If you've never actually made peanut butter
yourself, you might not quite understand just how ridiculously easy it
really is. Peanuts go through a few transformations on their way to
becoming spreadable and delicious peanut butter. At first, the mix will
look crumbly and dry at the bottom of your food processor, but don't be
put off, let the blender continue to work its magic and it will soon
start to resemble heavenly peanut butter.
After about three minutes of blending, you might be tempted to stop and
reap the rewards of your labor - but we recommend that you keep on
going. The reason for this is that in the next minute or two, something
magical happens. What was perfectly good peanut butter before suddenly
becomes that little bit smoother - the stuff dreams are made of.
Just so that your expectations are not too high, you should be aware of
the fact that homemade peanut butter will never be as smooth as the
commercially prepared stuff. To make it as smooth as possible you can
add some oil (peanut oil or another oil) and use a powerful blender or
food processor. Toasting the peanuts before use also helps as this warms
the oils within the nuts and helps everything blend together more
easily. Furthermore, toasting the nuts gives your peanut butter a deeper
and richer flavor.
How to Make Homemade Peanut Butter
Makes about 1 and ½ cups.
Ingredients:
2 cups (16 ounces) raw, shelled peanuts
½ tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
1-2 tbsp. peanut oil or other oil (optional, for creamier peanut
butter)
1-2 tbsp. honey or other sweetener (optional, for sweeter peanut
butter)
Optional add-ins: 1-2 tbsp. cocoa powder, ½ tsp. cinnamon or other
spice, handful of chocolate chips, a few spoonfuls of Nutella
Equipment:
Baking sheet
Food processor or blender
Spatula
Container with lid
Instructions:
1. Heat the oven to 350°F and toast the peanuts on a baking sheet until
they are golden brown and glossy with oil - should take around 10
minutes. You can skip this step if you have decided to make raw peanut
butter or if you're using pre-toasted peanuts.
2. Transfer the peanuts into your food processor or blender. If you
toasted your nuts, make sure to do this while they are still warm. If
you want to make chunky peanut butter, remove ½ cup of chopped nuts and
set aside.
3. Blend the nuts continuously for 1 minute. Stop and scrape down the
sides and bottom of the bowl. At this stage, the peanut butter will look
gritty and dry.
4. Blend for a further minute, then stop
and scrape down the sides. At this point the butter will have started to
clump together. It isn't quite peanut butter at this stage, but it's
definitely getting there.
5. Blend the mixture for another minute,
then stop and scrape down the sides. The mix will now be glossy and
soft, like very thick peanut butter.
6. Sprinkle the salt, oil, sweetener, and any other extras over the top of the peanut butter.
7. Continue to process the butter until it
completely smooth. As mentioned earlier, homemade peanut butter will
always be more gritty than the commercially bought stuff, but it should
be spreadable at this point. Taste, and add more salt or other add-ins
if you feel that they are needed. If you reserved some nuts for chunky
peanut butter, add them now and pulse a few times to mix.
8. Scrape the peanut butter into some sort
of storage container, cover, and refrigerate. The peanut butter can be
used immediately and will keep for several weeks if kept in the fridge.