How to Make Peanut Butter (a first attempt)

Peanut butter is one of my favourite foods. I eat it on toast, pancakes, and s'mores. It is a common North American food. It is a rare commodity in the rest of the world. Here in Guatemala, it is pricey and hard to find. So, I decided to try and make it myself. 

Step 1: Find "How to" websites.  
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Peanut-Butter

http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-make-peanut-butter

Step 2: Buy peanuts.

How much to buy? Your guess is as good as mine. 2 lbs peanuts in shells cost $2 in the market.

Step 3: Shell the peanuts.

1 lb of peanuts + 2 hours in the sun = lots of time to think and pray. A relaxing way to spend a Sunday.

Step 4: Roast the peanuts.
Well, before I could roast them I had to light the oven. It only took 3 matches. Then the peanuts closest to the flame roasted faster. All in all it took about 6-8 min for 2 cups of peanuts, just like one recipe said.

Before roasting

Oven is lit and ready to use.

After roasting. That's not burnt right?

Step 5: Blend.

Add some sugar, salt, and oil. Not olive oil. When the blender makes noise but you no longer hear peanuts spinning around, that does not mean it's mixing the peanut butter. Automatic reaction should be to stop the blender. If you do not have a strong food processor, do not put all the peanuts in at once. Maybe 1/4 c at a time.

Oops! Good thing the blender came with a spare.

Step 6: Finish. Since I left it flaky and crumbly, not as a paste, it needed to be finished (6 days later). Add more oil and sugar. One recipe says 1 1/2 tsp and 1 1/2 Tbsp. Which is right? The double recipe calls for 3 tsp, so I went the safe route and added 1 1/2 tsp. It needed more.

Step 7: Eat. Mmmmm. So far it goes well with bananas in a wrap. I expect it will go well with chocolate fudge on ice cream. It doesn't spread so well on toast, but that isn't going to stop me. After all, I have 2 cups of peanut butter to eat in the next week or 2 before it goes bad without preservatives.

Step 8: Repeat. I still have 1 lb of peanuts left. Maybe next time it will turn out even better. By the time I come home, I might be an expert. (Key word = might).

I hope this was informative and interesting. If you try your hand at making peanut butter, please let me know how it goes.