Homemade Peanut Butter

This is real life everybody!  I took some peanuts and I butter-ized them.  With success!  It wasn't even a little bit hard.  It was actually a lot of bit easy.  

And then I proceeded to just eat it from a spoon nearly every day.  Like it's a socially acceptable snack to just eat some peanut butter (and maybe some chocolate chips) from a spoon in your pajamas on a Tuesday night.

This is one of those recipes I envision myself making big batches of and handing out in adorable mason jars to friends and family with handmade tags and colorful twine.  The reality is that I own one mason jar that previously was used as a cup for cold beverages because I own almost exclusively coffee mugs and I have zero twine.  A girl can dream.    

Obviously, you can expect many more nut butters coming your way in the coming weeks.  Almond butter?  Heck yeah!  Cashew Butter?  Sure!  Hazelnut Chocolate Butter?  You betcha!  Macadamia Nut Butter?  I'm sorry, but no, macadamia nuts are expensive.

If someone is willing to fund the Macadamia Nut Butter then I will gladly make it.  I will accept cash or money order.  My estimate is $2,573.  It's a rough estimate obviously, including the price of twine.  We can talk numbers later.  

Here's the recipe!  

Ingredients: 
16 oz dry roasted salt peanuts
2 tsp cinnamon (optional) 

Instructions: 
1.  Place peanuts in the food processor and begin processing.  The process will happen in stages: crushed, paste, "dough-like" ball, then peanut butter.  Some recipes estimate about a 5 minute processing time but it took me about 2 minutes.  If your food processor gets too hot, stop for a few minutes and begin again when it's cooled.    
2.  When you've reached the final stage, process for about 1 additional minute to reach smooth consistency.  If using cinnamon, you can add it at this stage to incorporate.  
3.  Pour into a well sealed container and store in the fridge for a thick consistency.  Leaving at room temperature should yield a slightly runnier peanut butter.   Eat with a spoon.     

Notes
**I'm no food safety expert but I would expect that this peanut butter will keep in the fridge for a few weeks.  If stored at room temperature, I'd recommend about one week.

**The cinnamon flavor seems to intensify once the peanut butter sits in the fridge for a few hours.  It may seem meek upon first taste from the food processor but allow the peanut butter to sit and you should notice the flavor.   



Recipe from Averie Cooks