Our kids really had no opportunity NOT to love peanut butter.
It was hardwired through the umbilical cord on the inside, and when they broke out, it was oozing through their exclusive breast milk for 4-6 months before introducing peanut paste into their foods. Yes. I love it. And now, so do they.
As a high allergen food, it is important to introduce peanuts ASAP, before 12 months of age.
It is a healthy food option, high in protein, antioxidants, fibre, vitamins & good fats. However, the added salt, sugar & oils in the more affordable main stream bought options, push them more into the "occasional" food category of a healthy diet. You do pay for what you get of course.
I've tasted the health food & now some supermarkets "make your own" options. I have not loved them, although I am sure I gave up trying way to early. This also made me really skeptical about making it myself. I assumed it would taste too healthy to be nice!
Not being known for doing anything in the kitchen that involved too much effort, I was still motivated enough to try making our own peanut butter, that the kids and my husband would easily convert over to with no fuss. Why? Because the hardest part was finding raw unsalted nuts that were locally sourced. Once we had those, the rest was super easy.
If you LOVE peanut butter, please do give this a try.
You might be converted & feel more healthy for making the switch! If you can get a good local nut supplier for a good price, you will no doubt save some pennies on store bought. Plus, you get to control & know what goes into it!
Ingredients/Tools
- 400g raw unsalted peanuts.
- OPTIONAL: 2 pinches of pink salt.
- Oven with grill.
- Flat oven tray.
- Good blender/food processor.
Method
- Place nuts on flat oven tray, single layer.
- Toast under grill until they begin to toast. Give them a little toss to get all sides toasted. TIP: The longer they toast, the darker & more bitter your peanut butter will be. So a light toast, just when you can smell them, is best.
- When lightly toasted on one side, remove from oven & let cool.
- Remove all the nut skins & put nuts into the blender. If you have small humans around, this is a good step for them to "help", which as you would appreciate, is not always helpful, but lovely to have them interested & involved.
- Blend nuts until they form a nice oily looking paste. This may take 3-5 minutes depending on the quality & strength of your blender/food processor.
- OPTIONAL: Add the pinches of salt & keep blending for 30 more seconds. Note: you only need a little salt if you have over-toasted the nuts. We don't use salt at all, as we have finally mastered the light toasting stage.