Last Updated on February 5, 2023 by Michelle
Homemade, all-natural, super-easy Maple Peanut Butter. Oh my goodness. . . it doesn’t get any more amazing than this in my kitchen, y’all. . . You definitely wanna keep reading. This post may change your life.
Well, okay this page may just look average to you. But to me? This information right here? Lighting up your screen? It’s the creme de la creme of wonderful uses of maple syrup.
What was I doing wrong?
But this recipe—maybe the simplest recipe you’ll ever find on the pages of this site—almost never became a blog post. I’ve recently shared amazing maple freezer biscuits with y’all. And I shared a fun fb live last week all about making some beautiful maple shortbread and maple sugar cookies. But I struggled over this simple little peanut butter recipe for six months, folks. I just couldn’t get it right. I think I was roasting my peanuts just a tiny bit too hot or just a weeny bit too long.
Bixby didn’t mind. He was the recipient of glorious dried peanut butter sprinkles on his food time and again, because my peanut butter kept drying out. But once I finally accomplished peanut amazingness in my food processor, I decided I will never need to buy peanut butter again folks. I’m not kidding. If a woman could marry mashed plant seeds, and if I wasn’t already married to the nut of my dreams (see what I did there?), well I’d elope with this deliciousness right here on my counter.
By the way, this post contains affiliate links to the products I use and love.
If you’d like to know more about my shortbread mold that I adore, here’s a similar one.
Why do I love this group?
Before I get into the ultra-simple, super-yummy recipe, I have to give credit where credit is due. A reader in Northeast Ohio, Cindy Kuhns, reached out when I pleaded for help on the Maple Syrup Making facebook page.
If you’re not a member of our maple-infused group, you are totally missing out on fabulously sweet info, not only about tapping trees but about using maple syrup and maple sugar in the kitchen. Go here to sign up to be a part of this amazing group.
So Cindy came to my rescue, from the corner of Ohio, when I asked what on earth I was doing wrong that made my peanut butter always turn dry and crumbly within a few hours, if indeed it was slightly creamy at all. She and I talked it over and a lightbulb went off for me.
Six months of trying this, and I had always been roasting the peanuts too hot or too long. Geez. Talk about continual failures… but no more folks.
I now hold the secret to Maple Peanut Butter perfection. And because I like you–and always love converting one more person to an all-natural maple addiction right along with me–I am gonna share the details with you.
Read on, or if you’d like to see this in action–turning from nuts, to crumble, to cream–scroll to the live youtube video below. And click any image below for more information on the products I love that I mention here…
What’s in homemade maple peanut butter?
3 cups (16 oz) peanuts (These are the ones I use.)
3 TB maple syrup (This right here is one of the best.)
Seriously. That’s it.
Roast peanuts on a cookie tray in a 250°F oven for 20 minutes. (Heating the nuts draws out the oils.) OR keep reading for an alternative option that doesn’t require the oven at all.
Simply spread the peanuts (yes, unshelled) in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake on a middle rack of the oven.
Immediately, while the peanuts are still warm, use a food processor to cream them. It may take a good while to get a creamy consistency, but don’t give up. Also, if your food processor is extra large (like mine), you could double this recipe. (I also have this smaller food processor if I ever want to do a smaller batch.)
Once you have a creamy peanut butter, add 1 tablespoon of maple syrup for every 1 cup of peanuts that you started with and mix it in. Watch the magic, and find out exactly when to add your syrup (and why!) in this live video right here.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for many weeks. At least I think. I haven’t tested this theory. I’m pretty sure this stuff will always be gone in a heartbeat in our house. (A half a heartbeat if I decide to share it with my family.)
What’s the easiest way to make extra creamy peanut butter?
I had to edit this article after I discovered THIS.
While this recipe is easy enough, it became exponentially easier for me to make extra-creamy, homemade peanut butter when I upgraded my food processor to this beast of a high-powered blender.
