Ok, from now on, I’m saying “the best thing since the summer of 1928” when I’m around my kids. It irritates the heck out of them when I say weird stuff no one else says. Thanks, Dan! (And I love peanut butter. Thanks again.)
Peanut Butter appears as recipe #51 in the 2nd Edition of Carver's book: "Shell the peanuts; roast just enough so that the hulls will slip off easily; remove all the hulls by gently rolling, fanning, and screening; grind very fine in any sort of mill, passing through several times if necessary; pack in cans, bottles, or jars, and seal if not for immediate use. Some manufacturers add a little salt and a small amount of olive oil; others do not, according to taste. For small quantities of butter a good meat-grinder will answer the purpose. If the nuts are ground fine enough no additional oil will be necessary." The reference to manufacturers, though, suggest that the peanut butter industry cropped up since the first edition; it appeared in a jif, you might say.
Although he didn't invent it: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_butter#History "As the US National Peanut Board confirms, "Contrary to popular belief, George Washington Carver did not invent peanut butter." Carver was given credit in popular folklore for many inventions that did not come out of his lab. By the time Carver published his document about peanuts, entitled "How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it For Human Consumption" in 1916, many methods of preparation of peanut butter had already been developed or patented by various pharmacists, doctors, and food scientists working in the US and Canada."
Wow, other than my family I thought I was the only one to understand the 2 different types of PBJ sammies. My mom would make the "to go's" by mixing the pb&j together. It honestly gives it a whole NEW flavor and texture, and it always felt like a treat!! What a great episode!!
Most likely always somewhat chunky, because home made is best. I've never gotten blenderized to be totally smooth - and I don't care. Can't wait to make both of these recipes. Thanks Dan.
if you really, really want home made peanut butter as smooth as store-bought, then you can pick up a countertop chocolate melanger for that purpose. Blend or food process your nuts until you get a relatively smooth peanut butter before transferring to the melanger. The rolling steel or stone wheels inside the melanger, along with the scrapers, will ensure that the nut pieces get crushed and emulsified into a perfectly smooth emulsion. You very likely won't need to add any additional oil, as you'll be expelling the majority of the oil from the peanuts during the extended processing stage, but you may need to add water to thicken it back up.
Peanuts are wonderful in all forms, but I'd like to vouch for Chinese braised peanuts specifically. Served as an appetizer in restaurants, they're sweet, savoury, soy saucey and, of course, peanutty.
I always enjoy your videos, but this one has to be the best so far. I feel like I've been a Cooks Illustrated devotee since before you were born, Dan, and I have to say that the magazine and ATK image has been thoroughly revitalized thanks to your touch!
Smooth/creamy for me. It's what I grew up on so... that's the only way for me. That homemade one looks good though. Would like to try it someday. I studied George Washington Carver when I was in junior high school. I did it on my own as the teacher didn't do anything but briefly mention him. I found he was a professional and highly caring man and he is a hero in my book. I read everything i could get my hands on at the time about him and his work.
One of my favorite ways to have peanut butter (in the morning) quickly put a little butter (no margarine) on a piece of toast & then the peanut butter...yum! The "trick" is making sure you have a hot piece of toast so the peanut butter kinda melts like the butter and don't be shy with the peanut butter.
OH MAN DO I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER! I have, in the past, taken a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter on a bike camping trip and that was my sole source of sustenance. My preferred peanut butter is Adams which is natural/separates, but during the pandemic my local store started offering a bigger jar which made the pain of stirring it far easier than the small jars had been. I would never turn down any other type of peanut butter though. Can't wait to make those peanut butter cookie sandwiches! Alton Brown also has a "pantry raid" video from Early Pandemic where he makes really easy, really good, peanut butter cookies.
100% natural smooth … sometimes crunchy - variety is the spice of life! I usually get the salt and sugar free version and sprinkle with sea-salt for popping both taste and texture. Thanks for another great episode Dan … when do we get to see your cat again? All the best from Sweden (yes the whole country!)
...the best video since the summer of 1928! 😊 😊 My preferences: all natural (just ground peanuts & salt), chunky in sandwiches, creamy when dipping frozen banana "sticks", during the hot summer months.
From Wisconsin: butter on both pieces of bread, then mix the hydrogenated peanut butter and strawberry jam (grape jam tastes like communion wine)! Whole wheat bread with seeds if your not a wimp! I’m 64!!
Crunchy always but smooth for emergencies. Those peanut butter cookies look amazing. I make a really nice crunchy peanut sauce with all natural crunchy peanut butter
My favorite peanut butter sandwich was always SF sourdough, peanut butter on one slice and salted cow butter on the other, with strawberry jam in the middle. I use coarsely ground peanut butter without chunks, or whatever I have on hand.
My favorite is peanut butter and honey! It's especially good when it's been in the fridge and the honey has crystallized. While working in London I one gave half my sandwich to a co-worker who had never tasted peanut butter and the look of pleasure that lit up her face as she experienced it for the first time was priceless.
I’m 63 years old my favorite peanut butter is on a spoon. Doesn’t matter what brand, type,or if crunch or smooth. I prefer all natural for making peanut butter cookies because they just taste better. And your sandwiches need more peanut butter and to be spread to the crust of the bread, both slices whether to eat now or to go. Have you ever tried a pb and banana? Love them.❤️👍
OMG. Creamy, smooth, made-at-home peanut butter. Yes!!! And same goes for the DIY chocolate/peanut butter cups. We'll have to try the cookie. Thanks for sharing the recipes and tips...along with the humor and fun! You rocked this, Dan!!! Best wishes to you!
Fresh made at Picards Peanuts (an Ontario store). You grab a bag of peanuts, dump it into a machine, place your container underneath... press start, and watch magic happen. Result crunchy all natural peanut butter.
I love Dan’s videos so much, but this one is most probably the best one ever! While I do like both Creamy & Crunchy, I tend to live off of Creamy Jif. Yes, I know the incomparable Jack Bishop did a taste testing and declared Skippy to be the winner. However I am a diehard Jif junky and am too stuck in my ways to even bother getting a jar of Skippy. My grandmother’s peanut butter cookies were the best but I am tempted to try this recipe. And the best way to eat peanut butter is put a dollop in the bottom of your ramen bowl, add a healthy squirt of gochujang sauce, tip the noodles and broth into the bowl, and stir to mix it all up. Works best with the soy sauce flavored noodles 🍜👍🏼 but roasted chicken is a fair 2nd. (I’m 60 years old so this addiction has gone on for eons!) Thanks Dan & ATK. ❤️❤️❤️
I use powdered peanut butter in my cookies. And smooth peanut butter. And peanut butter chips. And chopped peanuts. I coat them in lightly-sweetened cocoa powder and sprinkle them with coarse sea salt before baking.
