Make It or Buy It: Peanut Butter

We go through a lot of peanut butter in our house. Our dogs love it, I like to eat peanut butter toast for breakfast, and I often make up big batches of uncrustable sandwiches. Whenever I find deals on peanut butter I make sure I stock up on it. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any deals lately which made me wonder about making my own. So this month I make my own for make it or buy it: peanut butter.

It is crazy easy to make your own peanut butter. All you need is peanuts, a food processor, and a little bit of salt. It takes about 5 minutes to whip up a fresh batch.

You need to start with 2 cups toasted peanuts. Put them in the food processor and turn it on low for one minute. After a minute stop and scrape down the sides of the food processor.

Turn back on the food processor on low for another two minutes stopping once to scrape the sides. The mix should now be looking a lot like peanut butter. Add a pinch or two of salt to the food processor and turn on low for one more minute.

You now have peanut butter. It makes about a cup and a half of peanut butter. You can store it in an airtight container and store in the fridge. The peanut butter will last for about one month.

So, how is homemade peanut butter and is it cheaper to make it or buy it? Peanut butter at my Aldi is usually around $.09 an ounce. I used about $1.24 worth of peanuts to make 12 ounces of peanut butter. So I saved about $.16 by making my own.

Would I make it again? Probably not. Although it only took a few minutes of my time and it was fun to make a new thing, I wasn't blown away by the taste. I guess I just love all the preservatives in my peanut butter. I couldn't taste a difference when I put the peanut butter in my uncrustables but on peanut butter toast I could taste a difference. The homemade peanut butter is just a little grainy and not quite as sweet.

Have you ever tried to make your own peanut butter? What did you think?

Make It or Buy It: Peanut Butter

2 cups peanuts
pinch of salt

Put peanuts in the food processor and turn it on low for one minute. After a minute stop and scrape down the sides of the food processor. Turn back on the food processor on low for another two minutes stopping once to scrape the sides. Add a pinch or two of salt to the food processor and turn on low for one more minute. You can store it in an airtight container and store in the fridge.