Peanut butter was probably one of the most “American” foods which I was eager to try when I just came to the US. And one day I did. Since that time, our friendship with peanut butter has been growing stronger and stronger. Nutritious, quickly satiating, and easily combined with many favorite foods like banana, berries, celery, chocolate, it has firmly entered my plant-centric diet which I am incredibly grateful for.
There is no secret that it’s easy to find organic peanut butter without unnecessary ingredients at the grocery stores today. It’s convenient. But one day, I noticed that almost every our weekly shopping lists include some kind of nut butter. “I can probably make it myself,” – almost instantly appeared in my head. To satisfy my curiosity, I gave it a try. As I suspected, it did not take much time and effort. Homemade version actually happened to be more delicious than even favorite brands, and well, cheaper too. Now, when I have time, I always go for homemade peanut butter. And honestly, I would recommend giving it a try to every peanut butter lover. Just for fun!
There is an opinion that peanut butter should be sweet or salty, or something else. Frankly, real peanut butter, one that is good for health, contains a minimal amount of ingredients, one ingredient to be precise — roasted organic peanuts. You can add a little bit of sea salt or raw honey, or both to it, to create a more pronounced taste. I’m already used to not adding anything at all, because roasted peanuts, in my opinion, have a nice texture and are slightly sweet.
Okay, enough talking, it is the recipe time!
How To Make Peanut Butter + Our Favorite PB Treats
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry roasted organic peanuts clean, without husk. Wash them if necessary.
- Sea salt or raw honey optional
Instructions
- Place the peanuts in the bowl of a food processor or a powerful blender, and process for 3 to 4 minutes, until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Sometimes the process may take a little longer.
- If you want your peanut butter crunchy, make smooth butter first and then pulse another 1/2 cup of peanuts in a blender for a few seconds, then mix it together with your smooth butter.
- If you prefer peanut butter a little salty, added to the blender 1/2 tsp of sea salt at the final stage of processing. You can add some raw honey if you prefer it sweet.
- Store the peanut butter in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
***
Favorite PB Treats
Now time to share our little PB treats, some of them you can find in our freezer practically every day:)
1. Dates + Peanut Butter + Sea Salt (or one fresh raspberry, bee pollen, cacao nibs).
(10 dates)
Fill up pitted dates with ¼ tsp of peanut butter each, add a pinch of sea salt on the top and place in the freezer for 15 min before serving. Keep filled dates in the freezer.
2. Dried Figs + Peanut Butter + Sea Salt
(10 figs)
Cut upper part of each fig, make a hole and fill it up with ¼ tsp of peanut butter, add a pinch of sea salt or a fresh raspberry on the top and place in the freezer at least for 15 min before serving. Keep filled figs in the freezer.
3. Banana + Peanut Butter.
Classic. By the way, we like to make peanut butter banana sandwiches with seed crackers instead of regular bread.
4. 3-ingredient Chocolate Mousse.
(for two servings)
3 tbsp of cacao powder (unsweetened) + 2 small bananas (best frozen) + 2-3 tbsp of peanut butter. Process all ingredients in a blender and serve!
5. Fruit with some nut butter can be a great snack. Also every smoothie, green or fuity, will be more fulfilling with a spoon of peanut butter in it, the same is with chia pudding bowl.
*Don’t forget that a serving size of peanut butter (any other nut/seed butter) is about two tablespoons. It is also a strong allergen, so pay attention to your body reactions.
I wish you lots of fun in the kitchen!
I will be happy to hear about all your experiments!
Love, Zhenya
P.S.
Did you make this recipe?
Please, let us know how it turned out!
Leave a comment below or share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #lemonsqueezylife
Thank you so much for your time!?
0