My favorite way to eat peanut butter is with gala apple slices (has to be gala, other apples just taste weird). As for chunky vs. smooth I don’t care, I like to switch it up/ it matters far more to me that it’s the kind that separates. There’s nothing better than that first spoonful out of a fresh jar.
Great timing on this video Dan! My husband is a peanut farmer, and right now the peanuts are “green”, and in the perfect state for boiled peanuts! That is my favorite way to eat peanuts. But in another month or so, harvest will begin, and I will grind my own peanut butter! It is heavenly! Especially in my chocolate peanut butter cupcakes!
I love having a griddled pb&j. A toasted pb&j is amazing too! My go to jam is strawberry, with apricot being a close second, and grape a distant third. My favorite peanut butter is chunky/crunchy, but I won't turn up my nose at smooth.
@@delladearest2511 I've never seen this brand in any of the grocery stores in my area. I mainly see Smuckers, Krema, Maranatha, and the generic brands.
My go to recipe for peanut butter cookies is 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup sugar (I prefer brown as it makes chewier cookies) 1 egg. This is pure peanut heaven!!’ Give it a try. The sugar you use is up to you, but white sugar leads to a crispier cookie. Or you can half white half brown. It is completely up to you! No ‘flavor dulling’ flour or butter flavor, just pure peanut! And for me, creamy, primarily because I have sensitive teeth and the nut pieces can be painful.
Team smooth! Never tried boiled peanuts before. I’m surprised peanut powder was not mentioned in this episode. Either way, I always enjoy Dan-education 😁
@@MG-vo7is Pretty sure the OP means pre-prepared peanut powder, rather than the sort of peanut "meal" Dan makes (which he notably calls "finely chopped," not "powder") -- there are likely a number of people who don't know that peanut powder can be purchased as a pre-made product that can be itself be used in a number of different ways.
Boiled peanuts are really popular in the southeast. I grew up in Florida and it was rare to pass a gas station that didnt sell the peanut patch brand out of a crock pot in styrofoam cups. They sell them canned at walmart, but if you can find raw peanits you have to try them homemade.
If I'm baking cookies, I prefer smooth. For eating without cooking I want chunky. My favorite cookie is just 3 ingredients-- peanutbutter, sugar and egg. Easy to remember 1 cup on, 1cup sugar and 1 egg. Easy to double or even triple for larger batches.
I roast and grind my own peanuts to make PB in my Vitamix, but for baking I use Jif or Skippy. Favorite = peanut butter & orange marmalade on rye toast. No preference on chunky vs. smooth, love both.
I'm not going to be much help. This sort of depends on why you want to make your own peanut butter, one of my reasons is I'm a penny pincher. I get mine from idla*, their dry roasted unsalted peanuts come out to $0.13/oz., and I can't find them cheaper anywhere including in bulk. I re-roast them a couple shades darker then blend away with whatever I feel like adding at the moment, but always a nice pinch of salt. I know many organic and small farm supporting devotees will take issue with this, and that's fine, but it works for me. I made friendly with a local baker to purchase some malted rye powder for bread baking that was difficult to find, maybe there's a local restaurant owner you know or can sidle up to --- one thing I learned from cooking in restaurants is those vendors can get just about ANYTHING and at great prices. Otherwise just an internet search may work, just be careful to get shelled peanuts --- the ones in shell are much cheaper, but that means you better love shelling nuts. Unrelated: I add a handful of peanuts to the blender when I make my oat milk every week, after it's strained it's so dang creamy and delicious. *Spelled backward because TH-cam won't allow me to name other companies.
@@getoffmydarnlawn That was perfect- -yes I want to do it for two reasons - to save money AND to control what goes in - and also to be a but fun like adding honey or maple :) THANKS
Smooth for PBJs, and crunchy for celery, apples, and eating out of a spoon. I'm looking forward to trying the PB cookie sandwiches. And boiled peanuts are a sure sign of summer in the South. Love them with and without a beer. Love you Dan!
As a Northerner transplanted to the South over 30 years ago, I have been obsessed with peanutbutter pie for years. Sadly, it has virtually disappeared from local restaurants. Please do the research and add the best version to your repertoire. Thanks!
I loved it too! NEVER see it offered at any restaurant, sadly. The kind I was used to was made with cream cheese in the peanut butter, in an Oreo crust, with hardened chocolate on top…
Peanut butter is one of my favorites and because I started going through it at an alarming rate, I thought it best about a year ago to start making my own. Took a couple tried to figure out what I looked best in terms of how dark to roast and how much salt to add but I'm thoroughly excited to thicken it with water now. I had no clue about that so thanks!
Here's my overshare: My mom had 5 kids within 6 yrs. So we didn't bother her for snacks all the time, she kept an open jar of pb in the pantry with a spoon stuck in it. We would take a dallop straight from the jar and leave the spoon in it for the next kid. I have never done that with my own kids but times were different back then. Also my little sister had sun lightened brown hair. It was striped from the sun bleaching it so my mom described it as peanut butter and jelly hair. It looked like the striped jar of peanut butter and jelly that used to be on the grocery shelves.
THANK YOU for showing the peanut butter mixer which I just ordered from Amazon, since we only eat old fashioned smooth peanut butter that has peanuts and salt! Which we make in our Vitamix.
Dan, this was an utterly delightful episode that made me laugh out loud and lifted my spirits. And, there's no easy way of saying this so I'll just get it out there-- could we hang out some time? I'll come over with peanut butter, and you can call your friends who decided to count the peanut bits in crunchy peanut butter, and you can introduce me? Those are my people Dan. I need to meet them, so we can... count other bits in other things. But also, when I come over to hang (this is strictly platonic, don't get it twisted, I'll bring ATK's Classic Peanut Butter Cookies, as those are my all time favorite peanut butter cookies. Please provide milk. Btw, I refuse to eat anything that is called "chunky," so crunchy peanut butter it is.
