Peanut Butter Recipes: You’ll Want to Try These

Peanut butter: who doesn’t like it? It is creamy; it can be crunchy. It is the perfect mix between sweet and salty. It melts in your mouth while being slightly sticky and chewy at the same time. Natural peanut butter is not only delicious, but it is also nutritious. It has plenty of protein and some essential fats that help your body stay healthy.

Now, if you ask us, the perfect peanut butter recipes look like this:

Open the jar of peanut butter.
Pick up a spoon.
Give your peanut butter a good stir.
Scoop an adequate amount of peanut butter out of the jar.
Enjoy.

Easy-peasy. Quick. Delicious. Healthy. The great thing about peanut butter is that it is perfect to enjoy on it it’s own, but it also goes really well with just about everything. It does well being baked into cakes and cookies, even brownies and fudge. It also pairs really well with savory dishes. It adds a new level of flavor to curries and makes for tasty dipping sauces and toppings or salad dressings.

Is peanut butter good for you?

The short answer is: yes, natural peanut butter is actually good for you. And by natural peanut butter, we mean the kind we have right here at Crazy Richard’s – made with only one ingredient: peanuts. You see, sweetened or unsweetened, salted or low-fat peanut butter all have added ‘things.’ These things could be sugar or a sugar replacement, salt or hydrogenated oils. All of these ‘things,’ while not bad for you in smaller amounts (besides the hydrogenated oils), adds up with each scoop of peanut butter that you enjoy. So, while you should absolutely go ahead and enjoy your natural peanut butter without feeling an ounce of guilt, you should do so in moderation.

Natural peanut butter is high in protein, which means it keeps you feeling fuller for longer. It also helps you gain muscle weight when working out and might even help you maintain your body weight over time.

While peanut butter does contain about 2g of saturated fats (around 10% of your recommended daily intake), it also contains a bunch of good fats – fats that your body needs to be healthy. These fats include monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat.

Monounsaturated fats help to lower the amount of bad cholesterol in your blood. It also helps maintain and build your body cells.

Polyunsaturated fats are sometimes also called essential fats. These types of fats are (you’ve guessed it) essential for your body to function normally. They are used to build your body cells and even cover your nerves. More than that, essential fats help your blood to clot, regulate inflammation, and assist with muscle movement. The thing is, polyunsaturated fats (like omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids) do not naturally occur in your body. That means that you need to get them from the food that you eat – as if you needed more excuses to chomp down on some of our delicious natural peanut butter!

How much peanut butter can you get away with eating?

We know just how easy it is to work your way halfway through a jar of your natural peanut butter armed only with a spoon. Remember, though, that although peanut butter has a whole bunch of really good things, it is also relatively high in calories. The recommendation is that you eat about two-tablespoons full of peanut butter per day.

Sweet Treats

Pies and cakes.

Peanut butter pies can quickly be whipped up when you want something easy for a party or even just when you feel like a little sumthin’ sumthin.’ Often peanut butter pies don’t need to be baked. Instead, you combine the ingredients, pour it into a prepared crust, and stick it in the fridge for a few hours to cool and set. Try this Peanut Butter Silk Pie recipe. Better yet – make each person their own mini Crunchy Peanut Butter tart for dessert!

A homemade peanut butter and jelly cake is a fun twist on everyone’s favorite sandwich duo. With a peanut butter and jelly cake, the peanut butter is baked into the cake batter, creating a moist and delicious cake. Two layers of peanut butter cake are then stacked on top of each other with a generous layer of your favorite jelly in between. The top can be decorated with a peanut butter frosting and jelly for decoration -or you can go all crazy with sprinkles or even some pieces of peanut brittle!

Cookies and bars.

This peanut butter bar recipe is an easy, no-bake chocolate peanut butter cookie recipe. Peanut butter gets spread between two graham crackers. The graham cracker peanut butter sandwiches are then dipped in (or covered with) melted chocolate. Add some chocolate chips, sprinkles, or crushed peanuts on top for decoration. You might also want to try these yummy gluten free peanut butter cookies.

Peanut butter drinks.

Food processor? Check. Peanut butter? Check. Vanilla ice cream? Check. Peanut butter milkshake? Done! Peanut butter milkshakes are great for breakfast or as a special treat on movie night. For something a bit more healthy, substitute the ice cream for some crushed ice and mix in a banana or two to boost the nutritional value and up the creaminess factor of your milkshake. Plus: peanut butter and banana, can it even go wrong?

