Homemade peanut butter that’s quick and easy

By Sara NoelUnited MediaAdd peanut butter to your list of things to make yourself. It#146;s natural, quick and easy. If you make your own fruit preserves and bread, the homemade peanut butter will complete a sandwich taste sensation. You can also bundle the trio to give as a homemade gift during the holiday season. Don#146;t make jam or bread? You#146;ll still love this peanut butter as a delicious spread to keep for yourself.

For smooth homemade peanut butter: Mix 1frac12; cups unsalted roasted peanuts with 1 tablespoon peanut oil and pour the mixture into the food processor. Process the mixture until it#146;s smooth. Store your smooth peanut butter in a sealed container in the fridge. It makes 12, 2-tablespoons servings and will be good for two weeks.

For chunky peanut butter: Mix just 1frac14; cup nuts with the oil and process until very smooth. Add the another frac14; cups peanuts and process a few seconds more to create the chunks in your chunky peanut butter. Store your chunky peanut butter in a sealed container in the fridge. It will be good for two weeks.

L.B., Wisconsin

Note from Sara: You don#146;t need to add oil to make peanut butter. That is an optional ingredient. If you prefer a creamier, smoother texture, you can add some honey (about 3 tablespoons for the above recipe) to your peanuts after processing them in your food processor for 5-8 minutes. Simply stream it in and keep on processing until it#146;s well combined. Also, you can add 1 teaspoon of vanilla, in addition to the honey, and even frac12; teaspoon of cinnamon. The recipe above says to use unsalted nuts, which is great, but for those who wish to add salt, you can add no more than frac14; teaspoon of kosher salt or use salted roasted nuts.

Freeze biscuit dough: It works! I love fresh biscuits but hate the mess to make them. I experimented with cooked biscuits first, but we didn#146;t like their texture and their flavor when thawed. So I made a big batch of biscuit dough, cut them, and froze them on a baking sheet until firm and transferred them to a baggie. I took the biscuits out 30 minutes before putting them in the oven (they were still a bit frozen) and baked them about 5 minutes longer than usual. But they rose and were soft, fluffy and perfect.

Constance, New Jersey

Make homemade ranch dressing: In a medium bowl whisk 1 frac12; cups mayonnaise, frac12; cup buttermilk, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 tablespoon dried parsley or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, frac12; teaspoon dried dill or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, frac12; teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, frac12; teaspoon salt, 1 dash sweet paprika. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving. Makes 2 cups.

Nancy, Virginia

Ÿ Write to Sara Noel at sara@frugalvillage.com.