So if I were to tell you I quit skinny dipping many, many, MANY years ago and now I Chunky Dunk instead, would that be okay to use the word "chunky"? Just kidding fortunately. Nowadays if I shed my MANY layers of clothes I frighten the wildlife off in a five hundred mile radius, so I will spare y'll that disturbance! Just thought I would add just a little humor in myself. God bless you and I, too, love "crunchy or chunky" peanut butter! The crunchier the better!!!
I'm partial to super crunchy, but smooth is also excellent. Just peanuts and salt. I like either on a PB&J. The J I'm way pickier about. Thick jam, preserves, or marmalade on fairly soft whole wheat bread. PB and banana sandwiches are also a favorite.
Oddly enough, I wasn't a huge fan of peanut butter until I became an adult. And now I crave it as much as Dan.🥜 I had to switch to creamy, I think crunchy was contributing to kidney stones for me.
I like creamy or crunchy, but usually prefer creamy, because of it's versatility. Natural PB is my go-to, but that stirrer may convert me! PB is something I could eat daily and often do! 😋 Dan, keep the edu and video coming! So much fun to deepen my culinary knowledge.
I do have to agree with the tangent. starting the day with a piece of pie is pretty wonderful. crunchy peanut butter (with salt). all of the recipies sound good.
Ok, how come he can eat all these goodies and NOT gain an ounce, whereas I gain weight just by "thinking" about food? I dunno, but either way, I always enjoy his vids. They are both informative and fun. As far as creamy vs crunchy, it depends what the PB is in. In a sandwich, creamy, definitely. However, in sauces, like Thai peanut sauce, the crunchy adds a little more texture. I always buy the "natural" pb (just peanuts and salt), but I gotta admit that Jif or Skippy, with the added sugar and hydrogenated oil, are delicious.
He likely doesn't eat a lot of unhealthy food at one time. And probably eats it less often than he is suggesting. Definitely doesn't regularly eat a slice of pie for breakfast and dessert. But if he does, both slices combined are smaller than a lot of people's "just one slice".
@@MikehMike01 It actually is complex. Biology is much more complicated than just "calories in" and "calories out." Not everything in life is simple math.
Hi Dan and Cook’s Illustrated team! You have wonderful and informative videos, and that is why I hope you will consider publishing a correction to this video. Peanuts are native to today’s Latin America. I am a university professor who specializes in Indigenous cultures of the Americas pre-contact with Europe/Africa, and so this is a fact I am quite certain about (and even cites like Wikipedia are correct on this point as well). In fact, in areas like Mexico, people still use an Indigenous word for peanuts (cacahuate, coming from the Nahuatl word cacahuatl). Thank you for considering issuing a correction!
My late father used to eat peanut butter and butter sandwiches. I like peanut butter and honey sandwiches. And my dad liked chunky. I used to like chunky, but lately smooth. Thanks for all your videos.
Great video but one (possible) mistake. Your intro implies that peanuts came from Africa with slaves. In fact, they are native to South America. It's possible I suppose that slaves from South American brought them to North America but they didn't originate in Africa.
Smooth for spoons, crackers, or sandwiches. Jif is my favorite, followed by Skippy. I do use chunky for cookies. Who else used to get a snack of just peanut butter on a spoon? Just my house? I mix the PB with the J and make a spread. Keeps the jelly from drying out the bread or falling out of the middle.
One of my favorite indulgent snacks is mixing smooth peanut butter with maple syrup. My Mom taught it to me, and I often eat it whenever I'm feeling down. Miss you, Mom!
Creamy smooth & natural! Thanks for the cookie recipe. Will give it a try! Very interesting description of why it is so hard to swallow. Thanks for that . So drinking water is not a god idea but putting plenty of butter on the bread should help . And that is usually what I do .
Interesting fact: Kraft introduced Peanut Butter to Canadians in 1958. It’s the only PB I’ve ever eaten! When I moved to the USA I was in a panic, as Kraft had never introduced it to the USA, and had no intention of doing so. For a brief period of time, Kraft USA put out Planters, which was similar enough to the PB I love. However, it didn’t last, and I was back to importing it. ☹️ So, for the past 20 years I’ve imported my peanut butter, from Canada, and I never share it with anyone; except my hubby. 😊
I like a dark roast natural smooth peanut butter. I put it on a light multigrain bread with a low sugar raspberry jam. I like natural peanut since it's astringent and contrasts with the almost tart low sugar raspberry jam. And I love that peanut butter stirring handle lid thing.
In support of the crunchy team. Thinking of combing the peanut butter sandwich cookies with the peanut butter cups. Dip half of the sandwich cookie into the chocolate. Sounds so good to me.
for years I was no-salt smooth, then switched to crunchy. Mix it up, Mix it in. Nori on the sweet pb squares: Party time, trying to get rid of some PB/Jif I mixed it with powdered sugar (and butter,? dont think so but dont remember). OK into the freezer since it turns int.. well peanut butter. And I slightly slated the top and topped each with a square of nori. Winners. The bad part is they melt at room temp.
Love this series! Well written and entertaining! I love super chunk peanut butter and can’t resist peanut butter cups. 🙃 keep up the great work, Dan and ATK! Thank you 😊
This video is the best thing since the summer of 1928. My favorite way to eat peanut butter is in a PB&J banana split. Close second is with some belvita buscuits.
As someone who is deathly allergic to peanuts and also watched this video to the end can def vouch for how entertaining Dan’s videos are. I can’t wait for the next one so I can actually make the recipe 😅
I'm definitely a natural nothing added smooth pb fan. I lob it into most recipes in place of regular butter- particularly brownies. Favourite way to eat it is bread (bagel or seeded toast), peanut butter, sprinkle of ground cinnamon and mashed banana on top. Best breakfast ever! Loved this...gonna have to try the boiled peanuts, something I'm not familiar with here in the UK.
I love peanut butter! I switch from classic creamy Jiff to making my own with unsalted roasted peanuts in my Vitamix and adding sea salt ! I like to process it very creamy which gets heated and soft by the blades but stiffens up when cooled down, so your tip adjusting thickness with oil and water is great knowledge to me ! Thank you!
