Homemade Peanut Butter — 🥜🎉🙌 This recipe breaks down how to make peanut butter with just 1 ingredient! I’ve also answered some FAQs about making peanut butter so you know exactly what to expect from the process.
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Easy Homemade Peanut Butter Recipe
Once you make peanut butter at home, it will be very difficult to get excited about store-bought peanut butter ever again. Not that eating peanut butter of any kind would ever be a chore, because I love it so much, using it in everything from oatmeal bowls to smoothies, and granola. I’ve even been known to eat it by the spoonful or with apples. But homemade peanut butter is a delicacy and a nearly effortless delicacy at that.
Once you have something amazing, it’s hard to get excited about anything less than. That’s this peanut butter.
Sure, all peanut butter is good, and some are better than others, but this is in its own league. It’s similar in taste to store-bought varieties of “natural” peanut butter. It tastes like real peanuts and nothing else.
At room temperature, it’s similar in consistency to a stir-free natural peanut butter, thicker than almond butter, but thinner than conventional Jif or Skippy.
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This chocolate coconut cashew butter is rich, creamy, and so indulgent, too!
Homemade Peanut Butter Ingredients
You only need one ingredient for this recipe. No added sugars or preservatives required!
- Peanuts – You’ll need a 16-ounce bag or jar of peanuts. You can use honey roasted, plain, salted, unsalted, or even a jar of mixed nuts. You won’t need oil or salt, just peanuts For this particular recipe, I used honey roasted peanuts because I love how flavorful they are. However, if I know I’ll be using my homemade peanut butter in dipping sauces or specific baked goods, I stick to plain peanuts. This way, I can add salt and other seasonings as needed to the peanut butter to prep it for the recipe at hand.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Peanut Butter from Peanuts
Making homemade peanut butter from scratch takes less than 5 minutes!
- Add the peanuts to the canister of a food processor.
- Process on high power until creamy and smooth. The peanuts go through various stages in the five minutes it takes to go from peanuts to peanut butter: crushed peanuts, peanuts crushed into a fine powder, a paste, a thicker paste, and then a big peanut butter “dough ball” will form.
- Stop and scrape down the sides as needed.
- Continue to blend until you achieve a smooth, creamy texture.
- Enjoy immediately, or store for later!
Consistency Tip
The peanut butter will be a little on the thinner and runnier side immediately post-processing because it’s warmed from the motor and is similar in thickness to store-bought almond butter. After refrigeration, it thickens up a bit.
How to Make Flavored Peanut Butter
You can flavor your homemade peanut butter with anything you want, from vanilla or coffee extract to cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, or even cocoa powder. This is your peanut butter, get creative!
If you don’t trust your gut when it comes to making flavored peanut butter, start with one of my recipes instead. Some of the flavored homemade nut butters I’ve made include:
- Sunflower Seed Peanut Butter
- Gingerbread Cookie Dough Peanut Butter
- White Chocolate Cinnamon Chip Peanut Butter
- White Chocolate Butterscotch Peanut Butter
- Chocolate Peanut Butter
- Cookie Butter Peanut Butter
Other seasonings or flavorings to try and add in the final moments of processing are: cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, cardamom, brown sugar, vanilla extract, coffee extract, a pinch of cayenne or chili powder, cocoa powder, or chocolate/white chocolate/butterscotch/peanut butter chips. Or, add honey or maple syrup for a sweeter taste. Just pulse to incorporate whatever flavoring you use!
You could even add egg-less cookie dough chunks, dried fruits like raisins or dates, a splash of Bailey’s Irish Cream, Kahlua, Frangelico, Chambord, or Godiva Liqueur. Have fun with it!
If you’re unsure how a flavoring will turn out, I suggest removing half the peanut butter or two-thirds of it, placing it in another container, and flavoring a smaller portion, to taste, before flavoring the entire batch with one particular seasoning or flavor. Or get two or three flavors from one recipe based on how inspired you are.
