So easy

Wow – homemade peanut butter is so easy.  Just peanuts, oil and salt! You can change it up a bit by adding additional flavors: honey, a bit of melted chocolate or ground cinnamon. Or make it savory with a dash of smoked paprika.

Ingredients

(1) lb raw shelled Peanuts
(1-2) tablespoons Oil (melted coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil or peanut oil)
(1-2) tsp Sea Salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Fill a large saucepan or soup pot with water and bring to a boil. Note:  If you have pre-blanched nuts you can skip the boiling step and go right to roasting. Add the raw peanuts to the water and boil for 1 minute. Strain the peanuts and spread them on a rimmed baking sheet.

Place the peanuts in the oven and bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour. The nuts should be browned but not burned.  Take the peanuts out of the oven and let cool completely.

You have two options here:   Remove the skins. Rubbing the peanuts vigorously in your hands will help loosen them.  You might try rubbing the the peanuts while wearing rubber gloves (more friction), then place the baking sheet in a large clean trash bag. Aim a hair dryer set on cool at the tray and blow off the skins into the bag.

Option: Purchase skinless peanuts, which are sometimes even pre-blanched!

Place the roasted, skinless peanuts in the bowl of your food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Process the peanuts for a minute or so until it looks like coarse crumbs (it’s loud). Add a teaspoon of salt and continue processing. Drizzle in the oil a little at a time. After a few minutes, the mixture will begin to transform from dry pieces into a matte, chunky paste. Keep processing, it will eventually break down further into a fairly smooth, shiny butter. (The length of time depends on the strength of the processor’s motor and the sharpness of the blade. It may not get to the smooth consistency of a store-bought jar, but that’s ok.)  Add more salt or oil as needed.

Makes about 2 ½ cups