Plight of Peanut Butter

Kitchen DIY’s generally attribute from two factors:

 1) Having ample amounts of time to recreate traditional condiments from scratch

 2) Finding new use for the Nutribullet. 

I uncharacteristically craved peanut butter and apple wedges as a pre-run snack.  (I am not a peanut butter fan in the slightest, generally I will opt for kale chips - however I am trying to cut back on my kale consumption as I believe I have become a fanatic/ate an entire bag in two days).  To my disappointment, there was no Jiff to be found, however upon further rummaging I found a quite large container of peanuts and decided I would pull out my trusted NutriBullet and create my own.  If only I could imagine the frustrating voyage I was about to embark upon.

Peanut butter contains five ingredients:

• Peanuts (c'mon)
• Oil (I think coconut oil would be good here)
• Honey
• Salt (did not add, the peanuts were salted)
• Cinnamon 

Just missing the cinnamon - whoops

Apparently the peanuts I used are the lazy mans way of home made peanut butter.  A real kitchen savant would roast, boil, and peel a humongous bag of nuts.  However I refuse to devote that much energy to a snack accompaniment I barely care for once a year.

**Preface:  The following directions are completely inaccurate and I suggest you do the opposite of what is illustrated below**

I am a proponet of 'winging it' in all facets, especially in the kitchen.  I figured two cups would suffice, and dumped them into the smaller NutriBullet mixing cup. (Turns out I was gravely mistaken).

DO NOT USE THIS MUCH IN A NUTRIBULLET, or probably with any small mixing tool

Add a liberal rationing of honey, and then a some 

Cinnamon 

To moisten the mixture, I poured in a little canola oil.   I felt nauseated at the idea of dumping oil with peanuts, honey, and cinnamon, and scoffed at the notion to add more. Turns out this is the most vital step to achieving homemade peanut butter, and I recommend you do not scoff at the oil.  

I didn't think dry mixtures blend well?  Oh well, lets continue regardless of logical thought

After pulsing the NutriBullet for what seemed like an eternity, the blades only chopped the peanuts at the absolute bottom; nothing else in the cup was coming close to indicating the blades were attempting to dice the mixture, let alone even running.  I became increasingly anxious that my attempt to create a mediocre snack would break my beloved NutriBullet, and thought,  "I have a food processor I can use instead!"

Once the (messy) transition was made, I added a little more oil and honey, and fired that baby up.  After processing an elapsed time of four minutes, I was beginning to see a concoction that slightly resembled peanut butter.  Unfortunately, food processors are not meant to run continuously for four minutes, and in result produced a terrifying electrical smell and ample amounts of smoke (thank God that wasn't happening in the NutriBullet).  Fear of kindling a moderate electric fire led me to accept this as the final product.  

Smoke not pictured

The frustration/ potential electrical fire 

Despite the mess, a destroyed food processor, and smoke, my apples were smothered with the best damn peanut butter I've ever had.  Two cups of peanuts yielded a generous portion, enough left over for a second serving.   I most likely will not attempt this plight again UNLESS someone lends me their food processor.  

-xx