Take Your Homemade Peanut Butter To The Next Level With These Expert Tips
If you're a peanut butter lover, then you may want to try your hand at making it at home. Not only can you save yourself some money, but you can customize it exactly to your liking. Plus, some store-bought peanut butters can be quite unhealthy. To find out all of the tips and tricks to make the best homemade peanut butter, Daily Meal spoke with an expert: Markita Lewis, the Marketing and Communications Manager for the National Peanut Board.
If the idea of making your own peanut butter is intimidating, Lewis has assured us that it's a super easy process — one that is very difficult to get wrong. She says, "Buy your favorite roasted peanuts, throw them in a grinder or blender, and let the machine do the work for you. You'll get creamy (or crunchy if you don't grind as long) peanut butter that's delicious, spreadable, nutritious, and affordable every single time!"
Though it's an easy process, there are a couple of things to keep in mind to ensure the best result, and Lewis shared some of her expert tips, as well as her ideas on how to customize your homemade peanut butter to take it to the next level. Plus, your (not so) hard work will pay off. That homemade peanut butter will last for up to three months, if stored in an airtight container and kept in the fridge.
What ingredients and equipment you'll need for homemade peanut butter
Of course, you'll need peanuts. But Markita Lewis recommends buying roasted peanuts — or, if you can't find those, toasting them yourself. Lewis says, "Toasting peanuts brings out the deep, nutty flavor and helps to naturally extract some of the healthy oils." To toast the peanuts yourself, heat them up in a skillet over medium heat for five to eight minutes — just remember to keep the skillet dry and not add any oil.
Further, to ensure that your peanut butter has the best texture, Lewis suggests adding in a bit of peanut oil, which will help it achieve a spreadable texture while maintaining the peanut flavor. But if you don't want to add oil, then patience is key when it comes to getting a creamy consistency.
As for equipment, Lewis says that you don't need anything fancy — you can use whatever food processor or high-speed blender that you have on hand. The only thing you need to worry about is whether or not your grinder, food processor, or blender is in good shape — as that is essential to getting the right consistency. So, if your food processor is getting a bit old, but your blender is in great shape, then use the blender.
Ingredients you can add in to level up your peanut butter
After you've made a simple batch of delicious peanut butter, you may be wondering if there are ways for you to switch up the flavor a bit — and Markita Lewis has some tasty suggestions for you. She tells us, "To take your homemade peanut butter to the next level, I love adding chocolate and sea salt. To do so, add ¼ cup of dark chocolate chips and a pinch of sea salt to the machine during grinding." Of course, feel free to swap out dark chocolate for milk, if that's your preference, or adjust the amount to match how chocolatey you want the peanut butter to be.
For another flavor infusion, Lewis says, "Cinnamon is another favorite flavor of mine — add a teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of vanilla extract as you're grinding the peanuts." Again, feel free to adjust the amount a bit, if desired. An extra dash of either cinnamon or vanilla can make a big difference — just be careful not to go overboard or you'll mask the peanut butter flavor.