Average Jane Wants You to Have Peanut Butter

The online reaction to the recent recall of peanut butter makes it sound as though none of us will ever enjoy a nice PB&J again. At my house, peanut butter consumption continues as usual. Why? Because I make my own peanut butter.

You can, too! It’s easy and far tastier than the stuff that comes in a jar. Here’s the list of ingredients: peanuts.

Buy a can of cocktail peanuts and pour it into a blender. Blend on one of the low settings, stopping often to push the peanuts down onto the blade with a rubber spatula. It takes a little while, but eventually the whole batch gets smooth enough to blend without assistance.

As soon as the peanut butter is an acceptable consistency (don’t over-blend – that can cause the oil to separate), scrape it into a container with a lid and store in the refrigerator.

If the thought of cleaning all of the sticky peanut butter residue out of the blender makes you despair, just take it apart and put the pieces in the dishwasher.

Enjoy your fresh peanut butter! I predict that you’ll never go back to the jar kind with all of the extra sugar and oil.

Comments

3 responses to “Average Jane Wants You to Have Peanut Butter”

  1. cagey Avatar

    And for those of you too lazy to grind your own, I recommend Krema, All Natural. Nothing but peanuts! I HATE those other peanut butters – they’re too sweet. By the time you add jam, it’s a sweet, gloppy mess. YUCK.
    Also, the natural foods stores like Wild Oats and Whole Foods often have grinders in the store – then you can do other nuts like cashews, almonds, etc.

  2. MLE Avatar

    I’m a fan of crunchy, natural-style PB. In fact, I actively avoid any PB where there are ingredients besides peanuts.
    Never tried making my own, though. Maybe someday when we have a dishwasher, because the thought of washing PB out of the blender makes me a little afraid.

  3. dawn Avatar

    if you’re in the middle-ground of laziness, between making it at home and buying it in a jar, don’t forget that many if not most natural foods grocers have peanut grinders right there, full of peanuts and waiting for you to come push the button. it’s fun and gives you fresh peanut butter w/ no extra ingredients. mix it up a little and try grinding yourself some almond butter too, the machines are often paired.

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