Many years ago, my dad brought home a suspicious looking jar from office. On it was written peanut butter. I must have been about 12years old and that tin of peanut butter seemed quite interesting for I had never heard of such a thing as peanut butter. None of us at home knew what to do with it and so, it found its way into our refrigerator door. For a couple of weeks it was almost forgotten. When I was shelled bored one day, I took a spoonful of this peanut butter and loved it instantly. I have already talked about how my family detested breads of any sort and so, this peanut butter became my snack rather than a spread. Soon after it got over, everyone forgot about it except me. Years later, after moving to Bangalore I found peanut butter again but I was not much interested in finishing a full jar by myself. With husband around, we did buy it once and that’s it. My issues with buying peanut butter from a store – comes in a big jar and often, we forget it after using it a few times. And then, the sugar content along with the added preservatives. While I enjoy an occasional peanut butter jam sandwich, I can’t buy a jar of it that’s costly. I had been meaning to try making it at home and recently made an attempt. It was a super duper hit and I swear we are never going to buy another jar of peanut butter from the store. I dry roasted the peanuts in microwave and it took me only 10mins to whip out this peanut butter. Also, I used honey instead of sugar and a teaspoon of oil which is optional. I did not remove the skin of the peanuts and loved the deep brown color. It stayed good for a week in the refrigerator and I can make fresh batches whenever required. Doesn’t all of this make this peanut butter super awesome?! 🙂
To make Peanut Butter Makes - More than ½ cup for a cup of peanuts Time to prepare – 10mins (for making this in microwave) What I used –
Raw Peanuts, 1 cup Honey, 2 tbsp Salt, a large generous pinch Oil, 1 teaspoon (optional)
How I made –
In a microwave safe bowl, add the cup of peanuts and microwave for about 3 mins. Pause every minute and toss the peanuts so that they don’t char. The peanuts should be roasted well. While the roasted peanuts are still hot, add them to a mixer jar. Hold the lid of the jar with the cloth and blend continuously for 40-50secs. The peanuts can be quite hot out of the microwave and the cloth helps protect your hand. Open the lid of the jar, scrape the sides of the jar and blend again continuously for a minute. At this stage, the peanuts should be powdered well and appear crumbly. Again, scrape the sides of the jar and repeat blending for another minute continuously. You should see that the natural oils should be released and peanut butter taking shape. While scraping the sides of the jar this time, add honey, oil and salt. Blend for one last time until really smooth and buttery in texture. Let it cool and remove it onto a bowl. If it’s too thick, extra honey or oil can be added but usually not required. Serve it along with jam for bread or as a dip.
Note –
If you cannot microwave the peanuts, dry roast them in a pan until they are browned and roasted well. This usually takes some time and patience. It is essential to start grinding the peanuts while they are still hot. Do not add water while grinding the peanuts. Sweetness from the honey would be more than sufficient but one can add sugar if desired. Adjust salt quantities as per preference. Oil can be avoided altogether but the peanut butter can get sticky.
