I’m sure some of you are shaking your heads at me. She’s posting a recipe for peanut butter?
Yup, I am. Because of this conversation:
Student – I make my own peanut butter! I put a stick of butter in the food processor and add some peanuts!
Me – Nooooooo!
So here’s a recipe. :)
That’s a cut up apple in the background. This is my normal breakfast except I much prefer Maple Cinnamon Almond Butter on my bread. I mean, come on, it has maple syrup!
German Vollkornbrot! I don’t know how we’ll survive when we move.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup roasted peanuts (I used salted, but you can use unsalted or honey roasted)
- salt to taste
- canola or peanut oil (I’ve never had to use it)
Directions:
Dump peanuts in the food processor.
Process until creamy. For me it took about 4 minutes. In my old blender it took about 8. First there’ll be ground peanuts, then it’ll start to come together in a ball, then it’ll be a ball, and then the ball will break down into what you see below. Then process it a little more until you’re sure it’s nice and creamy. I’ve never had to add oil, but people on the internet have. Add a teaspoon at a time until it looks like the below picture. Add salt to taste.
That’s it! Store in the fridge for up to two months (that’s according to Alton Brown). 1 cup of peanuts yields about 2/3 cup peanut butter.
20 comments on "How to Make Homemade Peanut Butter" — Add one!
I’ve been making my own peanut butter and almond butter for a while now – since I discovered how expensive and disgusting-looking commercial almond butter is. It’s easy to make and peanut butter is even easier – much cheaper to make your own peanut butter, too. I think the only reason people need to add oil to either nut butter is lack of patience. The food processor will draw out the oil if you just run it long enough (probably about 10 minutes or a little more). Peanut butter happens so fast that one should never feel a need to add oil. I also never use salt, although the peanut butter could probably use a little.
Yeah. I think you must be right. Peanut butter goes so quickly, even in old and bad food processors. Almond butter can be difficult sometimes but I always roast mine in some maple syrup first and never have a problem. SO good! And I would be lost without my salt in the peanut butter. The peanuts come roasted and salted already and that’s just enough salt for me. :)
I don't know if anyone mentioned this because I didn't read all the comments but I make my own peanut butter and you don't have to add the oil! Even healthier!
I never use oil either. :) I wrote that in the recipe (that I never add oil) but added the part about others needing it because some people swear up and down that it doesn't work for them without it.
Amanda – Awesome! I'm so happy that you and the others enjoyed it. I think homemade peanut butter is always risky when it comes to feeding others (just because it's so different than the commercial stuff), so I'm actually surprised it got such positive feedback. :) Thanks for leaving feedback. It makes my day when people take the time to do that! :)
I made this last night with honey roasted peanuts (thanks for the suggestion!!) and I am now OBSESSED with homemade peanut butter!!! :) I put it in my favorite peanut butter cookies and sent them to work with Kev today. Everyone was raving about them and asking what kind of peanut butter I used! :) Thank you for making this so easy!! :)
Miryam – Thanks!
Wow, you're a bunch of hardcore peanut butter eaters. You should definitely try making this. I imagine it'd be way cheaper and maybe it'll even taste better. Or almond butter! But with lots of cinnamon and stuff because almonds by themselves are not so yummy (in my opinion).
Could you believe I have never made any type of peanut butter, almond butter or any butter for that matter?
The honey roasted peanut butter sounds really good. I know my family would love this because we eat peanut butter by the pounds, not kidding. Every time I buy peanut butter I have to buy at least 3 containers at a time :-)
Great pictures!!
Mercedes – Thanks! But now I'm wondering what it is. I get the cheapest peanut I can find so it's not like I have superior peanuts or something. It must be the food processor!
I have tried to make peanut butter a couple of times but mine never gets this smooth! Yours looks so yummy!
Nora – I know! It's just nasty. Maybe I should have mentioned that the student was a 45 year old business man. That somehow just makes it worse. Anyway, thanks. :)
Nicole – I think he's the only one to attempt that recipe. Ever. He even said it was *his* recipe. I've never tried hazelnut butter either, but I saw this recipe the other day and it looks good!
