Natural Peanut Butter

I use organic, dry roasted Valencia peanuts that I buy from Azure Standard.

Natural Peanut Butter

4 cups organic, dry roasted Valencia peanuts
1 teaspoon sea salt

Put peanuts and salt in food processor or Vita-Mix. You may want to blend in smaller batches, depending on the capabilities of your appliance. Blend until smooth or slightly chunky, according to your preference. Serve warm immediately or chill to enjoy later. Keep refrigerated.

About Wardeh

Wardeh ('Wardee') Harmon lives in Oregon with her husband, Jeff, and their three children, Haniya, Naomi & Mikah. They garden and raise a dairy cow, chickens and goats. Wardeh is passionate about traditional cooking. She writes books and teaches online classes in traditional cooking, sourdough, cultured dairy, cheesemaking and fermentation. Follow Wardeh on Google+.

Comments

  1. I LOVE making homemade peanut butter, but with my food processor, I always have to add oil to keep it from being too dry. But it is absolutely wonderful, nonetheless :)

  2. Wardeh says:

    Really? I never have dry peanut butter. It must be because I use a Vita-Mix. But with other nuts, I have to add some liquid (usually water) to the Vita-Mix to get the nut butter circulating and moist enough. Thanks for visiting my blog, Lori!

  3. Ala says:

    I LOVE homemade peanut butter! I usually have to add a little oil, even though I make it in the VitaMix.

    My friend had this issue yesterday. I think it must have to do with the oil content in the peanuts; it varies. I’m gladyou’re able to make it work!

  4. Mike says:

    Just made some today and I threw in some white chocolate baking squares and made white chocolate peanut butter very tasty.
    Question for any one, Do you keep in the fridge or leave it out after your all done?

    Wow, that sounds tasty. You need to refrigerate this. -Wardeh

  5. Mike says:

    Thanks for the response.

  6. MarLou says:

    Wardeh, the peanut butter looks wonderful. Is it necessary to roast the peanuts first? Doesn’t that make the nuts “dead”? lol

    And I simply can’t wait to make some of that soda pop. I’m a little intimidated to try it, however, but I love fizzy drinks. I’ve given up the commercial ones because they are so bad. The only thing I drink now is water. A “healthy” soda pop would hit the spot.
    .-= MarLou´s last blog post… Recipe 100% Whole Wheat Bread =-.

    • Wardeh says:

      MarLou – As you know, nuts contain enzyme-inhibitors. These are neutralized either by soaking or roasting (though soaking is better, I gather). Now what I don’t know is if peanuts are in the same category as nuts. I will have to look into it. What do you think?

  7. Soccy says:

    I love this idea. I’ve always wanted to make my own peanut butter but didn’t really know what equipment to use. I have a Bosch blender, would that work? Also, do the nuts have to be roasted or can I make it from soaked nuts? I was thinking of making my own almond butter or cashew butter.

    thanks

    • Wardeh says:

      Soccy – I don’t believe the Bosch blender will work for peanut butter. :( But I don’t know for sure, because I’ve not tried it. I’ve made peanut butter in a food processor and a Vita-Mix, and I prefer the food processor. The nuts should either be roasted or soaked/dehydrated to neutralize enzyme inhibitors. I’ve personally not made a nut butter from soaked/dehydrated nuts, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. It is one of the things I’ve wanted to try – and I’m prepared to add a bit of oil in case it is too dry and the nuts won’t circulate in the fp or Vita-Mix.

  8. GoldClaw says:

    Marlou and Wardeh,

    Peanuts do indeed contain high amounts of enzyme inhibitors, as does wheat germ. There are some present in all legumes and peanuts are said to be especially high in inhibitors.
    http://tinyurl.com/krxaas

    Although, apparently if you just roast them (instead of boil them), some inhibitor activity can actually be increased at least 3-fold: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12847498

    This causes more people to become allergic to it, as we are here in North America:
    http://tinyurl.com/l72v5t (scroll down to “allergies)

    The inhibitors can be broken down by soaking (as well as boiling):
    http://tinyurl.com/ngc6br (page 121, or 127 of 133)

    Hope that helps!

  9. Tammy says:

    Wardeh,

    I am getting ready to order some peanuts from Azure Standard. They don’t have dry roasted, only raw and raw organic for the Valencia. Should I soak, then dehydrate…would that be the same? Seems like it would be better to soak first anyway, wouldn’t it? Looks like they have a skin on them…would that be blended in a Vitamix? (Squee! I’m getting a Vitamix!) …or would that skin come off during soaking?

    First I was going to order peanut butter, then I saw this post and thought…I’ll just make my own! :)

    • Wardeh says:

      Tammy, yes soak them! You can add 1 T of acid per cup of water since peanuts have a ton of phytic acid and they may not sprout if they’re broken, as peanuts often are when we receive them. I think you can leave the skin on, unless you find out it leaves a bitter flavor. Do a small amount and see. Soaking is better than dry roasting for phytic acid neutralization.

      Congrats on getting a Vita-Mix!

  10. Jenna says:

    Just following-up on the February 2010 post re soaking/dehydrating raw skin-on valencia peanuts for peanut butter. Here it is October 2010 and now I’m the one about ready to order peanuts from Azure to make peanut butter! Thanks for feedback on how the raw/soak/dehydrate PB worked out . . .

Trackbacks

  1. [...] cup natural peanut butter or natural almond [...]

  2. [...] Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups – Simply amazing! You’ve got to try these! They come from Avivah at Oceans of Joy. The base for each layer – chocolate, then peanut butter, then chocolate – is made of coconut oil and honey. I doubled the chocolate layer and put a full amount of it as the bottom and top layers of the peanut butter bars. (They would have been cups had I a mini-muffin tin or some small molds.) I also had trouble reheating the chocolate filling to make it fluid again, so I suggest you make each amount right before drizzling it in the pan (or mold). We’re going to have these again this weekend – first better have Haniya make more roasted peanut butter (recipe is here). [...]

  3. [...] up with homemade jam and nut butter, or jam and cream [...]

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