The appeal of “making your own” anything often lies in how customizable the DIY version of that thing is, but ease also plays a role. Homemade peanut butter is, by both metrics, very appealing. You take some peanuts, you put them in a food processor (or high-powered blender), and let the blades do their thing. Minutes later, you have peanut butter.
Usually, if I’m making such a spread, I’ll add a little salt, a little sugar, and maybe a pinch of cinnamon if I’m feeling fancy. But yesterday I found a forgotten tin of honey roasted peanuts, then glanced over to my food processor and thought “why not?”
Though one certainly can make their own peanut butter from raw, unseasoned peanuts, peanut butter made from peanuts that have been roasted and then coated with salt, honey, and sugar tastes much better. It’s a little sweet, a little salty, with a deep, caramelized peanuty flavor. It’s good on apples, sandwiches, and alone on a spoon. And, because the peanuts are already perfectly seasoned, there’s no reason to measure anything, including the peanuts. The correct amount of honey roasted peanuts to use when making honey roasted peanut butter is the amount of honey roasted peanuts that you have.
If you like your peanut butter creamy, let the food processor run for five minutes. If you like it chunky, do the same, but reserve a handful of peanuts, pulse them until coarse, then stir them into the creamy peanut butter. You may be tempted to simply process them for a fewer number of minutes, but this will result in a mealy-feeling kind of peanut butter, and what you want is crunchy bits of honey roasted peanuts suspended in creamy peanut butter.
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If you want to further customize your already flavorful peanut butter, you can. Add a little cinnamon, cardamom, or cocoa powder—each takes the spread in a different direction. (Though I urge you to try it “plain” before making any mods. It’s great plain.)
