Have you ever tasted homemade peanut butter? Ooooh, it is so good!
For homemade peanut butter, you of course need peanuts. Sometimes you can get them farm fresh or at farmer’s markets. Otherwise, they can be purchased at your local health food store in bulk (25-50 lb. bags). Usually, they must be ordered but normally do not take much more than a week to be delivered. I compared prices between the roasted and raw nuts. If the cost difference is not too great, my preference is the roasted since it saves me the time to roast them. When bought in bulk, the peanuts can be stored directly in a clean, sealable bucket or bagged and in your freezer. We usually start with full 5 gal. buckets and break down one bucket at a time into freezer bags to save space in our freezer. When we need peanut butter, I thaw and grind a bag.
- There are no preservatives
- You can salt to taste – or not
- There is no added oil
- No added sugar – unless you want to
- Fresh taste
- Normally less expense for better quality
I use the above pictured Champion Juicer, but I understand that homemade peanut butter can also be ground with a Vita Mix or other powerful blender.
To roast peanuts:
Spread a thin layer of nuts in a pan and roast in oven at 300F for approximately 2 hours.
Mix up the nuts frequently – do not allow to brown.
Taste and continue to bake until the nuts are crisp.
Homemade Peanut Butter:
∙ My Champion Juicer has a solid shield attachment for the bottom. (Where the grate is which usually allows the juice to come through.)
∙ Pour 1/4 c peanuts at a time into the shaft.
∙ Push down gently with the plunger.
∙ Peanut butter extrudes into a bowl.
∙ Continue until the desired amount of peanut butter is ground.
∙ The peanut butter can be re-ground to achieve a very smooth texture if you like.
∙ Salt to taste.
∙ Cover and store in cool place.
