How to Make The Best Homemade Peanut Butter
Let’s talk about why you need to make peanut butter at home. It’s simple to make — all you need is a food processor and 15 minutes. Jump to the full Peanut Butter Recipe or watch our quick recipe video showing you how we make it.
We love that you have the control — the amount of salt or honey is completely up to you. Plus, you can get creative. We make our basic peanut butter crunchy. Sometimes though, we add almonds. And when we’re feeling bold, we make chocolate peanut butter. (It is seriously good).
If you’re like us, you probably have a favorite store-bought peanut butter (ours is from Trader Joe’s). So yes, we still buy regular peanut butter. We also like to make our own (you can never have too much peanut butter in the house, right). We love that we can make something we eat almost daily, at home. It feels good.
Homemade Peanut Butter Recipe Crash Course
Are you game for whirling up some peanuts and making your very own peanut butter? You really can make our peanut butter recipe in 15 minutes. In fact, most of that time is roasting the peanuts.
After roasting, throw peanuts into the bowl of a food processor. Turn on and watch as the peanuts turn into crumbs, then a thick paste and finally smooth shiny peanut butter. It’s almost magical.
Best of all, you can adjust based on your tastes. We add a little salt, a touch of honey and for perfect consistency to spread on toast–a tiny bit of oil. See what works for you.
Homemade Almond Peanut Butter
Now that you’re pros at making basic peanut butter, get creative and play.
One of our favorite twists is to use equal parts of peanuts to almonds. By the way, if you only use almonds, you can make almond butter.
The process is exactly the same, roast then add all the nuts to a food processor, turn on and watch the magic happen. Add salt, honey (or maple syrup) as needed then check the consistency — we have found the peanut almond butter needs a little more oil added.
Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter — Pure Joy
OK, now for our favorite. Chocolate Peanut Butter. Think of it as a peanut-ified Nutella.
It’s quick and easy to make. Start with the basic peanut butter then instead of adding honey, add cocoa powder and powdered sugar.
The end result? Creamy, chocolaty goodness — we’re absolutely in love with it.
(Chocolate and peanut butter has to be one of our favorite combos — see our Easy Bar Cookie Recipe with Peanut Butter Cups or our Chocolate Covered Rice Krispie Treats)
You decide. Basic peanut butter recipe, peanut almond butter, chocolate peanut butter or would you make your own version? We want to know. Just leave your response in the comments below.
We love having peanut butter in the house for quick breakfasts, if you’re like us, you may want to take a look at these 12 Healthy (and Easy) Breakfast Recipes that will actually fill you up.
Recipe updated, originally posted February 2013. Since posting this in 2013, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear. – Adam and Joanne
How to Make the Best Homemade Peanut Butter
- PREP
This peanut butter recipe is so simple to make — all you need is a food processor and 15 minutes. Plus, you can get creative. We make our basic peanut butter crunchy. Sometimes though, we add almonds. And when we’re feeling bold, we make chocolate peanut butter. (It is seriously good).
It’s best to start with raw peanuts, however, if you cannot find them, use roasted. Since they’re roasted you could skip roasting in the oven, but we actually do it anyway — it sort of brings them back to life. Regarding the oil — add as needed.If it seems dry, add a little oil — maybe a teaspoon at a time.
Makes approximately 1 1/4 cups or 20 (1 tablespoon) servings
You Will Need
Basic Peanut Butter2 cups (300 grams) unsalted shelled peanuts
1/4 to 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 to 2 teaspoons honey
1 to 3 teaspoons peanut or vegetable oil, if needed
Almond Peanut Butter1 cup (150 grams) unsalted shelled peanuts
1 cup (150 grams) unsalted whole almonds
1/4 to 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 to 2 teaspoons honey
1 to 3 teaspoons peanut or vegetable oil, if needed
Chocolate Peanut Butter2 cups (300 grams) unsalted shelled peanuts
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons peanut oil or vegetable oil, plus more as needed
1/2 cup (45 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups (170 grams) powdered sugar
Directions
- Roast Nuts
- Basic Peanut Butter
- Almond Peanut Butter
- Chocolate Peanut Butter
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Add the nuts to a round or square cake pan (or rimmed baking sheet). Roast nuts for 3 minutes, shake pan then roast another 3 to 5 minutes or until the nuts are lightly browned and smell nutty (careful, they can burn quickly). Let cool until you can handle them.
If you are making crunchy peanut butter, add 1/3 cup of the roasted peanuts to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 6 to 8 times, or until the peanuts are chopped into very small pieces. Transfer chopped peanuts to a bowl and reserve for later.
Add the roasted peanuts to the bowl of a food processor. Process 1 minute then scrape sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. Process another 2 to 3 minutes until the peanut butter is shiny and smooth. Add your desired amount of salt and honey then process until combined. (We add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons of honey). Check the consistency, if it seems too thick, add oil, a teaspoon at a time, until you are happy with it. For crunchy peanut butter, stir in the reserved peanuts.
Add nuts to the bowl of a food processor. Process 1 minute then scrape sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. Process another 2 to 3 minutes until shiny and smooth. Add your desired amount of salt and honey then process until combined. (We add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons of honey). Check the consistency, if it seems too thick or dry, add oil, a teaspoon at a time, until you are happy with it.
Add the roasted peanuts to the bowl of a food processor. Process 1 minute then scrape sides of bowl with a rubber spatula. Process another 2 to 3 minutes until shiny and smooth. Add salt, oil, cocoa powder, and the powdered sugar then process another minute until blended and shiny. Check the consistency, if it seems too thick, add oil, a teaspoon at a time, until you are happy with it.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- How to store: Transfer the peanut butter to a food-safe container, cover, and then store in the refrigerator up to one month. If over the month the nut butter separates, use a spoon to stir it until it is well blended.
- Using a blender: As long as you have a relatively high-powered blender, you can make peanut butter in a blender. The steps will be the same as with a food processor.
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates and are for the basic recipe. We have used the USDA Supertracker recipe calculator to calculate approximate values.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
Nutrition Per Serving: Serving Size 1 tablespoon / Calories 95 / Protein 3 g / Carbohydrate 3 g / Dietary Fiber 1 g / Total Sugars 1 g / Total Fat 8 g / Saturated Fat 1 g / Cholesterol 0 mg
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Am in love with PB and the recipe is worth experimenting with. Will try it now with cinnamon n a pinch of fried grounded black pepper.
Hi. Can I heat it up in the microwave if it gets hard because of refrigeration? Thanks
Absolutely!
For your peanut butter recipes, do you use raw peanuts, and if so, where do you buy them? I don’t recall ever seeing raw, un-roasted peanuts at a grocery store. Thanks
Hi Rod, We’ve had success in the bulk aisle of our grocery store. Most stores selling natural foods have a bulk bin area. If you cannot find raw peanuts, it is okay. You can still make peanut butter.
I tried making this recipe and it tastes amazing, but my peanut butter turned out a bit too runny. I’m assuming that it’s because I added more oil than I really needed. Do you think I could fix it by making another batch without any oil and then mixing them both in the food processor for a little bit?
Hi Milo, You can try another batch with less oil. Maybe the peanuts you used had a slightly higher fat content than what we have used. Adding the oil as needed might be best.
Hi I just tried to make your peanut butter recipe for my dog, since I have to make her own cookies, because of allergies. But my peanuts don’t get to a paste, it just whirls around in the processor. Maybe my processor is not good enough? Finally I just put some water with it and that was okay. Going to try the chocolate one soon though, sounds delicious! Thank you for the recipe!