Storage:
Because homemade peanut butter contains just peanuts, it’ll last for up to 3 months if kept in an airtight container in the fridge. You’ll know if the peanut butter has gone bad if it smells rancid (trust me, you’ll know if it’s gone bad!).
Recipe FAQs
I store my homemade peanut butter in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and although I could keep it at room temperature I’m sure it will keep longer being refrigerated and I prefer my peanut butter on the thicker side. Storing it in the fridge helps it to stay thicker and less runny, especially since my house is warmer now during the summer.
Interestingly, my peanut butter has turned out to be “stir-free.” It has not separated into oil and a solid mass, which is something I detest about natural peanut butters; the oil slick on top and that stubborn dry blob on the bottom that never really wants to re-accept the oil.
Not that I’m aware of. Blenders aren’t powerful enough to process all those peanuts, so a food processor is a must.
Of course! To make homemade chunky peanut butter, you need to make this recipe as instructed. Once the peanut butter is creamy, add in another cup or so of peanut and pulse until it reaches your desired consistency.
You can make almost any nut / seed butter you’d like using the method listed in the recipe card below. Just keep in mind that certain nuts (like almonds) are much coarser than peanuts and therefore will take more time to make. If your food processor starts to overheat, turn it off and let it cool down before continuing.
If your food processor can hold that many peanuts, yes. Just keep in mind that the more nuts you use, the longer you’ll need to make creamy peanut butter.
Yes, you can use any kind of peanut you’d like in this recipe. Personally, I prefer dry roasted peanuts since they have more flavor and are easier to process. But if you prefer raw, go for it. You can also toast the raw peanuts yourself before blending them up.
I always buy my peanuts at Trader Joe’s. They’re inexpensive (around $3) and easy to find. Plus, Trader Joe’s carries different flavors of peanuts!
Homemade Peanut Butter Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 ounces peanuts, you can roasted, salted, unsalted, honey roasted, etc.
Instructions
- Add peanuts to the canister of a food processor, process on high power until creamy and smooth, about 5 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the canister if necessary.
- Note that the peanuts will go through stages of: crushed, crushed into a fine powder, a paste, a thicker paste, a big “dough ball”, and then the ball will break down into runnier peanut butter. At the point the peanut butter is runny, continue processing for about 1 more minute, making sure the peanut butter is as smooth as desired.
- Store the peanut butter at room temperature where it will keep for at least 2 weeks, or store in an airtight container or jar in the refrigerator, where it keeps for many weeks, and I’ve stored it for months. As with any food that has no preservatives, use common sense.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Peanut Butter Recipes:
Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Mini Blender Muffins — These muffins are gluten-free, grain-free, soy-free, dairy-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free, and they’re under 100 calories each (66 calories if you omit chocolate chips).
4-Ingredient Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies — These cookies are a new favorite and are super soft, very moist, extremely chewy, and packed with rich peanut butter flavor.
Easy Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce — Look no further from this FAST and EASY recipe for authentic-tasting Thai chicken satay. The chicken is so tender and juicy and there’s plenty of homemade PEANUT SAUCE to dip it into!
Better Than Anything Peanut Butter Cake — This Peanut Butter Cake is a super easy poke cake recipe. It’s packed with peanut butter flavor and topped with a mix of peanut butter chips and peanut butter cups. Poke cakes don’t get tastier than this!
Slow Cooker Thai Peanut Chicken — This chicken is coated in the most incredible peanut sauce. Serve it over rice for an easy meal, and garnish with green onions and extra peanuts for added crunch!
Peanut Butter Brookies — A soft and chewy peanut butter cookie base with a rich fudgy brownie recipe on top!