I grew up in a Skippy Creamy household...in high school I discovered Crunchy made better peanut butter cookies. Now my go-to is Adams Crunchy, because better flavor. Skip the raspberry jam, fresh raspberries do just fine. Or apple slices and cinnamon. Thanks for the great video.
Also, I recall watching another video of Nina Simone talking about when she was a girl. Her mother used to put peanut butter in soups and stews. I tried that for soup and it adds a level of richness umami. Whatever It's good that way. Also, about peanuts, handed down from my dad's Appalachian roots is a dessert for potato candy that calls for peanut butter. It's literally just potatoes, powdered sugar, and peanut butter. To smooth out peanut butter. Sometimes I will put some in a Pyrex microwavable cup, add some water, heat it up for a few (5-8) seconds and blend it. This thins it out. It does not thicken it.
Crunchy! I agree with Brent Self - fried peanut butter sandwiches with raspberry preserves are amazing. Or try peanut butter on toast with iceberg lettuce. The heat from the toast melts the peanut butter.. OMG!
I like creamy peanut butter. I usually buy organic. I had no idea why some peanut butter had added oil in them and wondered why. Now I know why thanks to this video. The peanut butter cookies in this video sound so amazing that I definitely want to make them.
Great story, something everyone - except those allergic to nuts. I am mostly creamy, but do not mind crunchy. I use crunchy when baking (cookies) or making smoothies. Do not forget PB and bananas, and strawberry rhubarb jam (more chucks less sugar?)
I vastly prefer creamy/smooth peanut butter. If I want pieces of peanut, then I can just eat the whole nuts. But in a sandwich, which is 99% of my peanut butter consumption vector, I want the smooth texture of creamy peanut butter. More specifically, I want the smoothness that can only be achieved by using something like a melanger to ensure extremely fine and emulsified particulate. I have a lot of foods that I have textural issues with, such as ice cream, orange juice, jam, etc. Basically, I don't often want little chunks of things in my otherwise smooth food products. I just want to enjoy the smooth texture. So I don't generally want mix-ins in my ice cream, I don't want pulp in my orange juice, and I don't want seeds in my jam. I get the distinct impression that there are plenty of other neurodivergent people who have similar opinions.
The best way is a sandwich with strawberry freezer jam. It’s hard to qualify but I’d say at least 80% better than any jam you can buy in the store I’d recommend using the gel pectin. It’s a bit more expensive, but easier to execute with more consistency. Directions are usually included on the box and it makes four medium mason jars. Honestly, you won’t believe how fresh and bright red this jam is and you’ll look for ways to use it.
Creamy all the time. I accidently bought the chunky once, and only once. A childhood friend after a sleepover, for breakfast we ate waffles on the top was a pad of butter and a big scoop of peanut butter, that was topped with hot maple syrup! I will never eat waffles without peanut butter. If I just want a big scoop of peanut butter I scoop a small amount of butter before the peanut butter. For the reasons you gave it makes it easier to swallow. Thanks Dan!
Creamy and 100% natural. We have a store brand that's just peanuts and salt. Yes it separates, but I have freezer containers that leave enough room to stir it.
Ok, from now on, I’m saying “the best thing since the summer of 1928” when I’m around my kids. It irritates the heck out of them when I say weird stuff no one else says. Thanks, Dan! (And I love peanut butter. Thanks again.)
Tell them you almost drowned them in the tub when they were younger.
That's the best thing since sliced jam.
2:30,
Slaves enjoy peanuts
Peanut Butter appears as recipe #51 in the 2nd Edition of Carver's book: "Shell the peanuts; roast just enough so that the hulls will slip off easily; remove all the hulls by gently rolling, fanning, and screening; grind very fine in any sort of mill, passing through several times if necessary; pack in cans, bottles, or jars, and seal if not for immediate use. Some manufacturers add a little salt and a small amount of olive oil; others do not, according to taste. For small quantities of butter a good meat-grinder will answer the purpose. If the nuts are ground fine enough no additional oil will be necessary."
The reference to manufacturers, though, suggest that the peanut butter industry cropped up since the first edition; it appeared in a jif, you might say.
Wow, thanks for this! I didn't realize it made it into the 2nd edition
Ty for sharing this historical recipe!
Very cool!
Although he didn't invent it: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_butter#History "As the US National Peanut Board confirms, "Contrary to popular belief, George Washington Carver did not invent peanut butter." Carver was given credit in popular folklore for many inventions that did not come out of his lab. By the time Carver published his document about peanuts, entitled "How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it For Human Consumption" in 1916, many methods of preparation of peanut butter had already been developed or patented by various pharmacists, doctors, and food scientists working in the US and Canada."
Dan I don’t usually watch a recipe for the humor, but you have changed that.
Chef John always makes me giggle.
One of my first dating questions is what jelly/jam on a PN&J? Correct answer: grape. But for you, I'll try raspberry.
Damn yall should check out you suck at cooking! Brilliant videos
@@55crusherman55 YSAC is mostly a humor channel to me. I've seen them all.
Wow, other than my family I thought I was the only one to understand the 2 different types of PBJ sammies. My mom would make the "to go's" by mixing the pb&j together. It honestly gives it a whole NEW flavor and texture, and it always felt like a treat!! What a great episode!!
Most likely always somewhat chunky, because home made is best. I've never gotten blenderized to be totally smooth - and I don't care. Can't wait to make both of these recipes. Thanks Dan.
I love warm peanut butter fresh out of the blender.
if you really, really want home made peanut butter as smooth as store-bought, then you can pick up a countertop chocolate melanger for that purpose. Blend or food process your nuts until you get a relatively smooth peanut butter before transferring to the melanger. The rolling steel or stone wheels inside the melanger, along with the scrapers, will ensure that the nut pieces get crushed and emulsified into a perfectly smooth emulsion. You very likely won't need to add any additional oil, as you'll be expelling the majority of the oil from the peanuts during the extended processing stage, but you may need to add water to thicken it back up.
Peanuts are wonderful in all forms, but I'd like to vouch for Chinese braised peanuts specifically. Served as an appetizer in restaurants, they're sweet, savoury, soy saucey and, of course, peanutty.
I miss the Bama peanut butter in those mugs. They were great for a struggling young married couple and jelly came in juice glasses!
