Do you want to know how to make healthy peanut butter at home?
So keep reading, and I will tell you how to turn only one ingredient into a creamy smooth homemade spread in just a few minutes.
Table of contents
Are you a peanut butter fan? Undoubtedly we are all in love with this popular breakfast spread that can be used in so many ways.
Not only can you eat this vegan and gluten-free staple item by itself or on toast but also make delicious homemade peanut butter cookies.
Ingredients for Healthy Peanut Butter
So let me show you my tips to make delicious sugar-free peanut butter at home with only one ingredient: peanuts.
While all you need to make peanut butter is peanuts, there are a few tips and tricks to turn the precious nuts into a creamy, smooth spread.
First, the choice of peanuts matters.
- Use roasted peanuts rather than raw. Roasted nuts release their oil better. Therefore your spread will be smoother, easier to spread on toast, and it will have a deeper flavor.
- Roast them yourself. This gives you control over time and temperature. It should be noted that peanuts keep more nutrients if roasted below 350°F (180°C). So, buy raw peanuts, skin-on, and roast them at low temperatures (320°F to 350°F or 160°C to 180°C) for a maximum of 10 minutes. They will release their oil and keep most of their nutrients.
- Keep some peanuts with their skins! The skin adds an even deeper nut flavor and a lovely light brown color to your spread. However, if you keep all the skin from your batch of roasted peanuts, it will get very difficult to process. So remove the skin of roughly half the nuts.
How To Make Healthy Peanut Butter At Home
Below you can see the huge color difference between homemade peanut butter made with roasted peanuts with no skin (left) and roasted peanuts with their skin on (right).
Picking the right equipment
Next, make sure you have the right equipment to turn your nuts into nut butter. There are two options.
1 . Blender. Clearly, not all blenders can crush peanuts into butter. You must have a professional blender with a square base and a stick that helps to move the nuts in the jug. Luckily, my blender creates smooth peanut butter in less than 2 minutes.
2. Food processor. The good news is that most food processors can create smooth nut butter! However, there is one main rule to stick to. You must add enough peanuts to fully cover the blade or it won’t blend properly.
Usually, you need 4 cups of nuts for a large food processor bowl. Note that 4 cups of peanuts give about 2 cups of peanut butter. As you can see below, the longer you process the nuts, the smoother it gets.
Adding some flavors
You don’t need to add flavor to your peanut spread. A pinch of salt might be all that’s needed for a perfect taste.
However, if you really fancy some flavors, you can add a liquid sweetener such as maple syrup or honey or cocoa powder, but you must know that this will dry out the spread.
Therefore, you will need to balance the texture with the addition of oil or you will lose the smooth texture.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Flavored Peanut Butter Are Tasty?
So if you love a boost of flavor to your spread, I recommend adding chocolate or cinnamon.
Is Peanut Butter Good For You?
Natural Peanut Butter is excellent for your health as it might help against heart disease, cholesterol, diabetes, and even cancer.
However, any peanut butter with added sugar and added oil is to be avoided.
Does Peanut Butter Make You Fat?
No, a moderate intake of peanut butter is unlikely to make you fat. In fact, weight gain is in most cases associated with too many calories. It’s not related to only the fat or only the carbohydrates that you eat.
Can I Make Almond Butter With This Recipe?
Yes, this recipe works the same to make almond butter or cashew butter.
Do I Need To Refrigerate Peanut Butter?
No, there’s no need to keep peanut butter in the refrigerator.
Is Peanut Butter Healthy?
Unfortunately, most store-bought versions have many additives, starting with sugar, oil, or preservatives, and therefore they are not particularly healthy, and they are not low-carb.
Manufacturers add sugar for two reasons. First, sugar makes you want to come for more, and therefore sugar-loaded peanut butter is consumed in greater amounts.
Second, because sugar is much cheaper and therefore adding sugar reduces the cost of a peanut butter jar, increasing profit or reducing the price that customers pay.
You can find some natural peanut butter in stores, but it’s so easy to make yourself that you have to wonder why you would buy it!
What Are The Health Risks of Peanut Butter?
Despite all these benefits, there are some potential risks with peanut butter:
Peanut Allergy: if you are allergic to peanuts in particular if you are coeliac, it’s obviously dangerous to consume peanut butter.
Mineral Deficiency: the high phosphorus content of peanut butter can lead to zinc and iron deficiency.
These risks are easily managed by consuming peanut butter in moderation.
What Are The Health Benefits of Natural Peanut Butter?
Whether you buy your peanut butter from the store or make it yourself, it is a good source of many essential vitamins and minerals (Calcium, Iron, Potassium, Vitamin E, Vitamin B6, Magnesium, Manganese, and Zinc.
All these may contribute to the following health benefits:
– Lowering Risk of Heart Disease: due to the antioxidants in peanut butter. One serving a day can decrease the risk of heart disease by up to 44% (source)
– Maintain good cholesterol and blood pressure: due to the presence of oleic acid.
– Reduced risk of diabetes: also due to the oleic acid that reduces insulin resistance.