Did you know I wrote a cookbook that includes 100 recipes that all contain peanut butter? It’s called Peanut Butter Comfort. Included are 25+ recipes for homemade peanut butter variations
bonjour
je ne suis jamais réussi à rendre les cacahuètes(arachides) en pâte ou en purée crémeuse , ou est le problème ???? merci a l’avance
While I agree that homemade peanut butter tastes fabulous, peanuts are expensive! Am I buying them in the wrong place? Where does everyone get theirs?
I get 1 lb for 2.99 at Trader Joe’s.
Ok thank you.
Hi Averie!
This is weird, I don’t know you, but I love you! Thank you so much for the home-made peanut butter recipe!! It is absolutely fabulous and simple.
I just made it this morning for the first time, since I’m unemployed at the moment and I’m playing Susie Homemaker and trying all sorts of recipes with items I can afford. I will never buy store peanut butter again.
Quick, easy and fun to make. Unsalted, dry roasted peanuts and around 2 tablespoons of honey. I am so amazed at myself right now! hehehe
Anyway, thanks and keep those ideas coming.
Susan
Well I am thrilled that you’re so happy with the recipe and method! Just so you know, I still do bake cookies and bars with storebought PB. Some people have good luck baking with homemade while others don’t so for uniformity sake with readers, I bake with Jif so the results can be duplicated. But for eating and not baking, homemade ALWAYS!
When I moved to Italy 4 years ago, I found that peanut butter was unavailable and unheard of. I first bought roasted peanuts, shelled them and ground them with a mortar and pestle! A lot of work, but worth it. Then I found that a coffee grinder works well. I just add a bit of olive oil after grinding, No need to refrigerate because it’s gone in a few days. I spread it on top of my home-made gluten and sugar-free chestnut flour banana cake for breakfast. Scrumptious!
Doing a single serving in a coffee grinder is such a good idea! Great thinking and tip. I need to try that!
wondering, I love this store bought peanut butter by planters its called nutrion and has granola, banana and raisins. I should be able to add these things to my own peanut butter wouldn’t you think or are these things that will not stay mixed well?
Granola and raisins, fine. Banana – I would use banana extract since the thought of an actual banana in PB is not great after a day…it would turn brown and be a recipe for a bacterial breeding grounds as the banana continues to ripen (rot) inside the PB.
Is there any possible way to make a home made Goober’s peanut butter / grape jelly? I love that more than the original peanut butters without jelly.
I’ve never had it so I don’t know what it tastes like. Do you have a link to it?
This homemade peanut butter would be great with the sandwich spread my grandmother taught me to make. Take peanut butter, stir in some apple butter and a little cream cheese. Add raisins to taste and blend well. Makes a great sandwich filler.
I just made this using Roasted Almonds w/ no added salt. I used my food processor, but it took a bit longer than 5 min. It seemed to turn the Almonds more into an almond meal than a butter, it started to get caked down under the blade and when i broke it apart, it seemed to feel more like a pie crust (which Im sure would be yummy). I used about a teaspoon and a half of coconut oil to fix it. Came out super yummy!!! So excited to have homemade almond butter, have been wanting to make it for a long time…now that I know how easy it is, ill never buy it again!
Thanks!!!
Funny you should write and say this about making AB. I just made some sunflower seed butter and have a post going out about it next week. It takes much longer than 5 mins for AB as well as for SFSB and b/c neither almonds nor sunflower seeds have as much natural oil as peanuts, adding a few drizzles of oil may be necessary. Not always, but sometimes, in some machines, with some nuts/seeds. So glad you have your homemade AB now! Sounds wonderful with coconut oil!
This is a great “tutorial”. I have not tried doing peanuts, but will. I have, however, recently made almond butter. It came out pretty good with the addition of a little olive oil. It was also more grainy than store-bought, but maybe I didn’t process long enough. After that batch, I tried it with those cocoa almonds. Delish!
Peanuts are easier to turn into nut butter than almonds b/c they’re a softer nut and a bit oilier so you likely won’t need any oil and will have a much easier time than you did with the almonds. Lmk if you try!