Homemade Peanut Butter

Here’s something to get messy with, all you peanut butter lovers out there. Peanut butter is nothing more than roasted peanuts crushed into a paste. Try this at home and in time, you could come up with your own variation of this classic comfort food.

What you need:

• 1 cup roasted shelled peanuts
  
• 1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable or corn oil
• ¼ teaspoon salt (optional)
• Sugar (optional)
• Measuring cup and spoon
• Blender (for smooth peanut butter)
  
• Food processor or grinder (for chunky peanut butter)
  
• Jar for the finished product

TAKE NOTE! If you can’t find roasted shelled peanuts, but the roasted unshelled ones. Just shell them by taking off the red skin.

What you will do:

1. If you want chunky peanut butter, chop the peanuts in a food processor or grinder. If you want smooth or creamy peanut butter, chop the peanuts in a blender.
   
2. Add 1 tbsp to 2 tbsp of vegetable or corn oil, a bit at a time, and regrind or blend the mixture until it looks like spreadable peanut butter. This may take 3 to 4 minutes. You can use a rubber spatula to scrape the mixture form the sides of the container back into contact with the blade.
3. Add only a bit of sugar at a time until it tastes just right for you.
4. Homemade peanut butter contains no preservatives or chemical additives. Store your homemade peanut butter in a jar in the refrigerator. If the oil rises to the top, simply stir it back into the peanut butter before spreading.

This will yield about half a cup of creamy peanut butter and three-fourths cup of crunchy peanut butter.