Chef Sandy makes Peanut Butter

Now, most of you probably know about peanut butter - it used to be a staple ingredient in kids' lunchboxes for decades (before peanut allergies went wild).There are many brands of peanut butter and I myself have been partial to the Two Bears brand....

Mostly because the little bears look soooo cute... but... last year, while we were traveling in Vietnam...

We came across home-made peanut butter! It was... to put it mildly... absolutely scrumptious! Possibly because we were in peanut butter withdrawals... but mostly because it was delicious.

Soooo... I thought I would try my hand at making home made peanut butter. You see, the Two Bear brand just doesn't taste good anymore... not at all... I thought making the home-made stuff would be hard but... it is simple.

All you need are dry-roasted peanuts... we got the un-salted variety.

Then you need a food processor with one of those sharp blades...

Poor peanuts into food processor... put lid on (beary important) and turn on...

First you make peanut crumbs...

Then the crumbs start to glom onto the sides of the bowl and you need to scrape them back down.

Then there is a period where it's just sort of rumbling around the bottom.

But then... you start to see smoothness appearing!!!

Oh yeah... it is starting to look a bit like peanut butter!

And now even more so... is this really working???

What??!!! Done already??? But that wasn't even 10 minutes!

Oh boy... that looks just about ready.

Is that really all it takes to make peanut butter?

You're kidding???

Oh yummmmm!!!! It's a bit warm because it's been around the food processor a few times...

Now... we did add a titch of salt - but you could add honey if you were so inclined (like.... if you were a certain bear named Jerry!). And there you go... home-made on the left... Two Bear brand on the right.

I did do an impromptu taste test with Mama's partner who did like the home-made one better (good answer!)... So now you just pop this in the fridge and it keeps for about 30 days or so... I see PB & J sandwiches in my future! Have you ever tried making home-made nut butters?

P.S. I thought the oil might separate out but after I put it in the fridge and stirred it a bit, it hasn't done that - beary interesting... and it firmed up to regular peanut butter texture...