Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Homemade Peanut Butter - Holy Cow It's Cheaper!




I wasn't so sure how this was going to turn out. It's been a long time since I could afford the all natural peanut butter. We've been surviving on Jiff for the last few years which tastes nice and sweet but it's killing me one spoonful at a time with all it's sugar, fat and chemicals.

Still tastes good though.


And then through web surfing and recipe searches I came across loads of homemade peanut butter recipes and decided to give it a try. I ended up tweaking the recipes until I got the right consistency and flavor for my family and this is the end result.


Homemade 100% Natural Peanut Butter In 5 Minutes Or Less!

You'll need....


a food processor

1 1/2 cups unsalted, roasted peanuts

2 tablespoons peanut oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

Honey (optional) hey, we're just coming off Jiff.


Pour all ingredients in food processor and process until creamy. We added 2 tablespoons of local farmers market honey to sweeten it up a bit but if you're already used to the all natural peanut butter it tastes just fine without it.


And (drum roll please) the total cost for 11 ounces of all natural peanut butter?


$.98


I priced Smart Balance, Adams, Hearts and Minds, and Crazy Richards peanut butters and for the same amount and similar quality it would have cost between $3.08 - 3.96 to purchase it pre-made.

Besides the fact that homemade is incredibly cheaper you can also control the salt, sweetener, quantity, and texture of the finished product.

And if you prefer chunky texture, just hold out 1/4 cup of the peanuts until the very end and then add them to your creamy product and process until coarsely chopped.

For storage, keep in a cool airtight container in your fridge for up to 2 weeks.

For more WFMW tips go Here!

36 comments:

Phoebe @ GettingFreedom said...

I have been wanting to make my own nut butters for quite some time now. DH eats a crazy insane amount of PB! What a bid difference in price! I didn't realize that you could do it in a food processor..

HM PB here I come! ;)

Terri Steffes said...

Now I want to try my own almond butter. Thanks for the inspiration!

Farmgirl Cyn said...

How did you buy your peanuts? I can find the store brand jars of dry roasted, unsalted peanuts, but they cost $3.39 for 1 pound. Would love to make my own, but I can buy the Krema brand (all natural, peanuts and salt being the only ingredients) for $1.99 for a 1 pound jar.

Jess B said...

That's awesome! I might have to try this!

More Love, Less Debt said...

Thank you for this post. I recently started making my own bread. Haven't purchased store bought in about 6 weeks. My kids LOVE PB&J in their lunches everyday. I make my own jam and it never crossed my mind to make my own PB. What a geat idea. Going to do this and then my kids lunch sanwiches with be at most pennies to make . Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Melissa ~ Mom to 6 said...

We do this too ~ for even more savings, we're growing our own peanuts this year. We'll see how that goes!

Unknown said...

I'm going to try this!! I just can't believe it's that easy. And such a good deal too! Thanks!!

Unknown said...

Wow, thanks for sharing. Once I finish up my natural jarred stuff I'm dying to give this a try!

Anonymous said...

Great idea, I so agree about the overpriced peanut butter. I will have to try this. Thanks

Gayle said...

I bought the peanuts in the bulk bin section at Win-co.

Jenelle said...

What a great idea! I am always looking for new things I can make from scratch instead of buying pre-made. I will definitely give this one a try this weekend. Thanks for the tip!

Jen said...

WOW!! I am SO excited over this...it's something I can do! And hey.....don't knock honey too bad...have you read all the health benefits of it....good stuff!! When we make PB&J's I sneak in wheat germ mixed with the peanut butter...know one even notices!

Marci @OvercomingBusy said...

Awesome! I can't wait to try this! We eat an incredible amount of all natural peanut butter!

Duckygirl said...

I'm going to have to try and find peanuts in bulk now...we go through a lot of PB and this looks pretty easy!

-and am I the only one who can't see a background here? the page is just loading white for me??

-Laura

Gayle said...

Yeah, the white background is intentional.

coffee break said...

I can't wait to try this! Natural PB really is so expensive. Thanks for the recipie!

Anonymous said...

Way to go Gayle!!! YUMMY!!!!
I love peanut-butter on pancakes, celery with raisins, and on tortillas with jelly or honey. Thanks for the reciepe. Berdie

Muthering Heights said...

Wow! I will definitely try this!!

Sharon said...

I use to make my own peanut butter, mayo and bread, and other things I can't remember right now. That was back in the 1980's!! I let it slip away getting busy with life. I am now going to get back into it again, thanks for the inspiration!

Melissa@Mom's Plans said...

Thanks for the great tip. Can't wait to try this out!

Anonymous said...

Ooo..I love saving money! I'm gonna have to try this. How do you store it? How long do you think it keeps for?

Sarah said...

Sounds delicious! We will have to try this!

Jennifer said...

Wow, this is something I have been wanting to try, I imagine it is much better for you. I burned out my food processor a couple of years ago though, so I would have to buy a new one. Not sure if it would be worth it, something to think about though.

Becky said...

Can i use a blender I don't have a food processor, just a little Black and Decker 1 cup food chopper and a regular blender, Becky

Becky said...

Can you use a blender? I don't have a food processer.

Gayle said...

If it's got some good power then I bet it would work. Worst case scenario you have chunky instead of creamy.

The Happy Housewife said...

I may have missed this, but where do you get your peanuts?
Thanks!
Toni

Gayle said...

I found the peanuts in the bulk section of the grocery store.

Tannis said...

Yummy! I made this p-nut butter yesterday and it was good! (I did have to add a bit more oil to make it smooth enough). Question: Why do we have to store it in the refrigerator if non of the ingredients come from the refrigerator to begin with? I did put mine in there but I'm kind of dreading how hard it might be when I try to spread it on some bread.

Gayle said...

Because this has no preservatives in it, it can get rancid. Plus the refrigeration keeps the oil and peanuts from seperating.

Tannis said...

OK, that makes sense. I'll have to see how spreadable mine is. Have you tried yours out of the fridge yet?

Gayle said...

Yeah, it wasn't very spreadable but I briefly warmed it up in the microwave and gave it a good stir and it was just fine.

Tannis said...

The micorwave worked for me as well. I'm wondering if there is another way though. My husband really doesn't like the use of the microwave too much.

Ordinary Girl said...

Oh my goodness, I just tried this, thank you so much for the recipe. I did it in my blender, with a little extra care. After making one batch, I made another right on top of it and combined the whole thing, and that worked well. If you use dry roasted salted peanuts, no need to add salt. Seriously, thank you. This is wonderful.

Debbie said...

Homemade PB is on my list of things to start making - so glad I came across this post! Can't wait to buy some peanuts and give it a try.

Anonymous said...

You can skip the added peanut oil - it's really not necessary. I use a food processor, too - takes about 14 minutes to process 3 lbs. of peanuts (add a bit at a time, use a spatula to scrape off sides of food processor as it grinds them up if needed, package and refrigerate when done). All I add is salt - 1 tsb. per 3 lbs.

I don't use salted peanuts because you have no control over how much salt is in your peanut butter.