Lately I've grown somewhat disenchanted with my beloved peanut butter. The issue I've been having is with the texture. It was too . . . smooth or fatty or something. I couldn't quite put my finger on it until I read this book called Make the Bread, Buy the Butter.* The author compares commercial peanut butter to Crisco.
Bingo. And gross.
She then went on to give a "recipe" for peanut butter, which was all of three ingredients (unsalted peanuts, neutral oil, and salt) and one direction (pulverize in a food processor). So OF COURSE I had to make it.
And now I really, really wish I hadn't.
Not because it was bad. Quite the opposite. The damned stuff is so good I can literally eat it with a spoon. I added a very small amount of maple syrup to it, because I do not enjoy peanut butter with no sweetening at all. I realized after the, uh, third spoonful (maybe fourth . . .) that it's so intensely peanut-y and delicious that I essentially made pureed peanut brittle.
I have no control around peanut brittle. None whatsoever. The combination of salt, sweet, and fat is much too addicting. The only thing that stops me from eating all the peanut brittle in my reach (whenever it comes within my reach, which is not often for this very reason) is the fact that it's so chewy and sticky my jaw starts to hurt after awhile.
But if it's in a paste form, like this homemade peanut butter? This does not bode well for my jeans.
* I straight-up loved this book. I don't really agree with all her conclusions about what's worth making at home and what isn't, but it was very, very fun to read.
I have the same problem with homemade almond and cashew butters...
ReplyDeleteThought to ponder: all those foods that are manufactured staples MUST have been good enough, and desired enough, so that manufacturers knew there was a huge market for them. Ergo, if a product is a staple, then probably the homemade version is amazingly good. So maybe the things one should make are the last things that one thinks of making--just as a general rule.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree about the book,which I looked at only briefly. It's well done indeed. Double recommendation.
We haven't yet tried peanut butter, though I've threatened to many times and I know it's stupid simple. I think you've motivated me to give it a shot this weekend :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I'll have to check out that book, hadn't heard of it.
Now I want the book and the peanut butter but not the tight jeans.
ReplyDeleteWay to go, Kristen. You've ruined me.