Growing up we all had our favorite lunch box sandwiches. I would always rush to get out of the house in the morning so I could sneak and see what mom had packed in my lunch box. It usually ranged from bologna with potato chips on them (I know, sounds weird, but I love it that way) to peanut butter and jelly. Of course I always found a fresh apple, banana or other fresh fruit tucked in there safely beneath the sandwich.
Now I was never a fan of peanut butter growing up. Heck, I didn’t even care for mom or grandma’s peanut butter cookies. I don’t know what it was, but I could always just go without anything with peanut butter. Well that was of course not totally true. I did love having a peanut butter sandwich one particular way. Dunked in a big bowl of Chili. Now for those of you who think that sounds totally wrong, you have to give it a try. I think it must be an Ohio thing. The reason I say that is that I have met many people in Florida since I moved here from Ohio and they all seem to have had and love this too. Really. Give it a try and you’ll be hooked.
I of course being from Ohio, I do make Buckeye’s every year during the holidays. They were always one of the few peanut butter treats that I did like growing up. So last Christmas when I was at the market buying peanut butter to make these delicious Ohio treats I took time to read the ingredients on a name brand and store brand peanut butter. I was rather shocked at the second ingredient being sugar. Then of course there were many things that I couldn’t pronounce nor knew what they were for. That’s when I decided that I should just make my own peanut butter. So I headed to the aisle with the nuts and found a large container of peanuts that were less expensive than that jar of peanut butter with mystery ingredients and laden with sugar.
Within 10 minutes of being home I had my own fresh peanut butter. Wow. It tasted so much better and like true peanuts. Now isn’t that why we like peanut butter anyways? Oh, and mine had only two ingredients, and neither one was sugar or a preservative. So the next time y’all want to use peanut butter in a recipe, make it yourself. It takes only a couple minutes and you’ll be rewarded with the best tasting peanut butter you’ve ever had.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup dry roasted peanuts
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil (you can use canola or vegetable oil too)
- Place peanuts in your food processor and pulse till small crumbles
- Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and pulse to combine and then lengthen your pulses to bring together.
- Continue to process until smooth. You may need to add the other tablespoon of oil or more if not creaming.
- You can add a 1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon or cocoa powder if you like for a different flavor.
- I’d store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week only. Remember there’s none of those nasty preservatives in there.
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