INGREDIENTS

-          2 cups raw, peanuts (skin removed)

-          1/2 tsp coarse  salt, add more if required

-          1-2 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil (for a creamier texture) optional

-          1-2 tbsp sugar, honey/maple syrup (sweet taste) optional

Step One: Roasting of peanuts (This step is optional and people, who love to have raw peanut butter, can skip this step)

Heat the oven to 180*C, place the peanuts on the baking tray and bake them till they turn golden brown – for about 8-10 mins. Roasted peanuts will give your deep buttery flavour, plus when you toast them the oil secretion helps to blend in well and the butter turns out to be much smoother.

Step Two: Grind them

Grind the peanuts while they are warm (do not use cold peanuts). Put these inside a grinder bowl with a blender attachment. You’ll have to see that you pulse it until they are nicely chopped.  (To add some chunkiness to your peanut butter, save a handful of chopped nuts and keep them aside)

Step Three: Process continues

Continue grinding the peanuts for a minute or so and stop in between to scrape out the nuts which get stuck on the bottom and walls of the processor. You will now see that the peanuts have started to look like sand.  Blend it again for a minute or so and it will start to assemble together, more like before.  Repeat the process, run the grinder again for more than 1-2 mins, and scrape it well. This time the peanuts will look more shiny and buttery, though they will be thick.

Step Four: Add ons

Drizzle some oil and sprinkle some salt on the mushy peanut butter. For a sweet taste, you can add some honey/maple syrup as well. Run the processor again for a couple of minutes and have a little taste to adjust the salt/sweetness. Once you feel the consistency is right, you can add the chopped peanuts to it and pulse again a couple of times for better incorporation.

Step Five: Storage

You can use it immediately or remove the peanut butter into a glass container and refrigerate it (can be stored for several weeks)

 Tip:

• Remember the portion that you wish to make. If you are taking 2.5cups of peanuts, you will get only 2 cups of peanut butter from it (half a cup less – due to the whole processing)
• There are many variations of peanut butter – you can add 1-2 tbsp of cocoa powder to it and enjoy some good chocolate peanut butter. Similarly, if you are a spice lover then adding some cinnamon or clove will give an extra twist. Kids do love some chocolate chunks in between their spread – add some chocolate chips to recreate the awesomeness or you can even use spoonfuls of Nutella to it. Experimenting is your choice!