Update: Homemade Peanut Butter

2 weekends ago, I posted a recipe for homemade roasted peanut butter.

What I didn't mention was that we didn't actually eat much of it.  It came out very dry and firm.  Now, I had an idea that came from another recipe I'd seen for Creamy Peanut Butter. The difference?  Nourishing Joy put the ground peanut butter into a saucepan with warm palm  oil and kind of cooked it.  I thought it sounded odd (and I wasn't in the mood to go searching for palm oil...), so I didn't bother.

I'm still not sold on using palm oil in my peanut butter.  Part of why I'm making it at home is to LIMIT the number of ingredients.  This seemed to be counter-productive.  But... I have peanut oil.  So... I put some peanut oil into a sauce pan, dumped in my very dry and crumbly peanut "butter" and put it on medium low for awhile.  Stirred it about.  Mashed up the lumps.  Let everything come together in a nice melty mess.

Let it cool for a bit (so I didn't shock my mason jars into breaking) and I have a much better consistency.  MUCH.

Now to foist it on my guinea pig (a.k.a. husband) to see what he thinks. :)

Homemade Creamy Roasted Peanut Butter

I'm a total addict.  I LOVE peanut butter.  In anything.  On anything.  By itself (on a spoon..mmmmmm)!

So I tend to buy a lot of peanut butter and lately I've been thinking that it's silly to buy it when I could make it (now that I have a really good food processor).  So I researched - because that's what I do - and came up with this!

Creamy Roasted Peanut Butter

Ingredients:
2 cups peanuts
sweetener (honey, agave, molasses, maple syrup, sugar)
fine sea salt
oil (optional) - peanut would be best, I'm using EVOO because it's what I have on hand and I like it

Instructions:

1. Mise en place - this one is simple!
   
2. Put the peanuts on a sheet pan and toast in a 350° F oven for 5-10 minutes.
• Mine were already roasted, so I only needed a few quick minutes to warm the oils; the peanut butter is supposed to be smoother that way.
  
• The nuts are ready when you can begin to smell them and they are glistening a bit.  Don't let them go too far - burnt isn't the flavor we're going for today!
  
  
3. Put the nuts into a strong food processor and go for it.  It's really this easy!
• There are a few stages that you'll see:
• Chopped nuts
  
• Graham cracker crumb-like
  
• Rough nut butter
  
• Peanut butter!
  
4. At this point, add in the sweetener, oil, and salt.  These are all completely optional!
• I prefer mine sweet, so I used honey.  I'll probably try agave another time.
• Mine was a bit thick, so I did add some oil.  I need to pick up some peanut oil at some point, so I'm not changing the flavor too much.  I used a small amount of olive oil this time and it still tastes great.
• I had a can of peanuts handy, so they were already salted.  I tasted and only added enough to make my taste buds happy (and I do tend to like salty items).
5. Find an airtight container and you're all done!
   
6. Store this in the refrigerator for up to 2 months!  (HAHA - that's really funny!  Like it'll last that long!)

I love this because it's so easy and I have control over the texture and taste.  This picky eater is always happier when she is in control over her food!  That's what got me into practicing in my kitchen in the first place!!