes a really good low-carb pudding, but I can only get it via mail order, and it is very expensive compared to store-bought.)

Well, I found a regular old peanut butter pie recipe several months ago on the Kraft website, and I recently adapted the filling part of the recipe to be both low-carb and delicious. Here’s the recipe – I hope you enjoy it. And here’s the recipe already conveniently formatted in a Word document.

If you decide to try the recipe, please let me know how it works for you! And I already have plans for tweaking it, so if you do anything different, I’d like to know about that too.

Low-Carb Peanut Butter Pudding

Makes:
10-12 servings (6-7 g carbs per serving)

Ingredients

1 envelope Knox Unflavored Gelatine (or 2 tsp gelatin powder)

1 cup whole milk (approx. 10g carb)

3/4 cup creamy no-sugar-added peanut butter (approx. 24g carb)

salt (optional)

1/2 cup granulated Splenda (12 g carb)

15 oz ricotta cheese (I prefer Great Value Original Ricotta) (14 g carb)

Optional Garnishes

½ cup whipping cream (3 g carb)

optional 1 packet Splenda, to sweeten whipped cream (1 g carb)

cocktail peanuts (for garnish) (per serving: 1-2 g carb)

Directions

1. Sprinkle gelatin over milk in a small pot on the stovetop; let stand 5 min. or until gelatin is softened.

2. Gently heat milk on low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, until gelatin is completely dissolved, 2-3 minutes.

3. Put milk, peanut butter, granulated Splenda, and ricotta cheese in a blender or food processor. Blend on high speed until smooth. You may want to add optional salt to taste, especially if the peanut butter has little or no salt.

4. Spoon mixture into 10-12 small containers or ramekins.

5. Refrigerate 3 hours or until set.

Optional Garnishes

6. Whip cream and optional Splenda with mixer or food processor until stiff peaks form.

7. Top each serving with about 1 Tbsp. of the whipped cream and a sprinkling of peanuts.

Other optional garnishes: chocolate chips; chocolate shavings; peanut butter chips. Of course these will add carbs if they aren’t sugar-free, so be careful!

Notes

I highly recommend putting the pudding in individual containers, because you may just go face down in this stuff if you have it all in one large container! Smaller containers makes for easier portion control. I realize the individual servings seem small, and that was for 2 reasons. One – to keep the carb count low, and two – I like my desserts or sweet snacks to be small but satisfying. This pudding has a lot of fat and even some protein, moderate sweetness, and even a little bit of salt, so a small serving is very satisfying. If one serving isn’t enough, you can always eat another, but it’s harder to keep track of how much you ate if you just put it all in one big bowl.

I also recommend using the highest quality peanut butter you care to buy. The other ingredients have a very mild flavor and therefore do not cover up any off-tastes in the peanut butter. The first time I made this, I used a cheap store brand peanut butter, and the harsh flavor notes in the peanut butter came through loud and clear in the pudding. The second time I made it, I used one of my favorite peanut butters, Maranatha, and the pudding had a full, rich taste. The Maranatha also had a much smoother texture than the store brand, and that texture made the pudding easier to blend and also made for a much nicer mouthfeel in the finished pudding.

I prefer the Great Value Original Ricotta (surprisingly, since it’s from Wal-Mart) because it has a lower carb content, and higher fat content, than Sargento Whole Milk Ricotta. At the very least, use whole milk ricotta – not the skim milk stuff!

This recipe could easily be adapted to be a rich and tasty peanut butter sauce for ice cream or cheesecake. Simply omit the gelatin, and add a little extra milk to get your desired consistency.

low-carb peanut butter pudding, garnished with peanuts

Divine Mind

musings by Angel