Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Make Your Own Peanut Butter!

Making your own peanut butter is unbelievably easy.  All you need is a food processor and some dry roasted peanuts.  There is no need to add any oil or anything else if you don't want to.  Personally, I prefer my peanut butter to be UNsalted.  I accidentally bought some unsalted freshly ground peanut butter from a nearby store not long ago. I didn't think I'd like it, but I do!  Much better.

Here is how I make the peanut butter:

First, you need dry roasted peanuts:


I measured out 1 pound of peanuts, which works out to be about 3.5 cups:


 Pour the peanuts into the bowl of the food processor with a metal blade and then put on the lid:


Turn on the processor.  These photos will show the changes that will occur:



After 2 or 3 minutes, the peanut butter will cling together like this.  Then you will know you are almost done!


Keep it going and it will become nice and smooth and creamy!


This makes about 1.5 cups or a little more.  I keep mine in a glass canning jar:


Some people would say I should keep it in the refrigerator, but I always keep some at room temperature so it will be soft when I need to use it.  I find that it really does not separate readily and might require only a little stirring once in a while.  If you like "crunchy" peanut butter, just throw in a handful of the peanuts when it is done and process only long enough to chop them up some.  Easy!

Once you try this and see how delicious and economical it is, you'll never want to go back!

You may, of course, add sea salt or any number of other flavorings, such as brown sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, cayenne, chili powder, cocoa powder.  Use your imagination!  By the way, this also makes a very nice gift for someone who would appreciate it.

This post is linked up at "Make Your Own Monday!"

8 comments:

  1. Peanuts are actually very, very high in phytic acid and anti-nutrients. The only way to get rid of these is to soak raw peanuts in salt water for at least 24 hours and dehydrate them until they are crispy. Phytic acid is one of the main causes of mineral imbalances and tooth decay.

    After making crispy nuts, we roast them at 350 and make peanut butter just like you show and it is oh so yummy. My kids eat lots of PB so I make sure that we take the extra time to make crispy nuts. :)

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    1. I had heard that... so, do you buy the raw peanuts and blanch them to get the skins off, or can you purchase raw peanuts with the skins off already? Or do you just leave them on? Thank you for the tip! I didn't know if the crispy peanuts (from Nourishing Traditions - the book- for readers who might not know) would make nice peanut butter. :)

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    2. I have always bought them raw with the skins on and after they have soaked I give them a good rinse and most of the skins come off easily.

      The last time I made PB it turned out good but finally realized that I didn't need to add any extra salt. There was enough saltiness from soaking the peanuts. We like our PB a little chunky so I don't know how smooth it actually would get. :)

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    3. Is adding salt when making crispy nuts necessary?

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  2. So yummy! I love the idea of the mix-ins!

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  3. Looks and sounds yummy. I missed that part about the peanuts being high in the phytic acid... So all of our peanut butter is not good... I suppose almond butter is the same.

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    1. I would imagine so, and buying soaked nut butters is VERY expensive. I might try the crispy nuts way sometime, and will report back. Right now, just having this fresh and natural homemade is really nice.

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