There are few foods yummier than peanut butter. Covered in chocolate, hidden in smoothies or eaten straight out of the jar, many people eat it even on a daily basis. Entire cookbooks are dedicated just to this one ingredient!
Today my friends, we take it up another notch.
Another reason to consider making homemade peanut butter: the deforestation of the earth because of palm oil. This is why Trader Joe’s natural peanut butter will state “palm oil sourced from sustainable sources” on the back.
Plus, homemade peanut butter can be made crunchy or smooth. You can whip up peanut butter any time of day you have a craving… and the best part is? We found something even tastier! Honey Roasted Peanut Butter!
Whole Foods and Fresh Thyme grocery stores have their own peanut butter machines. You press the button and freshly made peanut butter oozes out into the empty container for all your peanut butter needs. Honey Roasted runs $3.99 per pound. Regular peanut butter runs $2.99 per pound (at Fresh Thyme). The savings are pretty negligible to say the least when making your own peanut butter with just peanuts. But, these stores are far away and the drive is no where near where I drive. So – to save gas and time, I make my own.
Made too much? Fresh peanut butter on sale? NO worries. Freeze it! Peanut butter will freeze just fine 🙂 Just like real butter! I always freeze real butter.
So, buy that jar of Honey Roasted peanuts for about $3 (less than $3 at Aldi!) and try making your own honey roasted peanut butter. It will be hard to go back to regular.
Storage: Store in an airtight container. You can use the peanut butter immediately. You can store it in the pantry for up to 1 week. Ours never lasts that long, but for longer storage than 1 week keep it in the fridge. For even longer storage, keep airtight in the freezer for a few months.
Don’t like peanut butter? Need almond butter? Cashew butter? Try the same recipe with different nuts! Or your own combination of nuts.
Mary Ellen’s All Time Favorite Lunch Sandwich:
- 3 cups unsalted roasted or honey roasted peanuts
- Optional: peanut oil, honey, salt
- Put the nuts into your food processor or high speed blender like Vitamix.
- For the food processor: turn the machine on for 1 minute. Scrape the sides down if necessary. Run the machine for 1 more minute. Scrape the sides down. Run the machine for just 1 last minute. During this last minute, add a tablespoon of peanut oil or drizzle of honey or ¼ tsp. of salt if you wish. The peanut butter will be soft, thick and glossy.
- For the Vitamix, turn the machine to 1. Slowly, turn the machine up to 10. Use the tamper to press the peanuts towards the blades. In about 1-2 minutes, you will have yummy creamy peanut butter! Once the peanut butter becomes smooth and the blades move freely, turn off the machine. Scoop out with a scraper.
this is my favorite kind of peanut butter! it’s so fun making nut butter at home 🙂