Homemade healthy peanut butter

If you know anything at all about me, you know I am hopelessly in love with peanut butter.

If you know a little more about me, you know I’m not about to spend 1/3 of our grocery budget on a single jar of nut butter.

That’s why, when we first got married and I was still in school,  we bought the giant tubs of cheapy, hydrogenated oil-filled peanut butter. I was not a fan.

Which is funny, because I loved the peanut butter my great-grandma bought. I can remember cracking open Grandma’s pantry door and taking a generous finger full of Jif creamy peanut butter when no one was looking. It was so smooth, sweet, and perfect. We always had natural peanut butter at home, so this stuff was a treat!

I still eat the not-so-healthy peanut butter on occasion,  but now I notice the greasy film it leaves in my mouth. I would no longer be tempted to dip into Grandma’s jar of Jif.

In fact, if she was still living I would share a jar of my homemade peanut butter with her.

She would have tasted it, smacked her lips in that particular way that used to annoy me so much, and told me just what she thought of my creation.

Enjoy your grandmas while you can, because they’re pretty special!

For this homemade peanut butter, all you need is a good food processor and some roasted peanuts. If you have a strong blender that should work too.

What won’t work is a blender or food processor with multiple blades, like the Ninja. I do like my Ninja set, but for making things like this you need blades at the bottom of the bowl.

There’s no need for any extra oil, just have patience as the crumbs gradually turn into a recognizable substance. I recommend starting with unsalted roasted peanuts and salting the peanut butter to taste after it reaches the right consistency.

Since my primary motivation for making homemade peanut butter was cost,  here is the price break down of the peanut butter we were buying compared to the homemade version:

Kroger peanut butter: $2.29/ 14 oz. jar ($2.62/lb of peanut butter)

Adams peanut butter: $6.37/36 oz. jar ($2.83/lb of peanut butter)

Roasted peanuts: $1.49-$2.00/lb ($1.49-$2.00/ lb of peanut butter)

That may not seem like a remarkable savings, but we go through a lot of peanut butter!

If you make some of this deliciousness,  be sure to share it with your grandma.