Toasted marshmallow peanut butter cup hot chocolate is the perfect dessert-in-a cup to make to cozy up with on a cold night. It combines the goodness of natural peanut butter, milk, and maple syrup with a fair amount of chocolate and cocoa powder. All while the toasted marshmallow makes the drink decadent and reminiscent of nights around a campfire.

A spin on PB&J.

We know, we know – you love your go-to of good old peanut butter and jelly between two slices of bread. But wait until we introduce you to the magic of PB&J French toast! This is no ordinary French toast with a bit of peanut butter and jelly spread on top – or in between. Oh no, friend! This Peanut Butter and Jelly French Toast recipe shows you the secret of cooking the peanut butter and jelly inside the French toast. Can you imagine it? The eggy-bready outer, the gooey, sticky, salty-sweet inside of melted peanut butter and jelly with a dash of vanilla? Now can you tell me that this isn’t something that you want to try out this instant? No? I thought so!

And forget plain old vanilla ice cream. For a cold and decadent dessert, try making your own homemade peanut butter and jelly ice cream. The peanut butter gets blended directly into the ice cream mixture. Then your peanut butter ice cream can be layered with jelly in between when it comes out of the ice cream maker, and you are ready to freeze it.

These refreshing Popsicles are a healthier alternative to peanut butter and jelly ice cream. They are full of good stuff like Greek yogurt, honey, chia seeds, and raspberries – and of course, natural peanut butter.

Plain old jelly doughnuts can be transformed into a family favorite by dipping them into a homemade peanut butter glazy to make yummy peanut butter and jelly doughnuts.

Breakfast.

Natural peanut butter is a wonderful way to add some goodness to your breakfast pancakes. They have the added nutritional benefits of peanut butter and taste great! Really, just about everything is better with peanut butter, isn’t it? These Chocolate chip Elvis Pancakes freeze really well (and of course, they contain both peanut butter and banana – just like Elvis liked it!). That means you can make a few extra each time you prepare a batch and freeze them for those mornings when you are running late. They also make a tasty late-night snack or dessert when served with ice cream or cream.

Peanut butter and jelly overnight oats are a fun twist on both breakfast and PB&J – plus with the goodness of oats and peanut butter, milk, and honey, it’s super healthy. It’s quick and easy to make the night before (it is called overnight oats, after all). In the morning, all you need to do is whisk the jelly a bit and mix it into your bowl. You can even mix it up a bit by using crunchy peanut butter or mixing crushed, roasted peanuts into your overnight oats just before serving. Other nut butters like almond butter also work well in this overnight oats recipe. You can even change out the honey for maple syrup or add some cacao or chocolate chips. This recipe is super versatile and fun to play with!

Peanut butter with fruit.

The creaminess of peanut butter pairs very well with fresh fruit like blueberries, strawberries, and bananas. It makes an excellent dipping sauce for fruit platters for quick and healthy snacks.

You can put a new spin on the traditional peanut butter and banana pairing by making these delicious peanut butter banana sushi rolls. The peanut butter and banana gets rolled up snugly in a flatbread or tortilla and cut into bite-sized pieces.

Add some chocolate to the peanut butter and banana mix with these frozen chocolate peanut butter banana bites. This recipe only has 3 ingredients: dark chocolate, peanut butter, and banana. It takes a bit of time to make because it needs to set in the freezer, but you can pre-make a whole bunch and keep them in your freezer for an instant tasty and healthy snack on a hot day.

Snacks.

With peanut butter, coconut oil, and coconut palm sugar (along with a pinch of sea salt), these peanut butter chips make for a healthy (and dangerously addictive) treat for movie night. They are great on their own – straight out of the freezer or used in baked goods. You can mix these peanut butter chips into the batter for baked goods like cookies, muffins, scones, or pancakes. When they are mixed into a batter, these peanut butter chips create little pockets of peanut butter in your treats, almost like chocolate chips do. Peanut butter chocolate chips? Yes, please!

Savory Peanut Butter Recipes

The wonderful thing about peanut butter is that it goes equally well with both sweet and savory dishes. Peanut butter is often used in Asian inspired dishes, but it’s also a tasty way to shake up your favorite recipes.

