Peanut butter

[jmarvellous]

Jules, it's a pretty standard vegan (or general oops-I-don't-have-enough-eggs) trick. It's about 1 mashed overripe banana (I usually freeze them when they start to get really brown, then thaw and smush when I need them) to one regular egg in any given recipe in which banana wouldn't be too distracting of a flavor. If you have really small bananas, it might be closer to 1.5 bananas per one egg.

It won't necessarily make the world's fluffiest cookies because bananas are more dense, but when you've got vegan family and friends, it's a great option to have.

[sempronialou]

You take peanuts and put them in a food processor or blender and crush them up.  Then you add some vegetable, peanut, or canola oil (but not olive oil) and blend it.  The amount should be just enough to make it creamy.  Add a dash of salt for flavor (if unsalted peanuts) You can also mix in honey, agave nectar, or sugar to sweeten if you wish.  Store it in your fridge.  It's very tasty. 

Here's step by step instructions from a website I found:  http://www.pickyourown.org/howtomakepeanutbutter.htm

[StarDrifter]

All this talk made me want peanut butter on toast!

We have a big jar of chunky/crunchy Skippy that we got at Costco - but I have also got some smooth Kraft peanut butter that I prefer.

We also have a jar of no-additives all-natural crunchy peanut butter that I use in satay sauces rather than the Skippy - it tastes  different somehow with Skippy than with the all-natural thing.

[I'mnotinsane]

I love PB. I buy the natural stuff (no added sugar, just peanuts and maybe a smidge of salt), but I'll eat Jif in a pinch. Nothing TOO sweet or oily. Any texture is fine, though I have an affinity for that rough-ground stuff that I realize most people don't share.

Jelly (jam), I like strawberry or mixed berry or apple butter. I usually pass on PB&J, though, especially if the person making it uses too much jelly or thinks that grape is remotely OK. It is not OK, not unless you have no tastebuds. 

I use peanut sauce a lot in stir fries, or for dipping steamed vegetables. And make PB cookies for special occasions.

Ooh,PB cookies sound lovely. Could you possibly post a recipe?

Gahr you have to try peanut butter brownies... 

[I'mnotinsane]

Peanut butter is very popular in the UK.

I personally absolutely love PBJ sandwiches (and you've got me craving them right now), but I don't know very many other British people who like them.

I love them and I'm in the UK too I am also in love with peanut butter cups and wish we could buy the mini versions over here for a decent price so I could use them in baking.
Does America have crunchy peanut butter or just smooth? In the UK we have both types - I prefer crunchy but the rest of my friends prefer smooth.

If you put the regular size cups in the freezer for 20-30 minutes they should chop up nicely.

[DuBois]

I love PB. I buy the natural stuff (no added sugar, just peanuts and maybe a smidge of salt), but I'll eat Jif in a pinch. Nothing TOO sweet or oily. Any texture is fine, though I have an affinity for that rough-ground stuff that I realize most people don't share.

Jelly (jam), I like strawberry or mixed berry or apple butter. I usually pass on PB&J, though, especially if the person making it uses too much jelly or thinks that grape is remotely OK. It is not OK, not unless you have no tastebuds. 

I use peanut sauce a lot in stir fries, or for dipping steamed vegetables. And make PB cookies for special occasions.

Ooh,PB cookies sound lovely. Could you possibly post a recipe?

Gahr you have to try peanut butter brownies... 

Oh wow! Yes, I do have to try them. That sounds amazing!

[Betelnut]

Dairy Queen sells peanut butter shakes.  Yum, yum, yum.  I want one now!

[General Jinjur]

This talk of peanut butter cups reminds me. I always wanted one of those giant PB cups you see in candy stores, but I managed to talk myself out of getting them each and every time. Finally I said, "Forget this, I want to LIVE!" and decided that the next time I spotted one, it would be mine. So soon enough I scooped one up from a chocolate store - and it was completely disappointing. Awful, waxy chocolate (reminiscent of Palmer's) and the PB was neither salty nor sweet enough. I knew I could do better, so I did - I made my own giant PB cups and gave them away for hostess gifts, for Christmas, and other occasions, and of course ate a few myself  Here's how I did it.

First step is getting a bag of good-quality chocolate chips (Guittard's milk) and a jar of creamy Jif. Next I lined a muffin tin with cupcake papers. The chocolate was melted in a double boiler, with a generous spoonful of PB mixed in to keep it pliable. I filled each muffin cup about 1/3 full, plopped a tablespoon of PB on it, then poured the chocolate in to the top, and fridge for a few hours. So so SO GOOD! And super easy.

[LTrew]

I  had an unfortunate experience after eating a big slice of my mom's chocolate peanut butter pie and went off the chocolate/peanut butter pairing for years.  I can tolerate it now without gagging but still won't eat a peanut butter cup because a decade of living in the UK has made eating US chocolate a gagging experience...

I like Jif, my family send me big tubs every once in a while.  The type of peanut butter available in the grocery stores in the UK aren't the same, definitely not creamy enough. I'm not allowed to eat it right now because the fat content and my gallbladder aren't getting along, but if I'm completely honest the perfect peanut butter sandwich is:
cheap, soft white bread
creamy peanut butter
raspberry jam

I don't buy white bread though, so that is a real indulgence.  I hate grape jelly, and I have always been creeped out by those jars that have the peanut butter and the jelly in stripes, you have to have them separate on the bread!

I will also quite happily eat what I call a "smooshed" peanut butter sandwich - you only put peanut butter on the bread, and then flatten it out completely.  Peanut butter, honey and banana is pretty good, as long as you can keep your banana in check as it always wants to escape.

I did once know someone who eats (UK) peanut butter and cheese sandwiches.  That idea has never seemed a particularly good one...

[iridaceae]

I am curious about the Snickers peanut butter squares though.

Those are wonderful.

Peanut butter is okay- Reese's cups are wonderful- but I'm not really a sandwich eater so I don't eat PB sandwiches very much.

[Greyalien]

All this reading about peanut butter is making me very hungry

Peanut butter has always been pretty popular where I am (Melbourne) and I have recently been converted to peanut butter with honey after years of mocking my sister for liking it!

Mmmm hot toasted bagels with Kraft crunchy peanut butter and honey......

[Betelnut]

All this reading about peanut butter is making me very hungry

Peanut butter has always been pretty popular where I am (Melbourne) and I have recently been converted to peanut butter with honey after years of mocking my sister for liking it!

Mmmm hot toasted bagels with Kraft crunchy peanut butter and honey......

That's one of my favorites!

[Seraphia]

I like Jif, my family send me big tubs every once in a while.  The type of peanut butter available in the grocery stores in the UK aren't the same, definitely not creamy enough. I'm not allowed to eat it right now because the fat content and my gallbladder aren't getting along, but if I'm completely honest the perfect peanut butter sandwich is:
cheap, soft white bread
creamy peanut butter
raspberry jam

I don't buy white bread though, so that is a real indulgence.  I hate grape jelly, and I have always been creeped out by those jars that have the peanut butter and the jelly in stripes, you have to have them separate on the bread!

I will also quite happily eat what I call a "smooshed" peanut butter sandwich - you only put peanut butter on the bread, and then flatten it out completely.  Peanut butter, honey and banana is pretty good, as long as you can keep your banana in check as it always wants to escape.

I did once know someone who eats (UK) peanut butter and cheese sandwiches.  That idea has never seemed a particularly good one...

Those stripey jars are just...wrong somehow. I disagree on the grape jelly though, grape is my favorite.

We have so much peanut butter right now, I'm a bit sick of it. I accidentally bought the double jumbo pack of creamy Jif twice in the course of a week, so we have about a gallon. If my brother lived near here, he'd eat it though. His favorite sandwiches as a kid were peanut butter, honey, mayo and cheese, and peanut butter, salami, mayo and cheese. I could never stomach the idea of PB and mayo...bleargh!

[LazyDaisy]

Am I the only nut who buys a jar of PB and a bag of milk chocolate or dark chocolate Nestle chips to make my own Peanut Butter "Cup"? A spoon full of PB and generous sprinkle of chips is heaven. The ingredients just never make it to the cookie stage with me.

Off topic slightly but I'm shocked lately by the price of PB (I'm in the US). I hear that this was a bad harvest year for peanuts and so supply is short. The last medium size jar of Jiff I bought was over $7 -- I can't even imagine what PB would cost in countries where it is an import.

[supernova]

I don't think I'd like a PB sandwich without leavening of some kind. The J or honey or bacon keeps it from being overly sticky and one-note.

To clarify: in the US we have jelly and jam. As a PP noted, what Britishers call "jelly" we would call "Jell-O." But what is the equivalent to our jelly called? Jam being a thick, all-fruit spread, and jelly being gelatinous and...fruit-colored. ~shudder~ I hate jelly.

Interesting! 

I was taught to make both jelly and jam (American versions) as a child, and in our kitchen, the only difference between jelly and jam was that jam would have the natural fruit parts still in it -- i.e., the seeds of the raspberries, the skins of the plums, etc. -- while jelly was a product of just the juiced and strained fruit, plus sugar and pectin.  You needed more pectin for jelly than for jam, to replace the natural pectin in the skins, etc.

Therefore, jam was readily available, and jelly was a treat, because it was harder to make and produced fewer jars from the same amount of fruit.  And after spending all day picking berries, you didn't want to work all the next day squeezing cheesecloth to get a mere dozen tiny jars of jelly...

Fascinating, the differences possible in the same language!