How To Make: Peanut Butter

A homemade peanut butter recipe, ready in under 30 minutes, using just three ingredients.

Like regular butter, peanut butter is a kitchen essential (unless you’re allergic to peanuts or nuts in general).

Enjoyed in many countries all over the world, with the United States both the leading annual exporter and consumers, peanut butter is delicious in a wide variety of recipes, as well as simply served on bread, toast, crackers, or in sandwiches. Peanut butter cookies are an absolute must-try, with a generous pinch of salt, while it’s also perfect for stir fry sauces, combined with sweet chilli and soy sauce. Moreover, it’s also nutrient-rich, containing protein, several vitamins, and dietary minerals in high content.

While a huge number of pre-made options are available, nothing quite beats peanut butter that’s made at home, to your exact taste preferences. Smooth or crunchy; sweet or savoury; with or without salt. Homemade recipes are also typically free from emulsifiers or sweeteners (unless you choose to sweeten it at home, in which case I’d suggest using honey). This recipe can also be adapted to make almost any nut butter, following the exact same method. Why not try making almond butter, pistachio butter, cashew butter, or pecan butter? Or even a nut butter featuring a mixture of your favourites?

As well as being highly adaptable, this recipe is extremely easy to follow at home, making peanut butter from start-to-finish in under 30 minutes. Simply toast the peanuts (or your nut of choice) in the oven for 10 minutes, allow to cool completely, then blitz in a food processor for anywhere from two-to-five minutes, dependent on your preferred texture. Using just three ingredients (one being salt), this recipe couldn’t be easier to follow at home. All you need is a food processor.

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Homemade Peanut Butter

A simple, highly adaptable nut butter recipe.

Keyword Nut, Nuts, Peanut Butter, Peanuts

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Cooling time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Author Jon Hatchman

Equipment

• Food processor

Ingredients

• 500 g peanuts shelled and peeled
• A pinch sea salt
• Peanut oil or neutral cooking oil if needed
• Honey optional, to taste

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6.
• Add the peanuts to a baking tray, season with a pinch of salt and bake in the oven for 10 minutes, until toasted. Stir occasionally while cooking.
• Once toasted, leave to cool for at least 10 minutes.
• If making crunchy peanut butter, take approximately 1/6 of the peanuts and pulse in a food processor until ground but not powdered. Set aside until later.
• Next, add the remaining peanuts (or all peanuts at once, if making smooth peanut butter) to the food processor bowl and pulse for one minute. Scrape down the sides with a spoon or spatula and continue to pulse for another minute or two, until the peanuts are completely ground and combined.
• Season with salt, to taste, and add one teaspoon of oil if need be, to loosen up the peanut butter. At this point, add honey to taste, if using. Pulse for another minute and add more oil if necessary, one teaspoon at a time.
• If making crunchy peanut butter, fold the crushed peanuts into the peanut butter mixture at this stage.
• Transfer from the food processor to a suitable container. Peanut butter will last for at least a month in the fridge.

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