Invite some Mexican flavors into your kitchen with this Chocolate Chicken Mole. Ok, so this one isn’t an authentic mole, but it is super tasty and easy to make. Plus, it combines peanut butter and chocolate. In a meal. That grown-ups love to eat. Need we say more? Traditionally mole’s contained chilies, onions or roasted garlic, tomatoes, or tomatillos, which are then combined with other ingredients and blended or put through a food processor. This chocolate mole adds peanut butter, cinnamon, and chocolate or cacao powder to add some depth of flavor. If you’re interested in Chocolate Chicken Mole, you might want to try some peanut butter chicken as well.

Roasted peanut tempeh is an Indonesian inspired dish that works well as a side dish or a snack. Tempeh is made from fermented soybeans. In this recipe, the tempeh is cooked, covered in a mixture of natural peanut butter, onions, garlic, lemon juice, soy sauce, sugar, and spices. The coated tempeh pieces are then roasted in the oven. These go really well with a peanut butter dipping sauce.

Peanut Butter Recipes for the More Adventurous

Now that we have covered the decadent sweets and the irresistible savories, we naturally need to tell you about the off-the-wall and very much out-there uses for peanut butter in recipes. Here are a few ideas:

Peanut butter and bacon. They are both salty and savory. The peanut butter adds just a touch of sweetness and a thick creaminess to balance out the bacon’s chewiness or crunchiness. Try dipping your bacon in a homemade peanut butter sauce, or layer them on a sandwich – or make some bacon along with your peanut butter pancakes.
Peanut butter jalapeno poppers. Stuff the jalapenos with peanut butter and sprinkle with bacon bits before broiling.
Peanut butter and pickles by themselves or on a sandwich.
Peanut butter and cheezy pizza. Go on, give it a try! On the other hand, you could make an Asian inspired Thai peanut naan pizza. This recipe combines creamy peanut butter in a sauce with sesame ginger salad dressing, soy sauce, and water to make a sauce spread on naan, covered with vegetables and cheese, and baked in the oven.

Use Even the Very Last Drop of Your Peanut Butter

We know this particular struggle of a peanut butter lover: how to get the very last drop of peanut butter out of the jar. We may or may not have tried to fish those stubborn little bits out with our fingers on more than one occasion. We feel you. Here are a few ideas on how to get the last of those tricky-to-get-out bits of peanut butter out of the jar:

Fill the bottle with hot water to melt the peanut butter. Close the lid tightly and swish the water around to melt every last bit. Use the peanut-buttery water in a sauce with added peanut butter to amp up the flavor. We recommend that you only add the water to your near-empty peanut butter bottle once you are ready to use it.
Add the ingredients for your favorite peanut butter sauce, topping, or salad dressing to the peanut butter bottle. Close the lid securely and shake it up until everything is mixed well. Store the bottle in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. Using every drop of peanut butter and recycling – you are having a good day, my friend!
Make your overnight oats directly in the peanut butter jar. Add all the ingredients that you love and store the jar in the fridge overnight. It will be ready to enjoy in the morning.
The same can be done with peanut buttery drinks – just add whatever you want straight to the jar. Remember, though, that plastic jars could melt and become soft and unstable if they are heated up or if hot contents are added to them. On the other hand, glass jars can get super hot and should be handled with care and precautions.
This one is not a peanut butter recipe, but perhaps an indication of our love for peanut butter – and how far we are willing to go to get each last morsel. Plastic peanut butter jars could be cut (carefully), and the contents scooped out with relative ease.
And, if amidst a global pandemic, you found yourself fearful that you might run out of the essentials, like toilet paper or peanut butter, and find that you somehow have too much peanut butter, we have some suggestions for you! Of course, you can try any of the delicious recipes we’ve mentioned. Or, if you have unopened jars, consider:

Donating to a local food bank
Put together a box of food and deliver to a local family in need
Contact your local school district
Give the gift of peanut butter to your neighbors with the ingredients included to make a fun, new recipe

Peanut butter is one of those versatile ingredients that work well with just about anything – yes, even pickles! It is a great way to add some depth of flavor to your favorite recipes or used as a topping for ice creams, fruit platters, and even salads.

Natural peanut butter has no added ingredients and is packed with protein, vitamins, minerals, and essential fats that help your body to function at its best. It also is a great way to build up your immunity, which is vital as we are coming up on almost a year into this pandemic. Dr. Samara Sterling, Nutrition Scientist and Research Director of The Peanut Institute, issued the following statement:

“Peanuts contain a variety of nutrients like vitamin E, zinc, and protein, which support a strong immune system.”

Keep your body healthy and take a look at our natural creamy or crunchy peanut butter, or give our pure peanut powder a try. Our 100% peanut powder comes in bags and jars.