I love the all-natural just peanuts peanut butter; it’s also best for making peanut sauce for stir fry or spring rolls.
Creamy Jif is my favorite peanut butter, my grandmother’s homemade raspberry jelly was awesome. Thanks Dan for the peanut butter sandwich cookies! 😋
I always enjoy your videos, but this one has to be the best so far. I feel like I've been a Cooks Illustrated devotee since before you were born, Dan, and I have to say that the magazine and ATK image has been thoroughly revitalized thanks to your touch!
So kind of you to say! Thank you.
@MH I agree about Dan💕
Smuckers Natural creamy OR crunchy is addictive for me😋
And I love peanut butter on my yellow to lightly speckled banana, and frozen plain yogurt😋
😄 I see what you did there🍌 Someone remembers Dan's 'Science of Bananas' episode. 👍
Smooth/creamy for me. It's what I grew up on so... that's the only way for me. That homemade one looks good though. Would like to try it someday. I studied George Washington Carver when I was in junior high school. I did it on my own as the teacher didn't do anything but briefly mention him. I found he was a professional and highly caring man and he is a hero in my book. I read everything i could get my hands on at the time about him and his work.
One of my favorite ways to have peanut butter (in the morning) quickly put a little butter (no margarine) on a piece of toast & then the peanut butter...yum! The "trick" is making sure you have a hot piece of toast so the peanut butter kinda melts like the butter and don't be shy with the peanut butter.
YES. the melted butter thins out the PB perfectly. it's the only way to have peanut butter on toast!!
Loved this! I have both creamy and crunchy in my pantry at all times.
OH MAN DO I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER! I have, in the past, taken a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter on a bike camping trip and that was my sole source of sustenance.
My preferred peanut butter is Adams which is natural/separates, but during the pandemic my local store started offering a bigger jar which made the pain of stirring it far easier than the small jars had been. I would never turn down any other type of peanut butter though. Can't wait to make those peanut butter cookie sandwiches! Alton Brown also has a "pantry raid" video from Early Pandemic where he makes really easy, really good, peanut butter cookies.
100% natural smooth … sometimes crunchy - variety is the spice of life! I usually get the salt and sugar free version and sprinkle with sea-salt for popping both taste and texture. Thanks for another great episode Dan … when do we get to see your cat again? All the best from Sweden (yes the whole country!)
Another Day, Another Slay for Dan with a new episode that brings us joy.
...the best video since the summer of 1928! 😊 😊 My preferences: all natural (just ground peanuts & salt), chunky in sandwiches, creamy when dipping frozen banana "sticks", during the hot summer months.
From Wisconsin: butter on both pieces of bread, then mix the hydrogenated peanut butter and strawberry jam (grape jam tastes like communion wine)! Whole wheat bread with seeds if your not a wimp! I’m 64!!
Crunchy always but smooth for emergencies. Those peanut butter cookies look amazing. I make a really nice crunchy peanut sauce with all natural crunchy peanut butter
I make peanut butter with just peanuts with my Vitamix and it always comes out perfect. Love you, Dan! You’re my fave ATK chef!
My favorite peanut butter sandwich was always SF sourdough, peanut butter on one slice and salted cow butter on the other, with strawberry jam in the middle. I use coarsely ground peanut butter without chunks, or whatever I have on hand.
That sounds like the perfect PB&J to me, too!
Now I have a craving for pb&j. Thanks Dan!
Try browning a pbj sandwich on each side in a skillet with butter, so amazing!
Grilled pb&j 👌
🤯 You just changed the game my friend
With Nutella!!!!! And a side of fresh strawberry jam!
sam the cooking guy on youtube made a deep fried peanut butter and jam sandwich,,, now thats something to try
My favorite is peanut butter and honey! It's especially good when it's been in the fridge and the honey has crystallized. While working in London I one gave half my sandwich to a co-worker who had never tasted peanut butter and the look of pleasure that lit up her face as she experienced it for the first time was priceless.
Oh Dan, I love you and could watch you all day long. And it's crunchy for me, but smooth is also good.
I’m 63 years old my favorite peanut butter is on a spoon. Doesn’t matter what brand, type,or if crunch or smooth. I prefer all natural for making peanut butter cookies because they just taste better. And your sandwiches need more peanut butter and to be spread to the crust of the bread, both slices whether to eat now or to go. Have you ever tried a pb and banana? Love them.❤️👍
OMG. Creamy, smooth, made-at-home peanut butter. Yes!!! And same goes for the DIY chocolate/peanut butter cups. We'll have to try the cookie. Thanks for sharing the recipes and tips...along with the humor and fun! You rocked this, Dan!!! Best wishes to you!
Fresh made at Picards Peanuts (an Ontario store). You grab a bag of peanuts, dump it into a machine, place your container underneath... press start, and watch magic happen. Result crunchy all natural peanut butter.
I love Dan’s videos so much, but this one is most probably the best one ever! While I do like both Creamy & Crunchy, I tend to live off of Creamy Jif. Yes, I know the incomparable Jack Bishop did a taste testing and declared Skippy to be the winner. However I am a diehard Jif junky and am too stuck in my ways to even bother getting a jar of Skippy. My grandmother’s peanut butter cookies were the best but I am tempted to try this recipe. And the best way to eat peanut butter is put a dollop in the bottom of your ramen bowl, add a healthy squirt of gochujang sauce, tip the noodles and broth into the bowl, and stir to mix it all up. Works best with the soy sauce flavored noodles 🍜👍🏼 but roasted chicken is a fair 2nd. (I’m 60 years old so this addiction has gone on for eons!) Thanks Dan & ATK. ❤️❤️❤️
Skippy is no longer a US brand. I can't support the country that now owns it.
I use powdered peanut butter in my cookies. And smooth peanut butter. And peanut butter chips. And chopped peanuts. I coat them in lightly-sweetened cocoa powder and sprinkle them with coarse sea salt before baking.
I like both creamy and crunchy ~ depending on what I'm making. This was VERY interesting. Thank you so much.
The delivery of this information with just the right amount of humor and sarcasm! Giggle!! I love it! Thanks so much!
My favorite way to eat peanut butter is with gala apple slices (has to be gala, other apples just taste weird). As for chunky vs. smooth I don’t care, I like to switch it up/ it matters far more to me that it’s the kind that separates. There’s nothing better than that first spoonful out of a fresh jar.
