Two days ago, I tried my hand at making homemade peanut butter. Being from Sweden, I did not grow up with peanut butter, but tried it first at age 6 while in the US, and have never looked back. I always used to eat Skippy Creamy PB, but in the last few years have switched to natural peanut butter. I like natural peanut butter for the better peanut taste as well as for the lack of additives and preservatives. Adam and I usually buy the creamy and salted peanut butter from Trader Joe's and we go through it quite quickly. I found a recipe on another blog (adapted from Alton Brown's recipe) and have tweaked it again myself:

15 oz. Roasted, Unsalted Peanuts
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
1 1/2 tbs. Honey
2 tbs. Grapeseed Oil

Place a quarter of the peanuts in a food processor and begin to process until almost smooth. Add the rest of the peanuts in quarter portions in order to get a smoother finish. When peanuts are beginning to form a "dough", add the salt and honey. Process until well blended. While running the food processor, add the oil one tablespoon at a time. Run for another minute, or until the peanut butter has your favored consistency. Add more salt or honey to taste.

The flavor turns out great - it definitely tastes more like peanuts than store-bought PB. This recipe makes a stiffer, coarser peanut butter than most store-bought PBs. As for the ingredients, you can decide what to include. I chose grapeseed oil because it's heart-healthy as compared to palm oil, which is what Skippy uses in their Natural Peanut Butter. An added benefit is that you can control the amount of sodium you consume per serving. I figured out that my homemade peanut butter has 60.95mg/serving, whereas Trader Joe's PB has 130mg/serving and Skippy has 150mg/serving.

I have tried to calculate the calories per gram in my peanut butter versus the kind we buy from Trader Joe's. It looks like my product actually has 0.30 more calories/gram (6.24cal/g vs. 5.94cal/g), so it's not a big difference, but I have to admit that, in terms of calories, it is not healthier than store-bought natural peanut butter. I also ended up buying peanuts from Trader Joe's, but there has to be a better source of cheap, good quality peanuts out there. If I keep buying the Trader Joe's roasted, unsalted peanuts, the cost of making my own PB will actually be slightly higher than buying the Trader Joe's jars. However, because the homemade variety is much thicker and heavier, I don't think we will end up using as much per serving, so it may last longer.

I will definitely keep making my own PB, and not just because I like playing with the food processor. The benefits are enormous - it's super quick and easy to make, and you have complete control of the ingredients. No weird preservatives or additives, no over-oiling...and it's especially great for anyone with PBJ addicts in their household. My personal PBJ addict gave the homemade version two thumbs up!