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We love peanut butter. My husband will use a chocolate bar as a spoon and eat it right out of the jar. My favorite sandwich is peanut butter and bananas. It’s a staple in most houses, whether it’s chunky or smooth. And it’s so easy to make at home!
Where did peanut butter come from?
This cream treat goes all the way back to the ancient Aztecs and Incas. It is believed they often roasted peanuts over a fire and ground them into a paste – the original crunchy peanut butter.
When Spain invaded and wiped these peoples out, they back to Spain with them gold, silver and peanuts. These tasty little legumes made their way to Asia and Africa, and came to the U.S. via the African slaves.
The first known peanut butter in North America came from a Canadian chemist. Marcellus Gilmore Edson applied for a U.S. patent for his “peanut candy” in 1884. He added sugar to the paste and created lollipops.
It was believed in the past the George Washington Carver invented peanut butter, but he did not. He invented many products with peanuts, but butter was not one of them – however it is because of him that it was made.
This nut butter as we know it was created by John Harvey Kellogg. He blanched peanuts for a few hours, dried them, then ran them through a roller creating a paste, or butter.
George Bayle decided roasting them first would make a great butter. He sold it as a healthy source of protein and great for people with bad teeth!
In 1922 hydrogenated oil was added to keep the oils in the peanuts from separating out of the butter. Then, in 1955, sugar was added to the mixture. And now it’s a popular staple around the world.
Celebrate National Peanut Butter Day
Today is National Peanut Butter day! What better way to celebrate than to make something with peanuts!
How about making your own peanut butter? It’s so easy and tastes so good!
How to make peanut butter
This recipe requires one ingredient. Peanuts. You can use raw, roasted, salted or unsalted – dry roasted don’t work very well.
Put the peanuts in a food processor with a sharp blade or a really good blender –
and process until as smooth as you like it. I like chunky so I processed it less.
I also added some peanut oil to help make it smooth. If you are adding oil, drizzle it into the food processor while its running. Add as much as you need for the texture you want – but be careful – you can get too much really fast!
It is pretty runny at first. Once it’s refrigerated it thickens into a paste. I also used roasted, salted peanuts. You can leave the salt out if you want.
Store it in the refrigerator for one to two weeks.
Peanut butter requires one ingredient. Peanuts. You can use raw, roasted, salted or unsalted
- 1 cup peanuts (raw, roasted, salted or not - do not use dry roasted)
- peanut oil (optional)
-
Put the peanuts in a food processor with a sharp blade and process until as smooth as you like it.
-
If you are adding oil, drizzle it into the food processor while its running. Add as much as you need for the texture you want - but be careful - you can get too much really fast!
-
It is pretty runny at first. Once it's refrigerated it thickens into a paste. I also used roasted, salted peanuts. You can leave the salt out if you want. Store it in the refrigerator for one to two weeks.
© Copyright 2024 The Lazy Gastronome
© Copyright 2024 The Lazy Gastronome
I love making my own nut butters – it is so good to be able to control what goes into them, and they definitely taste superior. I loved reading the history of this – I always learn so much from your posts :)
Thank you for that compliment!
Such an easy recipe for peanut butter, without added artificial ingredients. Very pure! Thank you for sharing!
Yum! I love peanut butter and making it at home is so easy! I’m making these for a recipe that I want to make with chocolate brownies. Wish me luck! Thanks again
Sounds delicious!
Having a pure, easy-to-make peanut butter recipe at home always comes in handy! Thanks!
I had no idea making peanut butter yourself was that easy. I have tried it and mixed it until the consistency was smooth. Delicious.
making nut butter at home is definitely the way to go! Simple recipe, easy to follow, thank you!
Thanks so much for participating and sharing at SSPS 294. See you again next week! I will have to give this a try as then you can control what you add to your mixture.
I used some to make peanut butter cookies too – it was great. You can make any kind of nut butter. Thanks for stopping by.
I adore peanut butter, I need to try making it! Thanks Helen!