Great timing on this video Dan! My husband is a peanut farmer, and right now the peanuts are “green”, and in the perfect state for boiled peanuts! That is my favorite way to eat peanuts. But in another month or so, harvest will begin, and I will grind my own peanut butter! It is heavenly! Especially in my chocolate peanut butter cupcakes!
Chocolate peanut butter cupcakes😍. Have mercy!
God bless the farmer!
BRILLIANT! Love your sense of humor and obvious intelligence. 😉 Great information and history!
I love having a griddled pb&j. A toasted pb&j is amazing too! My go to jam is strawberry, with apricot being a close second, and grape a distant third. My favorite peanut butter is chunky/crunchy, but I won't turn up my nose at smooth.
I prefer my peanut butter without added sugar. Smuckers is my choice⭐
Try Once Again brand!
@@delladearest2511 I've never seen this brand in any of the grocery stores in my area. I mainly see Smuckers, Krema, Maranatha, and the generic brands.
My go to recipe for peanut butter cookies is 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup sugar (I prefer brown as it makes chewier cookies) 1 egg. This is pure peanut heaven!!’ Give it a try. The sugar you use is up to you, but white sugar leads to a crispier cookie. Or you can half white half brown. It is completely up to you! No ‘flavor dulling’ flour or butter flavor, just pure peanut! And for me, creamy, primarily because I have sensitive teeth and the nut pieces can be painful.
Team smooth! Never tried boiled peanuts before. I’m surprised peanut powder was not mentioned in this episode. Either way, I always enjoy Dan-education 😁
Did you miss the peanut powder in the cookie recipe, or do you mean a different kind of powder?
@@MG-vo7is Pretty sure the OP means pre-prepared peanut powder, rather than the sort of peanut "meal" Dan makes (which he notably calls "finely chopped," not "powder") -- there are likely a number of people who don't know that peanut powder can be purchased as a pre-made product that can be itself be used in a number of different ways.
Boiled peanuts are really popular in the southeast. I grew up in Florida and it was rare to pass a gas station that didnt sell the peanut patch brand out of a crock pot in styrofoam cups. They sell them canned at walmart, but if you can find raw peanits you have to try them homemade.
@@georgen9838 Thanks, yes that’s exactly what I was talking about!
@@MetalDave92 I’ll try to find raw peanuts and make them myself. Thank you!
If I'm baking cookies, I prefer smooth. For eating without cooking I want chunky. My favorite cookie is just 3 ingredients-- peanutbutter, sugar and egg. Easy to remember 1 cup on, 1cup sugar and 1 egg. Easy to double or even triple for larger batches.
I burst out laughing at the raspberry jam comment, I think I need a life, you are awesome, Dan!
I roast and grind my own peanuts to make PB in my Vitamix, but for baking I use Jif or Skippy. Favorite = peanut butter & orange marmalade on rye toast. No preference on chunky vs. smooth, love both.
Jif is totally trash with added sugar and palm oil.
where can I get peanuts in bulk to make my own ? :)
I'm not going to be much help. This sort of depends on why you want to make your own peanut butter, one of my reasons is I'm a penny pincher. I get mine from idla*, their dry roasted unsalted peanuts come out to $0.13/oz., and I can't find them cheaper anywhere including in bulk. I re-roast them a couple shades darker then blend away with whatever I feel like adding at the moment, but always a nice pinch of salt. I know many organic and small farm supporting devotees will take issue with this, and that's fine, but it works for me.
I made friendly with a local baker to purchase some malted rye powder for bread baking that was difficult to find, maybe there's a local restaurant owner you know or can sidle up to --- one thing I learned from cooking in restaurants is those vendors can get just about ANYTHING and at great prices. Otherwise just an internet search may work, just be careful to get shelled peanuts --- the ones in shell are much cheaper, but that means you better love shelling nuts.
Unrelated: I add a handful of peanuts to the blender when I make my oat milk every week, after it's strained it's so dang creamy and delicious.
*Spelled backward because TH-cam won't allow me to name other companies.
@@getoffmydarnlawn That was perfect- -yes I want to do it for two reasons - to save money AND to control what goes in - and also to be a but fun like adding honey or maple :) THANKS
Me too with the PB & OM on rye toast... And I prefer my rye "well done"
I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER!! I used to eat waffles with peanut butter and syrup 4-6 times a week and now I add it to my morning oatmeal!
I'm Team Crunchy! I love the bits of peanuts! Especially in a PB&J sammich! ❤️
Crunchy Kraft. Don’t sleep! 🇨🇦
I love Dan videos. He makes a simple topic very interesting with lots of side details and history!
Dan, you make me smile regardless of that food experience you're sharing💞
who loves a PB&Honey sandwich and leaves the honey exposed for a bit of time so it soaks into the bread and starts to crystalize? surely not just me.
Yes. Changes the flavor profile, as does PB&Maple syrup. Both are very good.
@@davidbuben3262 i have'nt tried with MS, any particular bread you'd recommend?
Smooth for PBJs, and crunchy for celery, apples, and eating out of a spoon. I'm looking forward to trying the PB cookie sandwiches. And boiled peanuts are a sure sign of summer in the South. Love them with and without a beer. Love you Dan!
I can’t wait to try that cookie recipe 😍
Chunky!!! And strawberry jam for the win, too
As a Northerner transplanted to the South over 30 years ago, I have been obsessed with peanutbutter pie for years. Sadly, it has virtually disappeared from local restaurants. Please do the research and add the best version to your repertoire. Thanks!
I loved it too! NEVER see it offered at any restaurant, sadly. The kind I was used to was made with cream cheese in the peanut butter, in an Oreo crust, with hardened chocolate on top…
Peanut butter is one of my favorites and because I started going through it at an alarming rate, I thought it best about a year ago to start making my own. Took a couple tried to figure out what I looked best in terms of how dark to roast and how much salt to add but I'm thoroughly excited to thicken it with water now. I had no clue about that so thanks!
Over share: the kitty litter sandwich scene in Little Rascals made me ask my mom for crunchy peanut butter. It just sounded so good!
Haven't seen that one. How did they make it? Sounds cute!
