mmmm.. peanut butter

This all started with the brilliant idea to make a friend of mine a peanut butter themed gift basket for Christmas. The very first thing I wanted to put in there was a chocolate chip cookie dough peanut butter I had found on a trip to Lancaster, PA which I also had later found online. Well, that was a few years ago and could not be found anywhere on the internet now when I needed it and I wasn't about to travel to Pennsylvania! This is when I said I think I'll make my own.

I didn't realize that it only takes a few ingredients to make peanut butter..it's only peanuts and peanut oil. I went out to grab the stuff I needed for a test run and I guess I never bought peanut oil before because I was definitely shocked by the $16 a bottle price. I figured for the test run I'd use the vegetable oil I had at home, ya know, in case it didn't work out. This turned out to work marvelously because the oil in natural peanut butter usually separates and for some reason it doesn't when vegetable oil is used. The test run was a success.

recipe-

2 cups dry roasted peanuts (salted or unsalted could be used- I used salted)
5 tbsp. vegetable oil (take notice of the consistency, more or less can be added if desired)
3/4-1 tbsp. Sugar

I used my handy dandy ninja blender to first grind down the nuts. Add the oil, letting each tbsp. blend in at a time.

Once the consistency is where you'd like it, toss in the sugar and mix in. If you like a chunky peanut butter, toss in a few peanuts at the end and blend a little while.

Now that the basic peanut butter was done, it was time for the mix-ins..because plain peanut butter will never do. The 3 I made were...

chocolate covered strawberry (my favorite)- peanut butter layered with nutella and diced strawberries


triple threat- peanut butter with peanut butter chips and peanut butter sauce mixed in


cookie monster- peanut butter with peanut butter oreo's and reese's pb cup chips ahoy mixed in


After all 3 were prepared all that was left to do was jar them up, make some cute tags, and finish them off with some ribbon. They make such a thoughtful, homemade gift for any peanut butter lover.