In recent years, peanut butter has become very popular, which you may also know as peanut butter or peanut cream. It is a spread with an intense peanut flavor, since it is made only from peanuts, and allows you to use it or accompany a wide variety of desserts and sweet recipes.
Today, you can find peanut butter in any supermarket, in the area where you find chocolate spreads and similar products; but you can make it the simplest way at home, knowing you don't add other ingredients, controlling the quality of the raw material and with the satisfaction of making it yourself.
In this post I tell you how to make peanut butter, answer some common questions that arise when you're going to prepare it and give you some tips that I hope you find very useful to prepare it, vary it to your taste and recipes to enjoy it.
How to make peanut butter
- Ingredients: about 250 gr of shelled and roasted peanuts
To make peanut butter you need roasted peanuts. So, you can buy peanuts already roasted and shelled, but it is more advisable to buy them whole or shelled and roast them yourself in the oven or pan just before making the spread.
How to roast the peanuts before making the butter?
To roast the peanuts, you have two options:- Roast the peanuts in the oven: Place the peanuts already shelled on a baking tray, and roast them at 170 - 180 ºC for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to ensure they don't burn.
- Roast the peanuts in a pan: Place the peanuts in a pan, put it on the heat and keep stirring constantly so they don't burn. Keep until they appear toasted.
Preparation of the peanut butter:
- Put the shelled and roasted peanuts in a blender or in a food processor.
- Turn on the blender, and the spread will make itself: the peanut will release its own oil, which will help emulsify and create the spread that will form as you continuously grind the peanuts. From time to time, you may need to stop to scrape the walls, but keep grinding until you obtain the desired texture.
- When it has the texture you're looking for, remove and store in an airtight jar in the refrigerator.
Notes:
- Some people want to add a few more drops of oil to finish the emulsion to the desired texture. It's not necessary: if you wait for it to grind you'll see how the oil released by the peanuts helps create a paste, the peanut butter, but if you wish or to add more oily flavor to the spread, you can do so.
- In "Ingredients" we mentioned a minimum of 250 gr of peanuts. You can make it with whatever amount you want, but you need a minimum so the machine can grab the peanuts properly to grind them (if there are too few it could be that the blades won't reach the peanuts properly to grind them), and also so they release the oil to emulsify.
- To make the spread we especially recommend the Magimix processor. Just to clarify that with the Magimix CookExpert you can also make the spread, since with the accessories it includes it also becomes the Magimix processor, precisely, and it works wonderfully for that.
Magimix blender and Magimix food processor
How to make a different peanut spread: ways to vary peanut butter
Peanut butter is one and unique: made of peanuts. But if you are looking for ways to enjoy slightly different peanut butters, you can try some of the following:
- Add other nuts: you can also shell walnuts, cashews or other nuts you like and roast and grind them along with the peanuts. The process is exactly the same, and you will get a delicious nut butter for sure. Try combinations and quantities to your liking (just keep in mind that some nuts release less oil, and if they are in a significant proportion you may need to add a few drops of oil during the process, that's all).
- Add spices: you can add a touch of ginger, cinnamon or nutmeg to the peanut butter—see what an interesting flavor you get!
- Add honey or maple syrup: it will be a slightly stickier and sweeter spread, and you'll add those special woody or floral notes of the honey. Try adding a good spoonful of your favorite honey or syrup to the peanut butter.
- Cocoa: you have to try peanut with cocoa or carob powder. If you like the combination of that nut with chocolate, you'll like adding a spoonful of cocoa or carob to the mix.
- Add a spoonful of caramel cream: the caramelized flavor you get in the peanut butter is amazing.
- Coconut oil: the flavor of peanut with coconut oil is surprisingly good, you have to try it.
I hope you are encouraged to prepare peanut butter at home. Your way and with your personalized flavor touches. If you start, you'll see how easy and rewarding it is.
Recipes with peanut butter
If you make peanut butter, you have a couple of recipes on our blog to enjoy it. I invite you to see:
