As far as spreads go, peanut butter is easily one of my favorites. Not only can it be moderately healthy, but it’s also versatile. Apples with peanut butter? An easy, healthful snack. In a sandwich with jelly? A simple, comforting lunch. In a pan with instant ramen? A fast, cheap, and easy dinner. Whatever your preference, this how-to will get you started on enjoying more – and probably more healthy – peanut butter.
The only things you’ll need are peanuts and a food processor. The type of food processor isn’t too important. However, the bigger the processor, the more peanut butter you can (and will need to) make. The type of peanuts is more important, for reasons I’ll talk about below.
What type of food processor do I need?
Anything with a blade attachment should work. Depending on the size, you’ll need to use more or less peanuts, depending.
You’ll want to use enough to actually make peanut butter (imagine trying it with just 5 peanuts; it simply won’t work). However, you don’t want to use too many or things will be difficult to blend. It’s quite forgiving, but I give more direct advice below.
What type of peanuts do I need?
Anything sold as “peanuts” should work. However, you’ll want to pay attention to the specifics. Namely, how much salt has been added. Anything more than “lightly salted” is probably too salty. However, unsalted will also work. You may even want to use unsalted and salt it yourself.
You’ll also want to buy something of decent quality. In general, the better the peanuts, the better the peanut butter. Additionally, you don’t want to use something that’s been in your cupboard for months or years. They’ll likely be stale and acrid, and won’t make for good peanut butter.
And that’s it! With a food processor and decent peanuts – either unsalted or lightly salted – you’ll have easy and healthy peanut butter whenever you want. If you like this how-to for peanut butter, consider checking out my recipe for lentil chili mac.
Ingredients
Peanuts, as needed*
Preparation
Add your peanuts to a food processor. Blend until the peanuts have broken down and turned into a paste**. Scrape down the sides*** of the food processor as necessary.
Notes
* If you have a larger food processor, you’ll want to use at least 2 cups of peanuts.
** This will take a few minutes. Smooth peanut butter will take more time, and chunky will take less time.
*** This is easiest with a thin, flexible spatula. You can also use a wooden spoon, but it won’t be quite as easy.
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