Peanut Butter… it’s a staple in our house.
Wait, wait. Let me back up.
First, I owe you all an apology. I’ve been MIA for what seems like FOR-EV-ER. Anyone else just say that in their heads, like Squints, from “The Sandlot“?
Since this is the start of a new year, my hope and goal is to be more present on here. Creating and sharing more recipes and posts with you all. I’ve missed writing, terribly…but I think Mountain Man has missed my cooking, more. Not that I stopped cooking. I just put it on the back burner so-to-speak, and haven’t done as much in depth food prep as once had been my M.O. But after a super productive day in the kitchen today, I feel a new surge of energy and excitement. I’m ready to plunge back in, and get myself back on track.
And don’t worry. I’m not going to overwhelm you with my first post of the new year. Pinky Promise!
So anyway, back to peanut butter. Now, I realize that peanut is a popular allergy for kids to have, so I’ve already lost some of you. But I hope you stick around, because this recipe is not just for peanuts. Did you hear me? IT’S NOT JUST FOR PEANUTS. You can sub out for any “nut”, really. Almonds, cashews, etc.
This recipe is ridiculously easy. You need 2 items. Peanuts, and a food processor. That’s it. And you can get this done in less than 10 minutes. How awesome is that?!
I bought my peanuts in the bulk section at Earth Fare, and meant to only get about 2 lbs, so I didn’t buy more peanuts than I needed, in the event the making of the peanut butter didn’t work. I may have accidentally held down the pull lever of the peanut dispenser a little longer than intended, and ended up with 5 lbs of unsalted, roasted peanuts. Yikes. So as I walked out of the store with $20 of peanuts in my hand, I prayed to God that I didn’t just waste a Hamilton on an idea of making my own peanut butter.
When I got home from the store, Mountain Man gave me a look when he saw the gigantor bag o’ nuts and asked if I got some already made peanut butter “just in case”. Nope. Nope, I sure didn’t.
I placed the bag on the counter top, and there it sat. For 3 days. Staring at me. Mocking me. Telling me I’ve made a huge mistake.
But I’m not one to just throw my hands in the air before I’ve even tried. In fact, if you tell me I can’t do something, I’m darn well going to show you that yes, in fact, I can and WILL do it.
So I grabbed my KitchenAid Food Processor
Y’all. This is so easy. Follow these step by step directions, and I promise you won’t want to buy store bought peanut butter ever again!
First, dump your peanuts into the food processor, and pulse for about 30 seconds.
Continue pulsing for another 45 seconds or so. It starts to clump up. We’re getting closer…
Keep pulsing, using a rubber spatula to push any peanut mixture that is clinging to the sides, down.
We are getting so close! Keep going until you reach the consistency you desire.
*I used 4 cups of peanuts, and it yielded about 2.5 cups of peanut butter*
Ingredients
- Peanuts (unsalted, dry roasted)
Instructions
- Place your peanuts into the food processor.
- Pulse for about 30 seconds - you'll have nice, crumbly peanuts.
- Pulse for another 30-45 seconds - it starts to get thicker...keep going.
- Stop as you need throughout to scrape the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula.
- Pulse for another minute - the peanuts are turning into a very thick and seemingly unmanageable clump. Don't give up! Keep Going!
- Continue to pulse and scrape until you get the desired consistency. I pulsed mine on high for a total of about 5 minutes, and I got this perfectly, creamy peanut butter!
