Peanut Butter: The Complete Guide

Peanut butter is one of the most popular and versatile foods in the world. We’ve heard from many of our Crazy Richard’s customers the ample ways they enjoy consuming our delicious peanut butter. Unfortunately, many people don’t know just how beneficial peanut butter can be for them.

Even though peanut butter is made from essentially dry-roasted ground peanuts, this delicious paste is packed with an excellent source of vitamins, proteins, minerals, and healthy fats. Peanut butter even reduces your risk of heart disease.

Let’s take a closer look at all the fantastic things you should know about peanut butter.

Are Peanuts a Nut?

One of the most interesting facts about peanuts is that they’re not a nut at all! The peanut belongs to the legume family, which is also home to things like lentils and peas. Because of this, people who have a tree nut allergy often can still enjoy eating Peanut Butter!

So, what’s the difference between a peanut and a standard tree nut? While real nuts grow on a tree, peanuts grow in pods under the ground, similar to other legumes. Almonds and Cashews are examples of tree nuts.

Although calling a peanut a nut isn’t technically correct, these products are similar to tree nuts in many ways. While the peanut’s physical structure and nutritional benefits are similar to other legumes, their use in dietary staples and cuisines is more like a tree nut.

Just because peanuts aren’t technically a nut doesn’t mean that we can’t go absolutely nutty for them – particularly in the form of peanut butter.

Is Peanut Butter Healthy?

Whether you prefer crunchy or creamy, peanut butter is both delicious and nutritious. We know it may be hard to resist pulling out a jar of your favorite Crazy Richard’s peanut butter with every meal. Still, peanut butter is a great way to add protein to one of your meals, especially for people who don’t eat meat and need a protein-rich alternative.

Its protein content is one of the biggest benefits of peanut butter. This fairly balanced energy source supplies protein, fat, and carbohydrates – making it a very balanced food product.

At a glance, peanut butter doesn’t seem like it would be a good option for healthy eating – particularly since a 32-gram portion includes about 16 grams of fat. However, if you get high-quality natural peanut butter, you can avoid too much saturated fat and sugar.

Although peanut butter does contain fat, it’s worth noting that it is a healthy fat source. Half of the fat in peanut butter consists of monounsaturated fats called oleic acid. This provides various health benefits, including improved insulin sensitivity. Peanut butter also contains linoleic acid, a kind of omega-6 fatty acid common in vegetable oils.

Another benefit of peanut butter is that it’s relatively low in carbs. Pure peanut butter only contains around 20% carbs overall. One study found that women who ate peanut butter around five times per week had a 21% reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.

Benefits of Natural Peanut Butter

To get the most benefits from any nut butter, it’s best to go natural, which is why you can rest assured knowing all of Crazy Richard’s nut butters are all-natural! A portion of peanut butter provides plenty of minerals and vitamins, including:

Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
Vitamin E
Vitamin B6
Folate
Magnesium
Copper
Manganese

Peanut butter is also high in B5, biotin, iron, potassium, selenium, and zinc.

A History of Peanut Butter

Peanut butter is a treat that has been around for many years. Although there are some arguments around who invented peanut butter, there’s evidence that it was the South American Inca Indians that first ground peanuts to create peanut butter. In the US, John Harvey Kellogg – known for his cereals, created a new version of peanut butter in 1895.

Some people also say that a physician-developed a different version of peanut butter for his older patients, intended to support protein supplementation. In 1904, peanut butter emerged at the St Louis World’s Fair. Since then, peanuts and peanut butter have become a huge part of the world’s favorite treats.

Interestingly, we don’t just use peanut butter as a food product these days – we also turn to peanut butter for a range of other benefits, like improving hair and skin health with conditioning masks and moisturizers. There are even people around the world today that use peanut butter around the house for things like cleaning leather or getting chewing gum out of hair.

Every day, the amazing uses that we discover for peanut butter continue to evolve and grow. Who knows what we’ll discover we can do with peanut butter next?

How is Peanut Butter Made?

Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter is a very simple product, made from only dry-roasted peanuts, ground to perfection. Before you can sink your teeth into a delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich, we need to grind up thousands of peanuts first. To create peanut butter, other companies usually add salt, sugar, and stabilizing oils into the mix. However, at Crazy Richard’s, we like to keep it simple and natural. Our peanut butter has nothing but peanuts, so our peanut butter will have natural oil that rises to the top of the jar.

The peanut butter journey starts with farmers who plant and harvest the peanuts. Usually, farmers harvest peanuts during August-October. Once the peanuts are collected, they are carefully shelled, ensuring they don’t damage the seeds. Following that, we dry roast the peanuts to the perfect temperature. After the peanuts are cool, they are blanched with air to remove remaining seed coats.

Finally, peanut butter companies grind the nuts down to a smooth, creamy texture. In some cases, you can add chopped peanuts to create crunchy peanut butter.

Some people are opting for homemade peanut butter nowadays. This can be a great option, however it can be difficult to ensure you are getting fresh peanuts to roast and grind and peanuts are really tough and they can wear out your food processor or blender motor relatively fast.

