Homemade natural peanut butter

After some label-reading frustration, it dawned on me that I could make peanut butter myself (duh!). Peanut butter isn’t cheap, and it seems like the fewer ingredients it contains, the more expensive it is.  I was looking for two ingredients: peanuts, salt. I have a food processor and I am not afraid to use it. I have salt. If I could just find plain old peanuts, I would be set. I finally did just that.

In this case, the parts can be significantly cheaper than the whole

Nuts are expensive. Peanuts may not actually be nuts, but they are similar to nuts in many ways, including price. Peanut butter, especially the natural and unsweetened kind, is even more expensive. I prefer to buy this kind for a number of reasons, the most important one being flavor. To me, peanuts taste good as they are, so I don’t see adding sugar as worth the calories. Plus, when paired with a fruit spread, the sweetness level is perfect if that is what we’re going for. Also, if I were to use it in a recipe, I wouldn’t want a bunch of sugar in there. Plus, it really bugs me when my food is messed with for no apparent reason. Leave the peanuts alone!

I stocked up for about a dollar per jar when Target clearanced its generic version of Smucker’s natural creamy, but those jars are long gone. I started looking for another substitute (since the Smuckers is around $4 per jar) and realized that most of the peanut butter labeled “natural” still has a bunch of unnecessary stuff, like sugar, various oils, etc. While these things might be fine to eat, they just aren’t necessary. So I asked Smuckers for a coupon, found theirs on sale, and paid a couple dollars for it.

A few months ago, Planters peanuts went on a crazy sale at Dominick’s while there was a $1.00/1 coupon. It worked out to be $.99 per 16 ounce jar. The light bulb finally went off and it occurred to me that I could easily make my own peanut butter, so I stocked up. At first, I thought I would save myself a step and get the lightly salted variety, but I was surprised to discover a couple of other mysterious ingredients listed on the label. So I opted for the unsalted, which had one ingredient: peanuts! Who would have thought it would be that difficult?

I can’t even call this a recipe

Dump peanuts in food processor. Add salt. Process until it is as smooth as you want it (which will take five minutes or so).

I like a texture somewhere between creamy and chunky, so this is what we have here. I could keep going and make it creamier. I could add some stuff…like chocolate? That would be way more worth it than sugar. But I am going to stick with this. Feel free to add what you like.

Scoop it into a storage container and keep it in the fridge to prevent it from separating. This ends up being easier that buying the Smuckers because I don’t have to do the initial stir, which is a huge pain and inevitably makes a mess.

Peanut butter freedom!