Homemade peanut butter is healthier, as it lacks many of the preservatives of the store-bought variety. (Maureen Zebian/The Epoch Times)
Making peanut butter does not require many ingredients, and making it yourself can be a fun activity for your family. You can also use your creativity and add extra ingredients to make it special. Homemade peanut butter will also be healthier, as it will lack many of the preservatives of the store-bought variety.
As with all food made without preservatives, it will have a short shelf life. You will definitely have to keep it in the refrigerator and use it up within a few weeks.
Here are the basics of making homemade peanut butter.
Ingredients
Peanuts
Oil
Use approximately 2 tablespoons of oil for every cup of peanuts. You can also add 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
Peanuts already have a lot of oil in them. If you use a peanut with a lot of oil, like Spanish peanuts, you do not have to add as much oil.
A good blend that requires no additional oil is 1 cup of Spanish peanuts and 1 cup of Virginia peanuts.
Procedure
To make the peanut butter, all you have to do is put your peanuts and oil in the blender and whip them together.
If you want your peanut butter chunky, remove about 1/4 cup of the peanuts before you begin blending the peanuts and oil. When the mixture is almost blended, add the nuts. Puree it a few more times to break up the nuts and finish the blending.
Now you have the option of adding additional ingredients to the final mixture. Use some delicious macadamia nuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, or even some butterscotch chips or chunks of chocolate.
Peanut butter doesn't have to be plain. Have some fun with it. As an added bonus, think of the peanut butter cookies you can make with it!
Nikki Willhite is the editor of The Pennypincher E-zine. Visit her at Allthingsfrugal.com. For more recipes visit: Creativehomemaking.com
