Homemade Roasted Maple Peanut Butter

Hannah Sunderani
Aug 9, 2016
4 min read

Peanut butter is to Canadians what nutella is to France. A kitchen staple deemed worthy of being a complete meal, with nothing but the aid of a spoon. But, unfortunately it's near impossible to find this prized possession in France! You might remember when I first arrived to France I dedicated an entire blog post to my struggle finding kitchen staples; including beloved peanut butter. Fortunately I was able to find a brand in one of the specialty stores that ticked all the boxes: delicious and creamy with a smack-the-roof-of-your-mouth texture essential to any reputable PB spread. However, this rare commodity has been costing me a pretty penny! I'm talking 26 euros for 1kg...And so making my own peanut butter has been a vital alternative for avoiding bankruptcy. After all, 1kg of peanuts at the grocery store only costs 6 euros! It was a no brainer.

Since peanut butter is so widely available in Canada I had never taken the time to try and make my own. In fact, I had never considered the process that goes into making peanut butter at all! And the thought of making it myself felt a little daunting... Little did I know I was in for a BIG treat! There is no more rewarding a feeling than scooping up a spoonful of peanut butter that YOU made. It has this old-world feel that takes us back to basics with an outcome more delicious, richer, and creamer than store bought. Similar to making homemade almond milk, or homemade tomato sauce the extra ingredients of love and care are just not available when store bought.

I'm sure that in the olden days it was much harder to make your own spreads, and could very well be the reason why store bought versions came to be the norm. The thought of getting out a mortar and pestle and pounding peanuts for hours, working them over to release theirs oils, and then continuing to stir and turn until you had a creamy gooey spread sounds exhausting! Who wouldn't want to leave it to Kraft Foods!? But today, we have our trusty food processors to turn to! Which really acts as the angle of our kitchen; turning the impossible into possible, and creating beautiful homemade peanut butter for us to indulge in!

So I decided to get out my food processor and try it for myself. And to be honest, there was a lot of trial and error that went into the process of perfecting homemade PB. Since I had never made it myself I didn't really know what I was doing! And so it took me a few tries: hovering over the food processor, opening the lid, tasting, adding oil, reblending etc. But from this process I learned the best lesson of all: Peanut butter likes to be neglected! And it must be one of the only recipes in the world where the less attention you devote the better the outcome! What I mean by this is that the only requirements to perfecting homemade peanut butter is time and patience. The longer you blend the peanuts, the better the outcome. And in a (pea) nutshell, here's what you'll see: First the nuts will become finely chopped, then after some time it will turn into a powdery substance, then it will become doughy, and finally it will turn into a smooth and creamy, ooey-gooey spread! So the number one rule is to watch patiently as those peanuts transform.

This Homemade Roasted Maple Peanut Butter was the end results of that very process! In addition to adding a few ingredients along the way, like maple and cinnamon, to make it gourmet! You won't believe how easy it was to transform this traditional recipe into something so decadent. First, I roasted the peanuts to give it a deeper flavour, and added cinnamon and maple syrup halfway through the blending process. But, you could also try adding ginger and honey instead, or cocoa powder and dates. This is another thing I love about homemade peanut butter: the possibilities of turning it into something so gourmet and original are endless! But if you prefer the traditional version merely skip the roasting and additional ingredients. Instead, simply add the peanuts, salt and coconut oil to the processor and blend away. However you choose to create, this comforting recipe is sure to bring you back to the old-world roots of homemade perfection!

Roasted Maple Peanut Butter

Makes: Approx. 4-5 ounces| Prep Time: 10-15 mins | Cook Time: 10-12 mins

Ingredients:

1 cup raw peanuts (shells removed)
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp maple syrup (or to taste)
pinch cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350C. Line baking tray with tin foil and spread peanuts onto tray. Roast for approx. 10 minutes, or until golden in colour.
Toss roasted peanuts into food processor and pulse until peanuts become a powder like substance (approx. 1 minute). Melt 1 tbsp coconut oil and add to the peanut mix.
Blend peanuts in food processor again until it becomes a dough-like texture. Next, add your sea salt, maple syrup and cinnamon.
Continue processing peanuts stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides, and to add more maple syrup if desired. Process until peanut butter becomes very smooth and creamy in texture.

*If you prefer to make Classic Peanut Butter skip Step 1, and remove the addition of maple syrup and cinnamon in Step 3.

Approvals: