Homemade peanut butter

[splatt2013]

Hi,

I have been trying to recreate the filling from a Reese's cup. Mainly the slightly sandy/grainy texture. But it kept coming out too smooth. Adding finely ground peanuts helped, but it was still too wet. Then I realized it was the peanut oil. There was too much. So I let the peanut butter sit after taking it out of the blender. Hoping the oil would rise to the top. I let it sit overnight. Some oil rose to the top and I blotted it away with a paper towel. But there wasn't that much. It was all still stuck inside the peanut paste.

Is there a way to extract most of the oil from peanut butter, so that it is more dry. Is it just a matter of patience?

Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

[Josie1945]

Hi Splatt,
Welcome to DC.

Try this for your Reese Cup filling.

Two cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
One cup Melted Butter
One cup Peanut butter.

This gives you the taste and texture.

Josie

 

[Zhizara]

Hi,

I have been trying to recreate the filling from a Reese's cup. Mainly the slightly sandy/grainy texture. But it kept coming out too smooth. Adding finely ground peanuts helped, but it was still too wet. Then I realized it was the peanut oil. There was too much. So I let the peanut butter sit after taking it out of the blender. Hoping the oil would rise to the top. I let it sit overnight. Some oil rose to the top and I blotted it away with a paper towel. But there wasn't that much. It was all still stuck inside the peanut paste.

Is there a way to extract most of the oil from peanut butter, so that it is more dry. Is it just a matter of patience?

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Years ago a gal made some that came out perfect in texture and flavor.

She told me she used 1# of peanut butter, mixed with 1# of confectioner's sugar and spread in a pan. Pour melted milk chocolate over the top and chill. That's all.

I've never tried it myself, but the ones she passed out at our office Christmas party were really, really good.

 

[MrsLMB]

The recipe I have for Homemade Peanut Butter cups calls for one 12-ounce pkg. milk chocolate chips, 1 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

When we made this we thought it was pretty close to the real thing.

 

[splatt2013]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I have tried every combination of peanut butter and sugar imaginable. The problem is, there is too much oil in the peanut butter paste. They weren't bad, but they weren't Reese's either.

The thing is, I love Reese's. But where I live, by the time they get to the stores, quite often they have been exposed to heat. Which turns the peanut butter filling dry and hard. It is gross. I've lost track of how many bags I've thrown/given away over the years.

I am trying to create Reese's exactly rather than something that's similar.
As far as graham crackers and butter- I have seen that recipe. But it seems like adding more fat would make the filling even more creamy which is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. I will try it if ll else fails. But I'm getting sick of wasting time and money.

Right now my ingredient list is:
Dry roasted unsalted peanuts
Confectioner's sugar
Dextrose
Salt

No disrespect to anyone. I really do appreciate the input. But I feel like I'm finally on the verge of nailing this if I could just get more of the oil out of the peanut butter.

If only I could talk someone that works at the Reese's factory. The only ingredient I'm missing is TBHQ. I may try to get some of that if all else fails.

 

[Oldvine]

If your methods are near perfection and you want to stick with it, let the ground peanuts sit longer than you have been. If I have a jar of any kind of nut butter sitting unopened, unused, a nice film of oil will develop eventually. If this is a favorite, have batches working with varying times for future use. Overnight is no time at all when oil droplet have to work through the heavy mass of the peanuts. Reese's probably uses a huge centrifuge to whirl the oil out. Maybe you can find a small one that would work.

 

[Dawgluver]

I agree, Oldvine. I use Aunt Bea's trick of pouring the oil off of Smuckers Natural peanut butter when I first open the jar, and then store it upside down, as Addie had suggested. It makes for nice, gritty peanut butter.

 

[Oldvine]

My jars of nutter butter get a regular flip.

 

[splatt2013]

Thanks again for all the replies.

I tried again with a little more patience. And I am about 80% there. I feel like I am really close. I'm going to take a break for a while because I have eaten way too much of this stuff over the last week. But I will continue later this winter at some point.

Here is the method that worked best for me so far"

I put the ground peanut butter in a pot so that the PB layer would be relatively thin. I only let it sit for two days total. After day one it had a nice shine and a bunch of tiny bubbles. So I pressed a paper towel firmly against the peanut butter and left it for a while to soak up the oil. I repeated this a few times. It seemed to work. I had a much darker orange, drier butter.

I then added in the salt and dextrose. I folded in some powdered sugar. Then I ground some peanuts. Only the ones that passed through the sifter went in. It was about a cup and a half. I put some more powdered sugar in. And it was MUCH better

It still had a little too much oil in it. But that was just me being a perfectionist. It was very close to Reese's.

I didn't make true peanut butter cups because it's impossible to buy milk chocolate baking bars where I live. But I did "temper some Ghirardelli chocolate chips"

I was reading up on TBHQ- my missing ingredient. It's in quite a few processed foods. It's basically gasoline. Gross, right? And it absorbs and preserves fat molecules. So maybe that's why Reese's is so much more gritty.

I think my next project will be mozzarella cheese. I do a lot of pizza and it's impossible to buy a good, stringy mozzarella cheese around here. Of course, I've been saying for at least a year now.