Tips for Making Your Own Peanut Butter for Fresh Desserts

What could be a better treat to pack for winter picnics than peanut butter sandwiches? While we make the sandwiches at home, the peanut butter is often store-bought. Peanut butter is quite easy to make at home and apart from tasting better than the store-bought versions it is also healthier. Apart from peanut butter and jelly sandwiches popularly known as PBJ, you can also use homemade peanut butter to make cookies, desserts, and even smoothies. It is the rich, creamy texture and nutty taste that allows peanut butter to be such a flexible component, especially in desserts.

If you choose to make your own peanut butter, you get to be in control of the consistency, saltiness, and sweetness and tailor it to fit your tastes. So,you end up avoiding all the extra sugars, oils, and preservatives. Especially if you make them in small batches then the homemade peanut butter will taste fresher than commercial ones.

You can also choose the proportion of spices, a sweetener, or other ingredients as per the requirements of the specific dessert recipes you are making. Another reason to make your own peanut butter is that buying raw peanuts and making your own peanut butter can be less expensive than paying for branded store-bought options.

One of the important things to keep in mind while making your peanut butter is to use fresh peanuts. Stale peanuts produce less flavourful butter. Make sure your peanuts are fresh and odourless too. Blending the peanuts takes time. Often people get impatient and are tempted to add more oil to make the blending easier. Avoid this. Peanuts will release their natural oils which will help blend it, just be patient. Remember to give your food processor rest to cool down if it gets hot during mixing so that the motor is not damaged.

If you are making flavoured peanut butter for a particular dessert, then you can add ingredients accordingly. To make it chocolatey, add cocoa powder. For warmth and aroma, stir in cinnamon or vanilla extract. You can also toss a handful of dried fruit—such as cranberries or raisins to add a chunky texture. It is also better to choose natural sweeteners such as honey, agave, or maple syrup instead of refined sugar.

Here’s A Step-By-Step Recipe To Make Peanut Butter At Home

• To make peanut butter at home you will need
• Unsalted raw or roasted peanuts
• Salt
• Natural sweeteners
• Neutral oil such as vegetable or peanut oil
• A food processor or a fast blender
• An airtight container for storage
• A spatula for side scraping

Roast The Peanuts

Lightly roast raw peanuts in the oven at 175°C for 8 to 10 minutes to achieve a deeper, nuttier flavour.

Blend It

To a food processor or blender, add the peanuts. Blend it on high speed. Pause every 30 to 60 seconds to scrape down the sides. The peanuts first will become a crumbly combination, then a paste, finally smooth peanut butter. Your machine will determine how long this process takes—four to eight minutes.

Add Oil

Add one tablespoon of oil at a time for creamier peanut butter until the intended texture is reached.

Check The Texture

If you like chunky peanut butter, save some peanuts, finely chop them, and stir them in at the end when the peanut butter is almost ready.

Taste It

If you want the peanut butter to be more nutty, sprinkle some salt. For sweetened peanut butter, add some maple syrup, honey, or a little powdered sugar. Start small and add as you go.

Storing Peanut Butter

Store the peanut butter in an airtight container. You can keep it refrigerated for up to one month or at room temperature for one to two weeks. Remember to stir it before usage, incase the oil separates over time.

Making Desserts With Homemade Peanut Butter

Peanut butter can be used in a variety of desserts. The most popular among them are the peanut butter cookies. You can also whip peanut butter into buttercream frosting or mix it into brownie batter. You can also blend homemade peanut butter into smoothies. It goes especially well with ingredients such as chocolate and bananas. Another fun way to use it is as a binder for granola bars, energy balls, or no-bake peanut butter pies. If you want to drizzle it on pancakes, waffles, or sundaes for flavour, thin your peanut butter with some milk or cream.