Homemade Peanut Butter

This weekend, I decided I wanted to make some homemade peanut butter. I love peanut butter... a lot. I really enjoy baking with it, but I also love having it with breakfast and lunch. My jar was getting low and I thought it would be fun to try to make some at home. For a while, I have been kind of obsessed with Peanut Butter and Co., a company in New York that sells tasty, gourmet peanut butters around the country. They have flavors like Dark Chocolate Dreams and Cinnamon Raisin Swirl. I hope to try making some of the other flavors soon, but this time, I just made plain peanut butter sweetened with a little honey.

This recipe is super simple, just peanuts, oil, and salt. If you like sweeter peanut butter, you can add honey or maple syrup

Peanuts are an excellent source of protein and healthy fats. For this recipe, I recommend dry roasted, unsalted peanuts. Dry roasted peanuts have an excellent toasty flavor. I use unsalted peanuts because you can always add salt but you can't take it away.

In a food processor, pulse 1 cup of peanuts until it forms a thick paste. Slowly add 1 teaspoon of peanut oil (preferred) or canola oil and a pinch of salt. Continue to process until you reach a desired consistency. This definitely takes a lot of patience, but it will eventually become really smooth if you keep working at it.

If you like a little added crunch, after you've made your peanut butter, add 1/8 cup of chopped peanuts

Homemade Peanut Butter - Makes about 1/2 cup

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry roasted peanuts, unsalted
• 1 teaspoon of peanut of canola oil
• Pinch of salt

          Optional Mix-in

• 1/2 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
• 1/8 cup chopped peanuts (for crunchy peanut butter)

Method

1. In a food processor, pulse the peanuts until a thick paste forms.
2. While the processor is running, slowly add the oil and a pinch of salt. Continue to pulse the food processor until desired consistency is reached (about 5-7 minutes)
3. If adding the honey, slowly drizzle the honey into the processor while still pulsing.
4. If you want chunky peanut butter, mix chopped peanuts into ground peanut butter

I sweetened my peanut butter with honey, but I'm sure you could sweeten yours with a little sugar (about 1/2 teaspoon). Feel free to throw in some other fun stuff like chocolate chips or a sprinkle of cinnamon.

The peanut butter may be stored at room temperature, like store bought peanut butter, for up to a month. After that, you may want to refrigerate it because nut oils tend to become rancid after a certain period of time.