Peanut Butter Recipes (or other nuts)
A couple of months ago, the longtime love of my life declared she would be buying a peanut butter-making machine if I didn't get her one for Christmas, her birthday or our anniversary (those being the fall Holy Trinity in our house, which is a full-frontal assault on my bank account).
Thinking quickly after eyeing my old and functional-but-insufficient Cuisinart Handy Prep food processor (3 cups on a good day), I recommended we get a gonzo food processor that could handle the job. She wins, and I win.
So there it sits, all wrapped up near, but too big to be under, the Christmas tree.
What are your recommended recipes for peanut butter, almond butter or others? (I'm dreaming of macadamia nut butter, owing to my ancient Hawai'ian heritage, but don't even know if such a thing exists. Then again, why shouldn't it? And hazelnuts? Nutella at home?)
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4 Comments:
If you're looking for recipes for making the nut butters, just grind the nuts until you have a paste. Add a little salt if you like. If you want crunchy peanut butter, I'd suggest pulsing the nuts first, to get the chunkiness you're after, take those out, put other nuts in to grind completely, then when that's a paste, mix the chunks and paste.
Commercial peanut butters often have added sugar, so if you like them sweet you could add some sugar or honey or maple syrup or whatever. If you're making it yourself you can play around with flavors that you like. Commercial peanut butters also have added oils and things to keep them emulsified, but I don't see any reason why you'd want to add that to homemade butters.
If you like really, really smooth peanut butters, you might have to stop a couple times and scrape down the sides of the container to make sure it's all getting nicely ground.
I'd suppose you could make a butter from pretty much any nut. I've had macadamia and cashew and almond butters. At the worst, you'd end up with a finely ground nut that you could use in a cookie recipe or something.
dbcurrie at 11:52AM on 12/14/08
The reason that so many people like Jiff and Skippy Natural is because they have molasses. Adding molasses might give the nuts some extra, natural depth and sweetness.
Honey would be an awesome add-in, adding honey roasted nuts, or using honey roasted nuts.
I would think using good nuts would be the best recipe--adding whole nuts after you had finished grinding might give some great texture.
Commercial nut butters I've seen have had chocolate, white chocolate, jams, and other stir-ins.
White chocolate macadamia nut butter might be fun to try.
I think making home nut butters sounds fantastic, and would make great gifts!
I've seen walnut and pecan nut butters at health food stores--very expensive, but since you're making your own, go crazy!
HeartofGlass at 1:01PM on 12/14/08
Thanks, dbcurrie and HeartofGlass -- it seems like making one's own nut butters is still a wide-open field with plenty of room for variation. I didn't know that commercial peanut butters add sugar -- yuk, and that must be the SO's reason for wanting to make her own. She's tight on sugar. Good to know. I also like the suggestion of removing some processed nuts ahead of time for "chunky" nut butters.
I'm going to figure out a home-made recipe for a Nutella-like spread. And yes, macadamia nut butter is high on the list.
TikiPundit at 8:02PM on 12/15/08
@TikiPundit- let us know how that Nutella thing works out, I'd like to give that a try- I love Nutella.
dmcavanagh at 11:18AM on 12/18/08