Homemade Nut Butter

I have this friend, who is one of those “super mom’s” you hear about. She might not see herself as one, but I sure do. I look up to her.

Her house is always spotless, even when they are in the middle of reorganizing.

They eat real food, plant based meals. (I am willing to bet the most “processed” food item they have in their cupboards is rice pasta.)

They also eat gluten, dairy, and sugar free.

They don’t own a TV.

She makes everything from scratch, at least it feels that way.

She turned me on to green smoothies, something I will post about later. And has been the driving force helping me to clean up the way we eat and live.

As I am sure you know, eating whole, clean foods is expensive.  And one thing that we eat a lot of in our house is peanut butter.

One day, I went over to her house for a “cooking lesson” (we made Lara bars, there is no cooking involved). When I got there, she was getting ready to make some peanut butter, as she had just ran out that morning. With 2 kids, running out of peanut butter is a very bad thing!

In all my time of trying to budget and to find cheap ways to cook and clean in NEVER occurred to me to make our own peanut butter.

For two people, we eat a lot of peanut butter… and I buy two different kinds… Crunchy for Wonderful Man, and smooth for me (the chunks get stuck in my braces and I hate it!)

That morning, as I watched my friend make peanut butter, I was floored at how easy it was and how great it tasted.

I went home and told Wonderful Man, and he said, “Sure, but make sure it really is cheaper. And I still want chunky!”

At my local grocery store I can by bulk, unsalted dry roasted peanuts for $1.58 per pound, bulk peanut butter (the kind you grind in the store) for $1.98 per pound, and the peanut butter we regular buy, Adam’s All Natural is $5.52 for 2 lbs 4 oz or $2.45 per pound (2 lbs 4 oz = 36 oz, $5.52 / 36 oz = $0.15 per oz x 16 oz per pound = $2.45 per pound).

Buying your peanuts not in butter form is cheaper. So how much work is involved?

Not Much At All!

You do need a food processor though. No need for a super fancy one. (My friend has the best food processor ever, and it takes no time to make her stuff in it, but if you have a $5 garage sale one like I do, it is going to take a few minutes).

My $5 garage sale food processor

All you need are some peanuts and salt.

Your pour some unsalted dry roasted peanuts into the work bowl of your food processor and turn it on. Let it run until you reach the right consistency. I like to pulse mine a few times before just letting it run.

Add some salt, give the butter and other whirl in the processor, and BAM! Homemade peanut butter. Store in an airtight container.

Tips:

Because of the way food processor emulsify versus grinding, you do not have to refrigerate. I like to because it is very thin in comparison to store bought. Refrigerating helps to thicken it up a bit.

This same process can be used for almond butter, I like to toast my nuts before for a nice strong flavor. Or for you can use any nut you like for a butter spread.

Also, be sure to get UNSALTED DRY ROASTED peanuts. Oil roasted peanuts have too much oil and salted peanuts have too much salt.

If you want chunky, like Wonderful Man, pulse a few peanuts before to chop them, then add them with the salt.

Wonderful Man, approves of this new money saving change, and I love it too!

Hope you can enjoy some too!