Homemade Peanut Butter

Peanuts can be fun to grow both because they’re a healthy snack and an interesting thing to have in the garden. While peanuts taste great right out of the shell, homemade peanut butter offers a delectable treat that is easy to cook with and perfect for spreading.

Peanuts can be fun to grow both because they’re a healthy snack and an interesting thing to have in the garden. While peanuts taste great right out of the shell, homemade peanut butter offers a delectable treat that is easy to cook with and perfect for spreading.

Homemade peanut butter is an ideal way to avoid additives and extra sugar often found in processed foods. Since kids are the major consumers of peanut butter in many homes, being sure food is safe and natural may be even more important to you. I recently noticed that a national brand-name peanut butter that calls itself natural also has sugar, palm oil and molasses added to the mix. The natural version of a generic brand has only peanuts and salt… So can your homemade batch.

This is one of those recipes that is so easy that it shouldn’t even qualify as a “recipe.” Since the ingredients for a natural batch require only peanuts and salt, that’s all you need. About 1-1/2 cups of shelled, roasted peanuts and a pinch of salt will turn into about 1 cup of peanut butter after several minutes in the food processor. If you wish, you can add sugar, honey or oil (although peanuts do contain their own oil) to adjust the flavor and consistency. Store your homemade peanut butter in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 months or in the freezer for long-term storage.