Why? It tastes better, it's easy to make if you have a food processor, and it won't have nasty bugs that can make your kids sick. And, it's cheaper by far than buying commercial.
At my local Asian grocery, a five-pound bag of peanuts costs me $9.99. A pound of peanuts ($2) will yield a little more than a pound of peanut butter, less than half what you'll pay for decent peanut butter (Smucker's All-Natural costs $4.83 at my local store and a whopping $11.66 from Amazon—but hurry! only 6 left in stock!).
No reason not to make your own. Puree cooked peanuts till they're creamy, adding a little extra oil to get them moving, a little salt for flavor, and if you like some sweetness, a little honey.
Homemade Peanut Butter
- 4 cups raw blanched peanuts (about 600 grams)
- 1½ cups vegetable oil
- ½ to 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon honey (optional)
- Combine the peanuts and the oil in a heavy, high-sided pot over high heat.
- When the oil bubbles and froths, begin stirring the peanuts and don't stop until they're done (enjoy the beauty of peanuts boiling in oil and think about how good they're going to taste).
- When they're lightly browned (careful, they can turn on you in an instant), remove them to a bowl lined with paper towels. Allow them to cool enough that you can taste them by hand.
- Eat a few peanuts.
- Pour the peanuts into a food processor along with the salt and honey (if using) and, with a metal blade, blend continuously for 2 to 3 minutes or until the mixture becomes spreadable.
- Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides of the processor bowl.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as you wish. Continue blending until you have the consistency you like.
- Store in the fridge, covered, for up to a month.
- Pour the oil through a fine-mesh strainer, and reserve it to use for other cooking.
Makes 1 pint of peanut butter (a little more than 600 grams), and a little less than 1½ cups nutty vegetable oil.
Other links you may like:
- My post on making a BLT from scratch.
- Learn more about inventor and peanut expert George Washington Carver.
- Roasted peanuts: Asian peanut sauce recipes guest post by Robert Dahni.
- Peanut butter needs jelly, Concord grape jelly.
© 2012 Michael Ruhlman. Photo © 2012 Donna Turner Ruhlman. All rights reserved.
chad
Any tips on storage? Does it need to be refrigerated, or do you just put it in a jar in the pantry?
chad
Never mind... step 8.
david
how long do you blanch the peanuts?
Nina
What other oils would work? We don't use "vegetable" oil which is usually primarily GMO soybean oil.
Darren
I make my own peanut butter also. I tend to use Canola oil since it is flavorless, but you could use peanut oil also. If you aren't frying the peanuts - i.e. you are buying roasted peanuts -- you could really use any oil you want. Different oils will give different flavors.
ruhlman
peanut or any neutral oil.
E. Nassar
I've not bought PB in years since I figured out how crazy easy it is to make it at home! People are usually shocked when I give them a sample and tell them they can do it at home by just "Puree roasted peanuts till they’re creamy, adding a Tbsp or 2 of oil to get them moving, a little salt for flavor". That's it!
Unfortunately, even if frying adds a lot of flavor, it's a hassle. Buying roasted good quality peanuts (it makes a difference-I've had best luck with Planters roasted unsalted) is the way to go for convenient and delicious homemade PB.
Brendan
Will this work with Almonds as well?
Darren
Of course.
Mantonat
I've recently switched to almond butter; I really enjoy the flavor and they have a natural sweetness. It takes a long time to break them down in the food processor, long enough that you think it's not going to work. I haven't tried frying them first.
Ken
Can you repeat Step 4 after Steps 5, 6, etc.?
Tags
Don't stop at peanuts or cashews. You can use any nut or combination of nuts.
ruhlman
ditto that!
Sara Anderson
What do you think of the bulk peanut-butter-makers found in some grocery stores? I don't use them because unsalted peanut butter is an abomination. I've always stuck with Adams.
Erin
I also live in Cleveland, which Asian grocery store has the bulk peanuts?
ruhlman
I think it's called golden harvest, on south side of payne at 31st street or thereabouts.