– Cancer-fighting properties: antioxidants like Vitamin E, Vitamin B, and Manganese are thought to prevent cell damage.
– Weight controlling properties: the intake of healthy fats in peanut butter is linked to lower weight gain and even weight loss when well controlled.
Healthy Recipes With Peanut Butter
Here are some of my best recipes to use with your homemade spread. For all my Peanut Butter Recipes, browse my Peanut Butter Recipes.
Keto Peanut Butter Cups
Keto Peanut Butter Pie
No-bake Peanut Butter Bars
Keto Protein Balls
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Homemade Peanut Butter
4gNet Carbs
How to make sugar-free peanut butter in your food processor in only 5 minutes with only natural ingredients. A step-by-step video tutorial and 2 flavors of peanut butter: dark chocolate peanut butter and cinnamon peanut butter.
Author: Carine Claudepierre
Prep: 5 minutes mins
Total: 5 minutes mins
Yield: 20 servings
Serving Size: 1 serving
4.97 from 158 votes
Ingredients
US Customary – Metric
Natural Unsalted Peanut Butter
- 4 cups Raw Peanuts skin on, unroasted, unsalted
- 1 pinch Salt (optional)
Cinnamon flavor
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
Chocolate flavor
- 2 tablespoon Melted dark chocolate
This recipe may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Instructions
Roast the Raw Peanuts (skin on)
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spread the raw peanuts onto a baking sheet and roast them for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden and glossy- you will spot some oil coming out of the peanuts.
Transfer the roasted peanuts onto a towel, rub until the skin of half the peanuts has been removed. The more skin you keep, the deeper the nutty flavor will be. I recommend rubbing off the skin of at least 2 cups of roasted peanuts to make sure it blends easily. The more skin you keep, the more difficult it is to blend into butter.
Process 1 minute – Total: 1 minute
Process at high speed until the peanuts form a ground texture – about 1 minute. If the nuts are still warm it will go even faster.Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Now the nuts look like thick dry ground.
Process 1 extra minute – Total: 2 minutes
Process for 1 more minute at high speed.Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl. Now, your peanut butter starts to come together, forming a sort of butter but still dry and thick, almost there!
Process 1 minute again – Total: 3 minutes
Process for 1 more minute at high speed. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl as before. Now, the butter is shiny/glossy, soft but still thick.
Process 1 last minute (or so) – Total: 5 minutes
Process for a few more minutes – usually less than 2 minutes. Now the peanut butter is forming! It is super smooth, lukewarm, glossy, and ready to spread on toast or to use in the next flavored peanut butter recipes. You should obtain 2 cups of natural unsalted peanut butter with this recipe.
Flavor
Stir the flavor a the end if desired.
Notes
Peanuts choice: For a faster recipe, you can buy roasted peanuts without skin. I love to use raw peanuts with skin on them and roast them myself. I only remove half the skin from my roasted peanuts to keep extra fiber, and it also adds an extra nutty flavor to the spread.
Quantity: Note that 4 cups of peanuts create 2 cups of peanut butter.
The nutrition panel is for one serving of homemade peanut butter. This recipe makes 2 cups of smooth peanut butter, 60 servings. One serving is 10g (about 1 tablespoon).
Storage Instructions
You can store your homemade natural peanut butter in a glass-sealed jar or airtight container in the pantry for up to 3 months.
If separation occurs and oil appears on the top, give it a good stir.
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NutritionServing Size: 1 serving
Yield: 20 servings
Nutrition
Serving: 1 servingCalories: 170.8 kcal (9%)Carbohydrates: 6.3 g (2%)Fiber: 2.3 g (10%)Net Carbs: 4 gProtein: 6.9 g (14%)Fat: 14.5 g (22%)Saturated Fat: 2 g (13%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 4.6 gMonounsaturated Fat: 7.2 gSodium: 3.7 mgPotassium: 192.1 mg (5%)Sugar: 1.2 g (1%)Calcium: 15.8 mg (2%)Iron: 0.7 mg (4%)Magnesium: 51.4 mg (13%)Zinc: 1 mg (7%)
About The Author
Carine Claudepierre
Hi, I'm Carine, the food blogger, author, recipe developer, published author of a cookbook and many ebooks, and founder of Sweet As Honey.
I have an Accredited Certificate in Nutrition and Wellness obtained in 2014 from Well College Global (formerly Cadence Health). I'm passionate about sharing all my easy and tasty recipes that are both delicious and healthy. My expertise in the field comes from my background in chemistry and years of following a keto low-carb diet. But I'm also well versed in vegetarian and vegan cooking since my husband is vegan.
I now eat a more balanced diet where I alternate between keto and a Mediterranean Diet
Cooking and Baking is my true passion. In fact, I only share a small portion of my recipes on Sweet As Honey. Most of them are eaten by my husband and my two kids before I have time to take any pictures!
All my recipes are at least triple tested to make sure they work and I take pride in keeping them as accurate as possible.
Browse all my recipes with my Recipe Index.
I hope that you too find the recipes you love on Sweet As Honey!
