Butterizing Peanuts for Homemade P.Nut Buttah

I’ve got a confession to make.

…

I’ve gone kinda nuts for… nuts.

I know, weird, right? They’re such plain, brown-and-tan little nublets. But they’re so goshdarn ADDICTING.

Crunchy. Roasty. Nutty (obviously). And just a little bit salty.

These guys are just TOO snackable. Which isn’t necessarily a good thing, because although nuts are packed with protein and good unsaturated fats, they’re also high in calories. THEM NUTS BE MAKIN’ ME FAT.

So I’ve been trying to cut down on my almond, peanut, walnut, and cashew intake.

Or that’s what I tell myself anyways. But here I am, making homemade peanut butter, which I will obviously overdose on the next few days.

BUT. Regardless, that doesn’t change the fact that this is both SUPER delicious and easy. Like, really, really easy. Seriously, it has 2 ingredients (although it’s customizable so you can add whatever your peanutbutter-craving heart desires).

We start with the FoodPro. (short for food processor – it’s Iron Chef jargon).

Which we add nuts to.

I used 1 1/2 cups, which was approximately half the bag.

Since this was a “test” batch, I didn’t use that many peanuts, only this much:

Now all you have to do is turn it on and whirl away!

Although nut butters are extremely easy to make, they take longer than you think – you have to baby them a little.

Here we have a wonderful display demonstrating the evolution of the Peanut Butterus, from kernel stage to a smooth nut butter.

1. Whole peanut kernels.

2. The peanuts are somewhat chopped.

3. Then chopped finer…

4. And even finer…

5. At this point, the oils will really start coming out, the ground-up peanuts will start clumping together.

6. And then clump some more.

While getting all the smoother…

7. Until it’s just a ball of peanut butter.

Which doesn’t look very peanut-buttery. But worry not!

8. If you keep letting the foodpro go, the ball will eventually break apart.

9. Eventually turning into a beautifully creamy whirlpool of peanut butter.

10. At this point, you want to add some salt to taste.

It really brings out the peanut flavor, and c’mon, what’ are peanuts without salt?

11. You might also want to scrap down the side of the foodpro to get any extraneous peanut bits.

 

12. And keep scraping down and processing, scraping down and processing, so it gets really smooth.

At this point, the peanut butter will be completed (if you want it thinner, you could always add some oil).

But creamy peanut butter really ain’t my thing. It’s too mono-textured.

And I like my CRUNCHIES!

13. So I sprinkled in a few whole peanuts, and pulsed the butter again.

Until there were nice chunks of random-sized peanuts scattered throughout.

Whew! After finishing my peanut butter, I brought out a jar (one of many that I save just for these kinds of purposes).

I had sanitized it by dropping it in boiling water for a bit, then letting it air-dry. Now it was all ready to be peanut-buttered up.

So peanut butter I did! I glooped out the entire contents of the food processor into the jar, and after smacking the bottom onto my hand a few times, the air bubbles came out and it was a perfect fit.

Ta-da! Bottled up and labeled.

Perfectly salty, nutty, roasty, with a stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth texture. It’s my ideal peanut butter, and without any preservatives, sugars, or hydrogenated oils. And seriously, it’s so easy, I don’t know why I didn’t do this any sooner. I bet if you buy peanuts from the bulk section, this method is cheaper too – you’re not paying for any of the packaging or processing.

So simple, yet so genius. And magical. And tasty.

Now that I’ve got a brand-spankin’ new bottle of peanut butter on my hands, what to do with it..? THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESSSS. :D

I’ve got some ideas in mind, so look forward to the next few posts! They will most likely be peanut-centric (a.k.a. boundlessly delicious and yummy).