Suddenly it’s no longer necessary to heat my peanuts. I just toss them in, cold, straight out of the container, and in just a minute or two (about 1/10th of the time it took to blend in the food processor) I have amazingly creamy peanut butter. I can even make about 4 times as much in one swoop.
I can’t say enough about this blender, which I use almost daily for our smoothies as well as everything else blending related in the kitchen.
What kinda nuts & syrup do I use?
I’m sure you can try all kinds of nuts for different tastes, but I keep it simple (and cost-effective) and get the giant Planters Peanuts. That link is the best price I can find for giant-sized. They’re the standard Planters nuts that you can buy in any old grocery store, but in bulk you should save a little money. And one 56 oz giant can will make 4 rounds of this recipe.
So the total cost using the peanuts and syrup I linked to above is $3.62 in nuts. (I have Amazon Prime, so I don’t have to pay shipping. And you can snag a free trial of Amazon Prime!) And 60 cents in syrup if you buy from my favorite sugar house to buy maple goodness from.
If you like to bake with maple like I do and want to purchase it at a bulk price, choose Tim’s XXL size right here. This bulk syrup price is the best I’ve found, and bonus, it’s crazy yummy to boot! Use code SOULYRESTED and enjoy a free tub of cotton candy ($5.99 value) if you spend $50 or more–purchase maple cream, maple sugar, maple syrup, or any of Tim’s all-natural goodness.
You can also try out this fun syrup sampler. If you’re looking for the coolest maple syrup gift ever, check out this limited-edition bourbon barrel aged maple syrup. (It’s even wood-fired!)
If you’d like to try your hand at making your own syrup (I highly recommend this option!), start here.
For a grand total of $4.22 folks you can make the most amazing tasting, 100% all-natural peanut butter ever. And thanks to what I learned with the hundreds of dollars I wasted used to make special treats for Bixby, you will have a perfect jar of peanut better on your first try.
And you’ll have a new addiction.
Sorry about that part.
How’s it different than store bought?
While this peanut butter is the most deliciousness I have ever had, I should warn you, no matter how high tech your food processor is (I have this one & love it) or how long you let it blend, you will never have a creamy texture like the jar you can buy at the grocery store, you know, the one with fully hydrogenated soybean oils? But it is wonderfully spreadable and thoroughly delicious, not to mention completely and totally all-naturally good.
The amounts listed above will yield roughly 16 ounces (or 2 cups) of peanut butter. Feel free to increase the amounts, just always adding in 1 tablespoon of syrup at the end for every 1 cup of peanuts. (make sure you watch the video for the full scoop on when to add the maple and why.)
Tonight I’m gonna slather my homemade maple peanut butter on a piece of maple sourdough bread–fermented goodness with all-natural creaminess–and enjoy a guiltless dessert.
Then guess what? I’m pretty sure I’ll have the exact same thing for breakfast in the morning.
If you’d like behind-the-scene insight, go here for step-by-step directions on how to make syrup, and grab a copy of my book, Sweet Maple, or my course, Making Maple Sugar, if you want to know every detail about all things maple. Remember to snag the $75 worth of bonuses that come with Sweet Maple (see the list of bonuses here) & take advantage of the $53 worth of special bonuses that come with my maple sugar course as well. (See that list here.)
Listen in to More About my Blender
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:14
Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschooling, to chicken care, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.
Find out why SoulyRested was considered to be one of the Top 20 Must-Read Homesteading Blogs of 2018 and then one of the Top Homesteading Blogs of 2019 as well.
Wanna know the secret to baking with maple syrup? Lehman’s asked me to write about that–and why sugarmaking is one of my all-time favorite things to do as a family–over on the blog for that amazing homesteader’s superstore. Check it out here.
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And, ummmm, have you printed the a-MAAHZ-ingly delicious Maple Chocolate Chip cookie recipe I just downloaded there last week?
Dan and I would be glad to be taste-testers for you!