Here's my overshare: My mom had 5 kids within 6 yrs. So we didn't bother her for snacks all the time, she kept an open jar of pb in the pantry with a spoon stuck in it. We would take a dallop straight from the jar and leave the spoon in it for the next kid. I have never done that with my own kids but times were different back then.
Also my little sister had sun lightened brown hair. It was striped from the sun bleaching it so my mom described it as peanut butter and jelly hair. It looked like the striped jar of peanut butter and jelly that used to be on the grocery shelves.
THANK YOU for showing the peanut butter mixer which I just ordered from Amazon, since we only eat old fashioned smooth peanut butter that has peanuts and salt! Which we make in our Vitamix.
Dan, this was an utterly delightful episode that made me laugh out loud and lifted my spirits. And, there's no easy way of saying this so I'll just get it out there-- could we hang out some time? I'll come over with peanut butter, and you can call your friends who decided to count the peanut bits in crunchy peanut butter, and you can introduce me? Those are my people Dan. I need to meet them, so we can... count other bits in other things. But also, when I come over to hang (this is strictly platonic, don't get it twisted, I'll bring ATK's Classic Peanut Butter Cookies, as those are my all time favorite peanut butter cookies. Please provide milk. Btw, I refuse to eat anything that is called "chunky," so crunchy peanut butter it is.
So if I were to tell you I quit skinny dipping many, many, MANY years ago and now I Chunky Dunk instead, would that be okay to use the word "chunky"? Just kidding fortunately. Nowadays if I shed my MANY layers of clothes I frighten the wildlife off in a five hundred mile radius, so I will spare y'll that disturbance! Just thought I would add just a little humor in myself. God bless you and I, too, love "crunchy or chunky" peanut butter! The crunchier the better!!!
I'm partial to super crunchy, but smooth is also excellent. Just peanuts and salt. I like either on a PB&J. The J I'm way pickier about. Thick jam, preserves, or marmalade on fairly soft whole wheat bread. PB and banana sandwiches are also a favorite.
Oddly enough, I wasn't a huge fan of peanut butter until I became an adult. And now I crave it as much as Dan.🥜
I had to switch to creamy, I think crunchy was contributing to kidney stones for me.
Me too. In the UK it's only a recently childhood ubiquitous thing. It was around 40 years back, but not especially ppopular.
Never liked as a kid. Now a senior citizen I panic if a don’t have any.
I like creamy or crunchy, but usually prefer creamy, because of it's versatility. Natural PB is my go-to, but that stirrer may convert me! PB is something I could eat daily and often do! 😋 Dan, keep the edu and video coming! So much fun to deepen my culinary knowledge.
Dan, your comedy, repertoire of facts and skills are the best thing since the summer of 1928.
Clever!
I do have to agree with the tangent. starting the day with a piece of pie is pretty wonderful. crunchy peanut butter (with salt). all of the recipies sound good.
Great episode - had me laughing after a long week. Now I want peanut butter cookies…
Very nice presentation!
Ok, how come he can eat all these goodies and NOT gain an ounce, whereas I gain weight just by "thinking" about food?
I dunno, but either way, I always enjoy his vids. They are both informative and fun. As far as creamy vs crunchy, it depends what the PB is in. In a sandwich, creamy, definitely. However, in sauces, like Thai peanut sauce, the crunchy adds a little more texture. I always buy the "natural" pb (just peanuts and salt), but I gotta admit that Jif or Skippy, with the added sugar and hydrogenated oil, are delicious.
Microbiome differences most likely
He likely doesn't eat a lot of unhealthy food at one time. And probably eats it less often than he is suggesting. Definitely doesn't regularly eat a slice of pie for breakfast and dessert. But if he does, both slices combined are smaller than a lot of people's "just one slice".
They consume fewer calories than you do or burn more calories than you do. It’s not complex.
@@MikehMike01 It actually is complex. Biology is much more complicated than just "calories in" and "calories out." Not everything in life is simple math.
@@trailcattoffee so you don’t believe in the fundamental laws of physics, cool
All natural crunchy and smooth depending on mood. You are sooo funny and very informative. 👏🏼🙏🏼💜
Hi Dan and Cook’s Illustrated team! You have wonderful and informative videos, and that is why I hope you will consider publishing a correction to this video. Peanuts are native to today’s Latin America. I am a university professor who specializes in Indigenous cultures of the Americas pre-contact with Europe/Africa, and so this is a fact I am quite certain about (and even cites like Wikipedia are correct on this point as well). In fact, in areas like Mexico, people still use an Indigenous word for peanuts (cacahuate, coming from the Nahuatl word cacahuatl). Thank you for considering issuing a correction!
This was fascinating!
Extra crunchy fan here. Thanks Dan, you are just too cute!😊
My late father used to eat peanut butter and butter sandwiches. I like peanut butter and honey sandwiches. And my dad liked chunky. I used to like chunky, but lately smooth. Thanks for all your videos.
Great video but one (possible) mistake. Your intro implies that peanuts came from Africa with slaves. In fact, they are native to South America. It's possible I suppose that slaves from South American brought them to North America but they didn't originate in Africa.
It does not imply that, respectfully. It directly states how peanuts got to the US
Smooth for spoons, crackers, or sandwiches. Jif is my favorite, followed by Skippy. I do use chunky for cookies. Who else used to get a snack of just peanut butter on a spoon? Just my house? I mix the PB with the J and make a spread. Keeps the jelly from drying out the bread or falling out of the middle.
My favourite as well! Definitey natural, either way smooth or crunchy. Thanks Dan!
YES!! BOILED PEANUTS!!! Sorry for shouting, but they are our absolute favorite way to eat peanuts. So easy to make and so incredibly good.
One of my favorite indulgent snacks is mixing smooth peanut butter with maple syrup. My Mom taught it to me, and I often eat it whenever I'm feeling down. Miss you, Mom!
Creamy smooth & natural! Thanks for the cookie recipe. Will give it a try! Very interesting description of why it is so hard to swallow. Thanks for that . So drinking water is not a god idea but putting plenty of butter on the bread should help . And that is usually what I do .
