DIY: From-scratch Peanut Butter
It’s certainly not a secret around here that we are a full-fledged peanut butter-aholic. We've been completely obsessed with the stuff since we were a kid. It was the only sandwich we wanted in our lunchbox, we would slather peanut butter on everything, and we even had a peanut butter and jelly sleeping bag growing up. We've continued our obsession into adulthood, favoring peanut butter and chocolate sweets over most anything else, and sneaking peanut butter into our day whenever possible.
First, we start off with some dry roasted peanuts (we prefer unsalted). This batch will yield about 2 cups of peanut butter, but you can easily scale it up or down, depending on your needs.
Throw the peanuts into the bowl of your food processor:
Start running the processor and then just let it do its thing!
This is what it will look like after about 15 seconds – pretty much ground nuts…
This is after 30 seconds – the nuts are much more finely ground, and they’re starting to stick to the outside of the bowl…
After 1 minute, the peanut mixture will start to clump up, sort of like a graham cracker crust…
We’re 1 minute 30 seconds in, and the peanut butter has gotten to a thick, paste-like stage. Keep going!
At 2 minutes, the peanut mixture has broken down and it’s starting to look like peanut butter… we’re almost there!
Finally, around 2 minutes 30 seconds, we’ve hit the peanut butter jackpot!
You can certainly let the peanut butter churn longer if you’d like, but at this point, the peanut butter should have a smooth and creamy consistency. You can eat it with a spoon straight from the food processor (guilty as charged), cut up an apple, toast a slice of bread, or transfer it to a container to store in the refrigerator.
If you prefer jazzing up plain ol’ creamy peanut butter, here are some ideas for different versions:
Ways to change it
- Chunky: Pulse an additional 1 cup of peanuts into the finished peanut butter for a chunkier texture.
- Honey: Pulse 2 teaspoons of honey into the finished peanut butter until evenly disbursed.
- Cinnamon-Raisin: Pulse ½ cup raisins + 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar into the finished peanut butter until evenly distributed.
- Maple: Pulse 1 tablespoon of maple syrup into the finished peanut butter until thoroughly combined.
It’s also worth mentioning that you can use this same process (and add-ins) to create any nut butter you’d like. Feel free to swap in almonds, cashews, even sunflower seeds!
What’s your favorite peanut butter flavor? We're a crisp girl through and through!
Note: We made batches of peanut butter in both the food processor and in our Vitamix blender. While both worked, we found the processor to be much easier. Using the blender, we had to push the peanuts down into the blade, and at one point, it started to smell like the motor was burning a bit. If you have a food processor, we definitely recommend going that route. If you don’t, you can use a blender, but you might want to break it up into smaller batches to it’s more manageable for your blender.
One year ago: Buckeye Brownies
Two years ago: Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese and Baked Asiago and Caramelized Onion Hummus Dip
Three years ago: Caramelized Onion, Mushroom and Gruyere Tartlets
Four years ago: English Muffins
Five years ago: Vanilla Ice Cream (Philadelphia Style)
Six years ago: Spaghetti and Meatballs
DIY: From-scratch Peanut Butter
Yield: 2 cups A straightforward recipe and step-by-step tutorial for making from-scratch peanut butter- 4 cups (600 g) dry roasted peanuts
- Place the peanuts in the bowl of a food processor, and process for 2 to 3 minutes, until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Store the peanut butter in a glass jar or airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Notes
Nutritional values are based on one cup
- Yield: 2 cups
- Prep: 10 minutes
- Total: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 cups ( 600 g ) dry roasted peanuts
Method
- Place the peanuts in the bowl of a food processor, and process for 2 to 3 minutes, until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Store the peanut butter in a glass jar or airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