Sigrid
Why on earth do you buy mayo?? Wasn't it you who showed us here how to make it in 10 seconds, using a blender?
ruhlman
I like to put it on fried egg sandwich for a quick easy saturday lunch when I'm running around. nothing wrong with Helmann's, so long as you recognize that your own homemade mayonnaise is a completely different product, one you can't but.
Phillip
This post brings me back. My mom made this at home when I was growing up and (also) returning from pop-warner football practice. I was always a tall kid, and my league had weight limits, so I relied on peanut butter sandwiches as a source of protein and basically cabbage soup to fill my bellow in the weeks preceding weigh ins.
Phillip
bellow = belly.
berti
excuse me? you FRY your peanuts before making butter? why. there is no need.....
Justin Ross
Why do we do anything in the kitchen? There's always another way. He specifically said that he thinks they taste better fried. There's your answer.
ruhlman
flavor! (you can also roast, but wouldn't want them raw)
DiggingDogFarm
I love making my own peanut butter, but never considered deep-frying the peanuts.
Good idea!
I'll give it a try!
Scooter
If I'm looking to make it in significant quantity (or don't think I'll go through it in a month), is there any reason I can't process a mason jar in the usual way and store in the pantry?
karen downie makley
i laughed when i saw the title of this post pop up in my google reader because i thought this might be the world's shortest blog post, a la:
1. place nuts in food processor.
2. turn it on.
3. add oil to desired consistency.
i guess i shouldn't laugh. there's still lots of people out there who think doing anything must be really HARD and that's why "they" have to mass-produce it for us. oh, people...it's so NOT hard!
Mary Beth
I've made my own PB for 30 years- just (already) roasted peanuts, pureed in my Cuisinart. A tiny bit of salt if the peanuts are unsalted. Not even any oil, ever. The cool thing is watching the peanuts change from a kind of sandy crumbly mix to a heaving wave of peanut sludge to a slick of peanut butter.
Although frying peanuts sounds tasty, I would never consider doing this because of the extra bother (not to mention cost of oil). On a weekday morning, if one of us notices the PB is low, s/he throws the peanuts in the food processor, toasts some bread, pours coffee, gets the newspaper, and it's done.
We've used Spanish peanuts, Planters' (the 56 oz can from Sam's Club) cocktail peanuts, and whatever else is a good price when we can find them. Last year when I heard that the peanut harvest was bad and that peanuts were going up in cost, I bought a case of the Planter's and it has lasted the year. Yeah, we eat a lot of PB- our family favorite being pumpernickel toast with PB for breakfast- or lunch, or a snack.
BTW, with tahini also becoming very pricey, I sometimes throw sunflower seeds through the same process as making PB. For tahini, it is a nice substitute, sometimes with a few drops of sesame oil added for a little more flavor.
vijay
thoughts on frying it in lard?
ruhlman
i like frying anything in lard
Jeff @ Cheeseburger
I've always wondered how to make peanut butter. It's one of those things that I want to do but I just seem to have a reason no to do it. In this case, I guess it's that I don't have a guide or recipe. Now I'm finally gonna get around to doing it.
g
1/2 to 1 tsp of what sort of salt? There's a big difference between 1tsp of granulated table salt and 1tsp of, say, Maldon sea salt, just because of the shape and size of the crystals.
ruhlman
sorry, I guess it's too much to expect people to always assume I mean course kosher salt. sigh. I would not use an expensive finishing salt, such as the wonderful Maldon you mention.
goober
Can you use rock salt? How would canola oil do? And what if I don't have a jar? Can I use a bowl with a lid? My food processor has two speeds. Which one should I use?
Jeez. I guess making peanut butter is terribly difficult for some people. They seem to try to complicate anything.
ruhlman
don't you think rock salt would be too big and not stick to the peanut butter? Don't a jar and a bowl serve pretty much the same function for storing things in fridge. Is it possible to see which speed seems to work best given your particular machine?
goober
Yes, yes, and yes. I was just poking fun at some of the questioners above. Note my second paragraph. Or are you poking back at me by pretending not to get it? Very meta.