Interesting fact: Kraft introduced Peanut Butter to Canadians in 1958. It’s the only PB I’ve ever eaten! When I moved to the USA I was in a panic, as Kraft had never introduced it to the USA, and had no intention of doing so. For a brief period of time, Kraft USA put out Planters, which was similar enough to the PB I love. However, it didn’t last, and I was back to importing it. ☹️ So, for the past 20 years I’ve imported my peanut butter, from Canada, and I never share it with anyone; except my hubby. 😊
@@sandrah7512 okay so someone else developed it. Kraft brought it to the masses, and only in C@nada eh?
I like a dark roast natural smooth peanut butter. I put it on a light multigrain bread with a low sugar raspberry jam. I like natural peanut since it's astringent and contrasts with the almost tart low sugar raspberry jam. And I love that peanut butter stirring handle lid thing.
In support of the crunchy team.
Thinking of combing the peanut butter sandwich cookies with the peanut butter cups. Dip half of the sandwich cookie into
the chocolate. Sounds so good to me.
for years I was no-salt smooth, then switched to crunchy. Mix it up, Mix it in.
Nori on the sweet pb squares: Party time, trying to get rid of some PB/Jif I mixed it with powdered sugar (and butter,? dont think so but dont remember). OK into the freezer since it turns int.. well peanut butter. And I slightly slated the top and topped each with a square of nori. Winners.
The bad part is they melt at room temp.
Extra: I discovered that any PB sandwich tastes better when the bread is buttered first. I use real cowmilk butter.
Love this series! Well written and entertaining! I love super chunk peanut butter and can’t resist peanut butter cups. 🙃 keep up the great work, Dan and ATK! Thank you 😊
Crunchy/chunky, but if not available, smooth will do.
This video is the best thing since the summer of 1928. My favorite way to eat peanut butter is in a PB&J banana split. Close second is with some belvita buscuits.
For PB&J, natural crunchy!!! With graham crackers, fluff, and chocolate chips... creamy.
As someone who is deathly allergic to peanuts and also watched this video to the end can def vouch for how entertaining Dan’s videos are. I can’t wait for the next one so I can actually make the recipe 😅
You can make butters out of other nuts if you want and can have them.
@@deepattison9329 excellent point! Almond butter, cashew butter, etc probably would be just as delicious as peanut better!
I'm definitely a natural nothing added smooth pb fan. I lob it into most recipes in place of regular butter- particularly brownies. Favourite way to eat it is bread (bagel or seeded toast), peanut butter, sprinkle of ground cinnamon and mashed banana on top. Best breakfast ever! Loved this...gonna have to try the boiled peanuts, something I'm not familiar with here in the UK.
I love peanut butter! I switch from classic creamy Jiff to making my own with unsalted roasted peanuts in my Vitamix and adding sea salt !
I like to process it very creamy which gets heated and soft by the blades but stiffens up when cooled down, so your tip adjusting thickness with oil and water is great knowledge to me ! Thank you!
Crunchy for eating (by spoon or on a bread product, preferably toasted, to melt the PB), smooth for baking and fudge.
I grew up in a Skippy Creamy household...in high school I discovered Crunchy made better peanut butter cookies. Now my go-to is Adams Crunchy, because better flavor. Skip the raspberry jam, fresh raspberries do just fine. Or apple slices and cinnamon. Thanks for the great video.
Also, I recall watching another video of Nina Simone talking about when she was a girl. Her mother used to put peanut butter in soups and stews. I tried that for soup and it adds a level of richness umami. Whatever It's good that way.
Also, about peanuts, handed down from my dad's Appalachian roots is a dessert for potato candy that calls for peanut butter. It's literally just potatoes, powdered sugar, and peanut butter.
To smooth out peanut butter. Sometimes I will put some in a Pyrex microwavable cup, add some water, heat it up for a few (5-8) seconds and blend it. This thins it out. It does not thicken it.
Going to try your potato candy tonight!
Crunchy! I agree with Brent Self - fried peanut butter sandwiches with raspberry preserves are amazing. Or try peanut butter on toast with iceberg lettuce. The heat from the toast melts the peanut butter.. OMG!
I like creamy peanut butter. I usually buy organic. I had no idea why some peanut butter had added oil in them and wondered why. Now I know why thanks to this video. The peanut butter cookies in this video sound so amazing that I definitely want to make them.
All natural, creamy is my favorite. I mix in the oil with a table knife twirled between my hands.
Great story, something everyone - except those allergic to nuts. I am mostly creamy, but do not mind crunchy. I use crunchy when baking (cookies) or making smoothies. Do not forget PB and bananas, and strawberry rhubarb jam (more chucks less sugar?)
I prefer chunky. And one of my favorite ways to use peanut butter is in stews and curries. Adds a wonderful flavor while thickening
I vastly prefer creamy/smooth peanut butter. If I want pieces of peanut, then I can just eat the whole nuts. But in a sandwich, which is 99% of my peanut butter consumption vector, I want the smooth texture of creamy peanut butter. More specifically, I want the smoothness that can only be achieved by using something like a melanger to ensure extremely fine and emulsified particulate. I have a lot of foods that I have textural issues with, such as ice cream, orange juice, jam, etc. Basically, I don't often want little chunks of things in my otherwise smooth food products. I just want to enjoy the smooth texture. So I don't generally want mix-ins in my ice cream, I don't want pulp in my orange juice, and I don't want seeds in my jam. I get the distinct impression that there are plenty of other neurodivergent people who have similar opinions.
The best way is a sandwich with strawberry freezer jam. It’s hard to qualify but I’d say at least 80% better than any jam you can buy in the store I’d recommend using the gel pectin. It’s a bit more expensive, but easier to execute with more consistency. Directions are usually included on the box and it makes four medium mason jars. Honestly, you won’t believe how fresh and bright red this jam is and you’ll look for ways to use it.
Creamy all the time. I accidently bought the chunky once, and only once. A childhood friend after a sleepover, for breakfast we ate waffles on the top was a pad of butter and a big scoop of peanut butter, that was topped with hot maple syrup! I will never eat waffles without peanut butter. If I just want a big scoop of peanut butter I scoop a small amount of butter before the peanut butter. For the reasons you gave it makes it easier to swallow. Thanks Dan!
Creamy and 100% natural. We have a store brand that's just peanuts and salt. Yes it separates, but I have freezer containers that leave enough room to stir it.
Crunchy! Texture is awesome. Jif is my favorite. PB, Raspberry jam, on nutty wheat bread.