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.
Table of Contents
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.
Love this recipe?
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
I’ve made my own nut butters for years. I used to do it in the vita but the food processor is so much easier! My staples are PB, almond-cashew, or macadamia-cashew. I have also just thrown in other random mixes and they all turn out good. I’ve never had to add oil either when using the food processor. Love your ideas for add-ins–liqueur sounds very interesting. Have a relaxing 4th of July!
It’s hard to go wrong, isn’t it…when we’re talking homemade nut butters.
who knew it was so easy! i can’t wait to try this. goodbye to store bought pb forever!
xo
https://allykayler.blogspot.ca/
I’ve been reading you for quite a while and I love the way your photography gets better and better. The pictures were beautiful to start, but now they’re just too gorgeous!!! It must be a combination of other lenses/camera and more and more technique and experience I assume, but I just wanted to let you know I really admire it:)
Thanks, Denise, that’s the nicest comment! The camera body was upgraded a year ago (so for the last 14 mos or so, no change on that). I did buy a new 50mm lens about 2 mos ago and alternate between my 24-70mm & the new 50. However, many in this post were taken with the 24-70. I got a new table and it’s closer to my light source and that’s really helping, too. And new Lightroom 4 upgraded from 3. And PRACTICE!! That’s the most important thing :)
Yum! Looks fantastic!
This is how we have been making peanut butter for years, it works in the Vita also but it tends to over heat it so you have to be careful. Its the best!
Yes, I’ve tried in my Vita and you have to be super careful…that hot, almost overheating the machine, really intense sound it makes right before it goes into emergency shutoff…scares me! So I don’t make them in the Vita. Love that machine, but not for this.
I love that this doesn’t separate! And flavor with Baileys?! Mind blown!
Thanks – and yes, adult flavored AND that doesn’t separate…I am so happy :)
I think there is something about freshly-pressed natural peanut butter that makes it not separate. Because my all-natural smuckers separates like crazy while the freshly-pressed does not. It must mean that the natural smucker’s sits around a while before it is in my tummy!!!
I’ve noticed that even the “Natural” Skippy separates a tiny bit. Nothing like Marantha or some of the higher end natural varieties but interesting that your fresh-pressed homemade doesn’t separate either.
I never would have thought to make peanut butter with honey roasted peanuts! Clever! Oh what I could do with this recipe AND chocolate! Mmmm…
Have a great day! :D
Yes for sure – either melted choc or cocoa powder, depending on what you want to do to the consistency….so much fun to play around.
It’s pretty impressive that the food processor can do all that just with peanuts! I really do have to get my hands on a good quality processor.
It makes all the difference in the world!
I really love nut butters, I have always added oil to mine. I am thinking of trying it without now. Thanks Averie!
LMK if you try it without and what, if anything, you notice as the difference.
Oh my gosh, I’ve made this peanut butter before. It.is.AMAZING. Hands down the best peanut butter you will ever eat, when made with honey roasted peanuts. So, so good.
You’ve got that right!
I have made my own nut butter, but it never seemed to get as smooth as I like it. I kept processing it and processing it some more and there always seemed to be a bit of grit. My favorite store-bought pb is the dark chocolate dreams from PB&Co. Sooo good!
It could have to do with your machine or maybe the peanuts themselves..this got pretty darn smooth!
I’ll have to give it another try!
Ohh my that might just be the best looking peanut butter I’ve ever seen! And I just adore that little jar, cute! :)
Last summer I made about 60 jars of homemade white chocolate peanut butter to sell at Vida Vegan Con. They were a HUGE hit, but I was so burned out by the process that I haven’t made PB at home since. Time to get back to it!
60 jars?!! I also seem to recall you telling me when I was going thru my pepper jelly canning phase that you canned like 50 jars of it (or of some jelly) and were literally pulling out jars from 2005 or similar. But regardless, that white choc PB sounds great and if you have a link to it, LMK!
I adore making homemade PB, and any nut butter for that matter. So much better to make things like this at home. And usually cheaper too!
Glad you’re on the homemade bandwagon, to…yes…to better and usually cheaper!
why have i never made pb before myself? i’m excited for your epic giveaway!