I eat a pretty good amount of peanut butter everyday, whether it be atop a slice of toast, smeared on an apple or banana, or just by the spoonful for a nourishing post workout snack. For some people it’s wine, for others coffee, but I would most definitely classify myself as a peanut butter snob. I like to know exactly what goes into my nut butter, because for me pb should taste great but more importantly add to the nutritional value of a meal. The more research I did on popular peanut butters the more horrified I was. Jif and Skippy are the primary offenders with excessive amounts of added sugar and hydrogenated oils-basically a fancy word for hidden trans fats. Jif Natural, Justin’s, and Peanut Butter & Co. are a bit better, but all contain added sugar and palm fruit oil which is high in saturated fat. Now, none of these ingredients will kill you, or even have immediate negative effects on your health. In order to truly consider peanut butter “healthy” however, there should only be one ingredient: Peanuts! This might just be the easiest recipe on the entire blog…
All you need to make peanut butter at home is a large jar of unsalted peanuts. This is peanut butter in it’s purest form, my friends. There is no sugar, oil, or sodium to detract from all of the benefits peanuts have to offer. They are high in protein and fiber, so even just a small handful will keep you feeling full and quench cravings. In addition, peanuts are abundant in the vitamins niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, thiamin, riboflavin, choline, Vitamin B6 and Vitamin E and rich in minerals like magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, zinc, iron, copper, manganese and selenium. To settle the debate once and for all: peanut butter is good for you if you are eating it in the most natural form possible!
Measure out two cups of peanuts and place about 1/2 a cup of them into the food processor at a time. Any processor or blender will do, I used my Magic Bullet and it worked like a charm!
Blend the peanuts in small amounts until they begin to look like peanut butter, then add more nuts. The more you blend, the more runny the peanut butter will be. I like a little crunch in my pb, so I stopped blending just before the mixture became totally smooth.
And that’s it! You are left with a jar of natural peanut butter for a great price. I paid $3.00 for my jar of peanuts whereas it would have cost around $4-5 for a jar of natural peanut butter at a health food store or online. I usually go through a jar a week (like I said, I really love peanut butter), so over the course of the year I will save $50-100 on a healthier product. That’s a win-win if I’ve ever seen one! You can also try adding honey, cinnamon and raisins, or a few squares of dark chocolate to the mix for a more exciting spread.
Cate's Clean Eats 