Homemade Peanut Butter

I love peanut butter, so I always have a jar of it in the house.  There are some store-bought brands that I adore but they contain artificial ingredients and sugar.  In an effort to eat more all-natural and healthy foods I tried some organic peanut butter brands.  For a lack of better words, they tend to be gross and “blah.”   Yup, that’s a technical term.     😉  I hate how the oil separates from the peanut paste even when it’s stored in the refrigerator.  Plus it’s so thick that it’s not tasty or enjoyable to eat.

I never thought of making peanut butter.  Maybe it’s because I never had a food processor, which is essential to making a successful batch of it.  A couple of years ago my husband and I finally bought one and it’s taken me this long to realize I should try making peanut butter.

The results?  It’s the best!  I know there are exactly three ingredients in it, peanuts, peanut oil, and salt.  It’s super simple to make and it tastes great.  It tastes like…wait for it…peanuts!

 

The time it takes to make peanut butter will completely depend on two things: 1) how good your food processor is and 2) what consistency of peanut butter you prefer.

My food processor is powerful and it took me about 5 minutes to make creamy peanut butter.  Even if you have to adjust the time, I wanted to give you an idea of how long the process could take because I sometimes question whether I’m running it too long or not long enough.

With other recipes, texture may be the key to a successful dish, but here it doesn’t matter.  Do you like chunky peanut butter?  Process it for less time.  Do you like creamy peanut butter?  Then process it for longer time.   Pretty complicated, I know.     😉

I think it took me longer to clean out the food processor container than it did to make this fabulous peanut butter!  Honestly this recipe could not be more simple to make.

The food processor generates some heat while it’s running so your peanut butter will start out a tad thin and a little warm.  I took these pictures right after I made it so that’s why you see it dripping down the sides of the bowl.  It’s still mad yummy though!  Don’t worry, it will firm up once it’s been in the refrigerator for a few hours.

It should be noted that this recipe only yields about 1 cup of peanut butter but you may want more than that.  If you do, you should stick to one recipe worth of ingredients at a time in your food processor because it’s very thick and could damage it.  By making multiple batches one after another you really save a lot of cleaning time too.

Peanut butter is a great source of protein so it’s a staple in my diet.  I love eating it with an apple or with whole wheat bread.  Sometimes I’ll even just eat a quick teaspoon of it if I’m in a rush out the door, like right before I go to my kick boxing class.

Don’t forget to store your homemade peanut butter in the refrigerator to help prevent the oil from separating.

Rating:

 

Adapted from: Alton Brown

 

Are you a peanut butter lover like me?  You may also like Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Homemade Granola goes amazing with homemade peanut butter!