Peanut butter is one of those things you buy in the grocery store and don’t give a second thought. You probably never considered making it yourself. Maybe you use those fresh peanut butter machines where they grind the peanuts right in front of you, but I’ve never been happy with the gritty texture. For really good peanut butter you need a dash of salt, a touch of oil, and a little sweetener (I use honey). Those machines don’t add these critical ingredients for you. Here is a very easy recipe that will take you just five minutes at home and taste way better.

I made this peanut butter because I mistakenly bought a 16 oz bag of peanuts the last three times I’ve made Pad Thai. We have a lot of peanuts in our pantry and not much use for them. We just ran out of our store-bought stuff (our toddler eats a lot of nut butter – it didn’t take long) so I figure I may as well give it a whirl, literally. Here I am eating the most delicious peanut butter I’ve ever tasted wondering why it took me so long to make it on my own, ignoring the fact that my pants are getting tighter by the minute. Give this a try, you won’t regret it.

*The original source of this recipe is Alton Brown from the Food Network. It can be found here.

Homemade Peanut Butter

Ingredients
16 oz roasted unsalted peanuts
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp honey
1 1/2 tbsp peanut oil*

*or any neutral oil such as canola

Directions
Place the peanuts, salt and honey into the bowl of a food processor. Process for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Place the lid back on and continue to process while slowly drizzling in the oil and process until the mixture is smooth, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Place the peanut butter in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.