http://thehealthyfoodie.net/2011/09/28/hazelnut-butter-meets-dark-cocoa-powder/
Anon – Yeah, get a food processor! But only if you would use it for stuff other than peanut butter. They take up a lot of space! Now, if you're a nut butter addict, it'd be totally worth it and you can ignore the previous statement. :)
I've been thinking about making a post for German Vollkornbrot. The problem is that it'd cost a fortune to make in North America. I've used this recipe before with great results:
http://www.applepiepatispate.com/bread/vollkornbrot/
But it takes a ton of time, work and money. Almost everything is more expensive in Germany, but the ingredients to make this bread are super cheap. It costs about $2.50 for me to make this recipe but I'm afraid it'd be at least $10 in the US. Maybe I can come up with a version that's cheaper to make, but I don't have a lot of hope for that.
oh that does look yummy. wish i had a food processor to make some…. the bread also looks fantastic also – do you have a recipe for that? i always thought it would cost more to make nut butters onself but after your comment to the opposite i will certainly look into it a bit closer. could be a justification for a food processor – right? :)
Haha, the student's comment cracked me up. I hope that method was never attempted! This one, on the other hand, is great… I love homemade nut butters. I was actually debating earlier today whether to try my hand at homemade hazelnut butter. I've never even tried hazelnut butter before, but I have a bag of the nuts in my cupboard and couldn't help but wonder.
Hahaha, I laughed when I read the conversation with you and your student – yikes! Butter and peanuts – that's more like a unsweetened peanut buttercream!! :)
I LOVEEEEEEE peanut butter – I have an addiction and eat it by the spoonful – I love making my own but sometimes I buy the natural kind when I am running low – but like you said it's so easy! and peanut butter and apple is such a fabulous combo :)
I love the photo of the PB dripping off the side…drool!
Heidi – I don't know about where you live, but it's really SO much cheaper to make it yourself where I am. I'm happy to have provided you with a little reminder. :)
Becca – Good question! I'll add it to the post. Alton Brown says it stays good for two months. I hope you can make it!
Sonia – I just slammed my head on the table. I couldn't believe it. I then explained what peanut butter really is, and his response was, "Well, that's how *I* make *my* peanut butter." Horrifying, isn't it? I look forward to your peanut butter post! I never thought of you as a fancy shmancy food person.
It's so weird. Shouldn't peanuts be peanuts? But you know what, you're right. Yesterday I got some dried blueberries in the mail (they are impossible to get here) and I was SOOO excited. I opened them up and they tasted like nothing. Or the taste that they did have wasn't a nice one. For my peanut butter, I use Trader Joe's peanuts that I get from Aldi. I guess for once I have good ingredients. :)
Could it be your food processor, though? I got a super powerful one about a year ago, but before that I was using one from the former East Germany and I'm pretty sure I had really thick peanut butter too. But maybe you like your peanut butter thick and then it's all good!
Actual butter to make peanut butter??? OMG. I'm not sure whether I should laugh or cry. I just can't believe this. Thank goodness you set them back on the right track, Erin. Oh my… just imagining this, must be so gross.
Funny you should've posted about this, I was planning on doing the exact same thing next time I make a batch of plain ole peanut butter. You know, I do make that too. Not all my nut butter are fancy shmancy. Too many people think that it's super complicated, when in fact, it's extremely easy and so much cheaper to make at home. Not to mention so much gooder. When you know how to make it though and don't go adding actual butter to it. I'll never get over that one. Thanks for sharing that story with us.
Oh, and one more thing… funny how your peanut butter looks so, erm, runny whereas mine is always so thick. Wait 'til you see it, you'll understand. I think our base ingredients are often extremely different!
I think it would be so cool to make your own peanut butter. I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day. How long does it keep in the fridge for?
I love natural peanut butter :D It's amazingly simple to make yourself. I should really do it more often. I'm spoiled because I can buy peanut butter with no added ingredients, but it's probably much cheaper to make my own. Thanks for the reminder!
Amanda – Thanks! What a nice comment. :) I love meeting people with the same food philosophy so I'm happy we found each other. I was having a terrible afternoon and this comment really cheered me up. Thank you so much.
My problem is that I absolutely love peanut butter with junk added. Not to eat on bread, but for baking. I just used some of this peanut butter to make some chocolate peanut butter candy that I'll post in a few weeks. And it's actually pretty good! But natural peanut butter in pie or cookies? The junky peanut butter just tastes so much better! I really wish I hated the stuff. Hopefully my taste will change. :)
Love this! Your blog is so inspiring to me. I feel like you have a similar cooking and baking philosophy as I do and I love coming here to check out what delicious and healthy dish you've whipped up this time. I have a big issue with peanut butter that has junk added to it so this post really spoke to me. I think that most people don't realize how simple it is to make your own. Thanks for posting!