We share our favorite way to make homemade peanut butter!
Sometimes nothing is better than a quick peanut butter and jelly sandwich. A trip back to our childhood! We like to elevate our sandwiches by making our own ingredients. Today we are sharing our favorite recipe for making homemade peanut butter. After tasting homemade peanut butter, you will never buy from the store again!
Simple Ingredients
Making your own homemade peanut butter requires very little ingredients, and most you probably have in your pantry already. You will need 2 cups of shelled, raw unsalted peanuts. You can use unroasted or roasted peanuts, which ever is your favorite.
You will also need 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, 2 tablespoons of your favorite oil (canola, or peanut are great options). Lastly, we like our peanut butter a little more on the sweeter side so we had in 2 tablespoons of honey. You can use other sweeteners such as maple syrup or no sweetener at all. The great thing about this recipe is it’s completely customizable to your liking. You can even add spices like cinnamon, or some mini chocolate chips. Feel free to experiment!
To Roast or Not to Roast
We have found our favorite way to make homemade peanut butter is to roast the peanuts. You can just use raw nuts for your homemade peanut butter, but roasting really brings out an amazing flavor. To roast your peanuts, place them on a baking sheet with higher sides. Make sure the peanuts are in an even layer. Bake your peanuts at 350°F for 10 minutes. You will notice the peanuts will get nice and golden brown. You will also see the peanuts start to release oils, which helps to make the butter more creamy.
If you can only find roasted shelled peanuts, that is ok. Even with the roasted peanuts, pop them into the oven for about 5 minutes to release the oils in the peanuts. The smell of roasted peanuts is amazing!
Processing Party!
After your peanuts are roasted, and out of the oven, it’s time to chop and process the peanuts. While the peanuts are still warm, place them into your food processor or blender. Pulse the peanuts a few times to start to chop them up. If you are a fan of chunky peanut butter, take out about 1/4-1/2 cup of the chopped peanuts before continuing. Creamy versus chunky peanut butter is quite the debate in our house!
Now you are going to process your peanuts for 3-4 minutes, 1 minute at a time. After each minute stop and scrape down the side of your food processor or blender. You will notice the peanuts will go from chopped to gritty to a more creamy texture. Homemade peanut butter will retain a little bit of the gritty texture, but it will be very fine and spreadable. That gives your peanut butter that homemade charm!
After you have processed your peanuts for 3-4 minutes, you will add in your salt, oil, and sweetener. Process another 2-3 minutes to incorporate all of your ingredients. Be sure to take a quick taste, and make any adjustments you would like at this time. If you are making chunky peanut butter, the last 15 seconds of processing, add the chopped peanuts back into the peanut butter.
Time to Enjoy!
After processing, put your newly made homemade peanut butter into a container for storage in the refrigerator. We like to use a mason jar. Be sure to label your container, and place into the fridge until you are ready to use! Homemade peanut butter can last up to 3 months in the refrigerator, but it won’t last that long, it is so good!
Hopefully we have given you the inspiration to make your own homemade peanut butter. You won’t be disappointed! The taste and even smell is so great!
Homemade Peanut Butter
Equipment
- Oven (heated to 350°F)
- Food Processor or Blender
- Baking sheet
- Mason Jar (big enough for 1 1/2 cups peanut butter)
Ingredients
- 2 cups (16 oz) raw or roasted, shelled peanuts
- 1/4 ts sea salt (you can add more if desired)
- 2 tbsp peanut, canola, or other oil (for a more creamy peanut butter)
- 2 tbsp honey, or maple syrup (to sweeten the peanut butter, optional)
Instructions
- Roast Your Peanuts – This step is optional if you prefer a more raw peanut taste, but we prefer our peanuts roasted. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Place your peanuts in a single layer on a baking sheet with higher sides. Bake your peanuts for about 10 minutes, until they are more golden brown, and shiny from the oils releasing. If the peanuts you are using were already roasted, still place them in the oven for about 5 minutes. Just helps to release the oils and intensify the flavor.
- Time to Chop – Put your warm peanuts into your food processor or blender. Make sure you are using a blade attachment. Pulse your peanuts to break them up a bit. If you want chunky peanut butter, at this point take out about 1/4-1/2 cup chopped peanuts.
- Processing Party! – Process your peanuts for 1 minute. Stop the food processor, and scrape down the sides. Right now your peanut butter will be dry and gritty looking.
- Keep Processing – Process the peanuts again for another minute. Your peanut butter will still look dry, but will start to clump together.
- Another Minute – Process your peanuts for another 1-2 minutes. At this point your peanuts will start to look more like peanut butter. More smooth, and less gritty.
- Add your other ingredients – Open your food processor or blender, and add in the salt, oil, honey, and anything else you would like to add to your peanut butter.
- Process your peanut butter for another 2-3 minutes until the peanut butter is nice and creamy. You will notice that homemade peanut has a more gritty texture, but is still very spreadable and delicious. If you are making chunky peanut butter, add in the reserved chopped peanuts the last 15 seconds of mixing.
- Put your homemade peanut butter into a storage container, we like to use a mason jar. Label, and put your peanut butter in the fridge until you are ready to enjoy!
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