There are many flavors of nut butter out there but often they are filled with strange or unnecessary ingredients. Try making your own! The easiest way to do this is to start with a clean and pure base – Crazy Richard’s Creamy Peanut Butter and then add your favorite mix-ins! Try chocolate chips, banana, honey, various salts, and more. Some of our favorite recipes are:

How Much Peanut Butter Can I Eat in a Day?

Although peanut butter contains a lot of nutrients, it’s also a calorie-dense food. That means that you need to be cautious about eating too much out of your peanut butter jar each day. Moderating your intake to around two tablespoons each day will help you maintain a good weight while still unlocking all the peanut oil benefits.

Ideally, because of the trans-fat, hydrogenated oil, and other peanut butter products, you shouldn’t consume more than two tablespoons per day. Eating excessive amounts of peanut butter is like eating too much olive oil or maple syrup. You can have too much of a good thing.

The good news is that because of peanut butter’s rich flavor profile, you don’t necessarily need a huge serving to feel satisfied. A little peanut butter and cocoa powder in your granola can really spice things up. You could also just dip an apple slice or celery stick into your peanut butter.

Remember, if you’ve never tried peanut butter before, it’s important to be cautious. Peanut allergies are very common, and you may not respond as well to a peanut butter sandwich as your friends or relatives.

How to Store Peanut Butter

If you want to avoid having too much oil rise to the top of your jar, you can store your jar upside down. Aside from storing your peanut butter upside down, there are some other things to try when you’re looking for a successful storage practice.

For instance, storing it in the fridge will make your peanut butter thicker and could help it last longer. However, if you want your butter to be spreadable, you should keep it at room temperature.

Any peanut butter or nut butter needs to stay in an airtight container. You can leave this container in the fridge or cupboard. However, remember to use your opened nut butter within about six months. Use the older jars before you move onto something new.

Peanut butter with added oils can generally be stored in a dry, cool place like a cupboard, as long as they’re unopened. Keep an eye on the best-by date listed on the container, and once you open your peanut butter, start using it quickly.

How Long Does Peanut Butter Last?

Peanut butter doesn’t go bad quickly, but it won’t last forever. Similar to most foods, peanut butter can spoil, but it doesn’t happen often or very quickly. Peanut butter is like vegetable oil or almond butter in that regard.

Is There Supposed to Be Oil on Top of My Peanut Butter?

If your peanut butter does go bad, it won’t necessarily taste awful or go rancid straight away. Unopened peanut butter can last quite a while after its best-by date. Since peanut butter doesn’t contain a lot of water, fungi and bacteria do not grow in it.

Oxygen is usually the biggest factor influencing peanut butter, and it doesn’t make the substance necessarily go bad – but it does alter its taste. One thing worth noting is that if you store peanut butter for a while, you might notice the oil separating to the top of the container – that’s totally normal.

Natural peanut butter usually has oil that floats to the top of the jar. The best nut butters contain not only natural ingredients, but contain only nuts! The next best option would be a combination of about 90% roasted peanuts, and 10% of other substances, like oils and seasonings. Grinding peanuts also release their oils, which helps to make the peanut butter creamy. Peanut oil also becomes a liquid at room temperature.

The peanut butter you find with no oils on the top is unlikely to be homemade peanut or natural peanut butter. Lack of oils often means that it has added oils in with the roasted peanuts, like soybeans and palm oil. These mix with the peanut oil.

Peanut Butter Substitutes

Peanut butter comes in various styles, from the classic crunchy, to smooth peanut butter, to the peanut butter that comes pre-mixed with other ingredients, like chocolate or jelly. If you’re not a huge fan of the peanut flavor or have a peanut allergy, you can also find plenty of alternatives to peanut butter appearing on the market these days. For instance, there’s:

Almond butter: Almond butter is like peanut butter in a lot of ways, it’s a great source of omega-6 fatty acids, and it’s nutritionally dense too. Studies show that eating almonds offers plenty of magnesium, calcium, and potassium – plus, it reduces bad cholesterol.
Cashew butter: Cashew butter is actually a seed butter, rather than a nut butter. It comes with more omega-3 than peanut butter and plenty of copper, manganese, and phosphorous.

Is Peanut Butter Safe for Dogs?

Whether you’re eating your own peanut butter sandwiches or making peanut butter treats for your kids, most humans have encountered peanut butter at some point in their lives. We’ve also begun to recognize that our furry friends tend to have a passion for peanuts too. Dogs love peanut butter – perhaps as much as we do!

Most dogs love eating peanut butter as an occasional treat. However, you shouldn’t feed your pooch peanut butter all the time, as this could lead to problems with their weight. Peanut Butter Powder is an awesome compromise since it doesn’t have nearly as many calories. Both Peanut Butter Powder and peanut butter are great for hiding pills, and it can also be a handy distraction when you’re giving your friend a bath or cutting their nails.

Remember, while most brands of peanut butter are safe for dogs, there are some that you may need to stay away from. For instance, it’s best to avoid giving your pup peanut butter with any presence of the substance Xylitol – as this is very dangerous for our canine friends. But when you stick to Crazy Richard’s, you don’t have to worry about that!

Check out Crazy Richard’s all-natural peanut butter products that are sure to be approved by everyone in your home!