Homemade Peanut butter

Homemade Peanut butter is rich and wholesome, a healthy source of fat in our diet. It is high in protein which makes it a good energy booster. As a kid, I loved peanut butter on bread, on bananas and just eating it straight from the jar.

Peanut is technically a legume and not a nut, but because of its usage, it is called a nut butter. Homemade peanut butter has a more intense flavour than store bought, but will separate on storage, just stir the oil back in and use. Store bought peanut butter, on the other hand, contains dextrose, corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. That is the reason it has a uniform consistency and doesn’t separate.

Use the small-sized peanut species for peanut butter, it gives a creamier, smoother butter, because it contains more oil than the larger species. You can also add a tasteless vegetable oil to make your butter smoother and lighter.

Homemade Peanut butter can be made using a blender dry mill, hand mill or food processor. The heavy-duty electric grinder used in the local markets in Nigeria give the smoothest, creamiest blend. The power of your blender or food processor will determine how smooth the butter will be.

Peanut butter with jelly/jam on bread is a classic sandwich, Peanut butter is also delicious as a dip for fruits and vegetables, spread for crackers, it is used in baking, cooking e.g peanut sauce, groundnut soup, suya spice (yagi), and snacks making e.g kulikuli. Homemade peanut butter can stay at room temperature for weeks without going rancid.

To make Homemade Peanut butter

2 cups skinless roasted peanut
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon peanut oil/vegetable oil
1 tablespoon honey*
*Replace with white or brown sugar or maple syrup.

Place peanuts and salt in the food processor.

Grind on high and it will turn sandy, scrape down the sides and keep grinding.

It will start clumping together as oil is released from the nuts, scrape down the sides and keep grinding.

Turn off your food processor from time to time to rest to avoid a blowout.

Add oil and honey, grind till it is smooth and glossy.

Give it another 1-2 more minutes of grinding.

Store in a container.

Storage of Peanut Butter

• Store Peanut Butter in an airtight container.
• Peanut has a low moisture level and the peanut oil has a high smoke point, so it doesn’t go rancid easily.
• It can be stored in or out of the refrigerator for an extended period.
• Peanut has high vitamin E content, which is an antioxidant, this also helps it resist rancidity.
• After some time, since this is pure Peanut butter with no stabilizing additives, the oil will rise to the top, just mix it back in and eat.
• Storing in the refrigerator prevents this separation but hardens the butter, just leave it at room temperature for about 10 minutes to soften.

Notes

• To make chunky peanut butter, after the 1st grind, remove about a third of the peanuts and set aside. Mix it back into the smooth peanut butter when you have finished grinding.
• There are other flavoursome types of peanut butter, like Chocolate peanut butter (Nutella Peanut butter), Cinnamon-raisin peanut butter etc.
• To use raw peanuts, spread on a baking sheet, place in the oven at 180 deg C and roast until lightly golden and glossy. Leave to cool a little bit then grind. The warmth of the roasted peanuts will ease grinding because the oils will be released quicker.
• With the hand mill, you will need to grind a couple of times to get the spicy peanut butter really smooth, so you need some elbow grease.
• For the food processor, once it starts getting creamy, you don’t really need to scrape the sides anymore. Make sure you start out with a good volume of peanuts for the size of your processor. The larger the food processor, the larger the quantity of peanut needed for it to grind efficiently.
• For the blender dry mill, you will need to work in small batches.

If you enjoyed my Homemade Peanut butter you will also enjoy my Ose Oji (Spicy peanut butter), Homemade cashew butter, Easy Applesauce and Chocolate syrup.

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