I decided to post some photos to show you how easy it is to make your own peanut butter.

I first made peanut butter last year when, alas, I ran out of my imported-from-Germany-or-America peanut butter. (Peanut butter is so expensive in Italy that I often brought a few jars back whenever I traveled to Germany or the States.)

Peanut butter is considered one of the less expensive sources of protein. (Did you know that peanuts are actually legumes, not nuts? So when it’s paired with a slice of whole grain bread, you’re eating a complementary protein of legumes and grains.). It’s also one of the quickest, ready-to-go sandwiches since most of us keep a handy-dandy jar of it in the kitchen cabinet. But in Italy, peanut butter is gold-plated!  I wonder if Nutella has a lock on the quick-and-easy bread spread market?

I was desperate for peanut butter one day last year and, decided to try to make my own. Peanuts are readily available here, and not very expensive…

So, without even researching the Internet, I just threw some peanuts into my processor…

…and gave it whirl. The very first time I made it, it creamed right up into honest-to-goodness peanut butter! Ever since then, however, it’s looked like this after a minute or two or processing…

A bit dry…but I experimented with adding a little peanut oil–1-2 tsp.–and after another minute of processing, it looked like this…

If you prefer your peanut butter even creamier, you can add a bit more oil. I add as little oil as necessary to make it spreadable–so as not to add unnecessary calories. If you prefer chunky-style peanut butter, I think you could just add more peanuts the end and then pulse them into the creamy peanut butter.

Once you’ve got peanut butter in your food processor, all that’s left to do, is to spread a little on a cracker to make sure it’s as tasty as it looks…and then transfer it to a jar.

Your own homemade peanut butter has no added sugar, and of course no preservatives. It probably keeps fine on a kitchen shelf, but I always store mine in the fridge to make sure it doesn’t go rancid or get moldy.

The only peanuts I can purchase locally are dry roasted and salted. I’d prefer to use less salt…but I’m glad I got my peanut butter! If I’d known it was this easy to make, I would have started making my own a long time ago! I like knowing that the ingredient list is only peanuts and a little peanut oil.

For additional recipes, please visit: http://ciaofromdebbie.com

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