Make your own homemade peanut butter thanks to this nifty, easy technique that turns out creamy, healthy, tasty nut butter every time.
Adapted from Patrick Evans-Hylton | Nuts | Sasquatch Books, 2015
Here’s how to make homemade peanut butter in which all the ingredients are under your control, which means no funnily named fillers or sweeteners or preservatives. Just wholesome peanut butter goodness. It’s ridiculously easy to make. That said, if what you’re seeking is the satiny smooth, crazy sweet peanut butter sold in jars at stores, this is probably not the recipe for you, though we still think you should try it.–David Leite
WHY IS MY NUT BUTTER BALLING UP DURING MIXING?
Patience, friends. Like the stages of life (but SO much better), homemade peanut butter sometimes goes through a few distinct changes as you’re making it. From whole peanuts to a crumbly-looking, impossible mass to a suddenly smooth and stunning butter. Just keep going, grasshopper. You’ll get there.
☞ Contents
How to Make Homemade Peanut Butter
Ingredients
- 4 cups roasted, unsalted Virginia peanuts
- 2 to 3 tablespoons mild vegetable olive, or peanut oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar optional
Directions
- Put the peanuts in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade attachment and drizzle 2 tablespoons of the oil over the top. Pulse to break up the peanuts, add the salt and sugar, if using, and blend until very smooth. (For a chunky peanut butter, stop before the peanut butter reaches a smooth consistency.) You’ll need to scrape down the sides of the food processor periodically and, if the mixture is very dry, drizzle in more oil by the teaspoonful.
- Store the peanut butter in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 months. If the oil separates from the peanuts, simply stir to recombine.
Notes
Homemade Honey-Roasted Peanut Butter variation
For honey roasted peanut butter, add 2 teaspoons honey after you begin to pulse the peanuts and just before adding the salt.Show Nutrition
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We’d love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Recipe Testers' Reviews
Homemade peanut butter is really good and very healthy. So itʻs great to have a recipe like this one on the website. This is truly the basic recipe for peanut butter—take roasted nuts, a little oil and salt, and you have peanut butter. It was a little savory for the family, so we needed the sugar. You can add a little more sugar, tasting along the way, if your family needs it. Whatever amount of sugar you add will likely still be less than the amount in store-bought peanut butter.
I tend to make peanut butter without measuring, and I think this is a good place for a beginner who needs some place to start. The process of making the peanut butter took about 6 minutes, but it needed a little extra oil to achieve the very smooth texture I like. I processed again for another 2 minutes after adding more oil.
Mmmmmmm…homemade peanut butter. What a treat this is! I was in Virginia for work and purchased “Super Extra Large” Virginia peanuts, which I used for my peanut butter. I also used peanut oil, thinking it couldn’t hurt to enhance the peanuts with the flavor of the peanut oil as opposed to missing a chance to add flavor had I used the vegetable oil option. I skipped the optional sugar. I also didn't use honey. My peanuts were lightly salted, so I also skipped the salt.
I’m most often a crunchy peanut butter fan, so I stopped, as directed, before reaching a smooth consistency. My peanut butter didn't need more oil. The taste is fresh and delicious, and I haven't had any separation issues to date. The peanut butter definitely didn't need any sugar. Because this was so quick and easy, I'm now eager to try either almond or cashew butter next, and also pistachio. And maybe hazelnut will follow!
HUNGRY FOR MORE?
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We'd love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
So good and healthy!
Nat, and a healthy alternative to store-bought, sugar-laden peanut butter.
I’ve been making my own PB for years using a food processor. I do not add extra oil or sugar and prefer the less refined texture and taste. A good tip for making chunky style is to reserve approximately 1/3 to 1/4 of the peanuts and mix until the texture is satisfactory, then add the reserved peanuts and process for about ten seconds. It’s difficult to mess it up. Just keep processing and know that it will come together. The longer you go the smoother it will be. The quality and added ingredients of the peanuts matter. One caution. Many dry roasted peanut have added garlic and onion which change the taste away from traditional peanut butter flavor.
Good to hear, Brab, thanks for sharing. Especially love the crunchy trick! We’ve tried it without oil but we had trickiness with the consistency consistently becoming paste-like…I’m wondering if this is in part a function of the type and age of the peanuts and also maybe even the horsepower of the food processor? At any rate, greatly appreciate the insights.