Homemade Peanut Butter

February 2031. The news of my leaving the pipeline moved through the community in the way that local news moves—not dramatically, but reaching people I didn't expect. Three different people approached me in the space of a week: one asked if I'd be available to consult on a traditional foods initiative for the school district, one asked whether the workshops would expand now that I had more time, and one—an elder at the community center who had been to several of the events I'd cooked for—asked if I'd ever considered teaching.

I said teaching what. She said: what you know. She said: the young people who come to the workshops are hungry for more than a single day. She said there was a program at the Cherokee Nation vocational center that was looking for someone to develop a traditional foods and agroecology curriculum. She said she'd nominated me before telling me about it. I said that was a presumptuous thing to do. She said: yes. She said: was she wrong? I said: no. She seemed unsurprised.

I went home and sat with it. Lily was developing curriculum for OU. I'd been doing informal curriculum through the workshops for seven years. Kai was in a formal educational program that was teaching what I did intuitively. There was a line connecting all of these things and I'd been walking it for a long time. The curriculum offer was just the next step on that line.

Made kanuchi while thinking about it. The pounding is meditative in exactly the right way—it occupies the body completely and leaves the mind free. By the time the broth was rich and dark I knew I'd say yes.

The kanuchi I made that afternoon reminded me, as it always does, that some of the most clarifying cooking is the kind that demands something physical from you — a rhythm, a repetition, a sustained effort of the hands. Homemade peanut butter carries that same quality: there’s a moment in the processing where the nuts resist, then surrender, and something entirely new comes through. It’s the recipe I reach for when I need to think without thinking, when a decision is already forming and just needs room to arrive. This is the version I’ve made for years — no additives, nothing unnecessary, just the nut and the work.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 10 min | Servings: 16 (about 2 cups)

Ingredients

2 cups dry-roasted peanuts (unsalted or lightly salted)
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon honey or pure maple syrup (optional)
1–2 teaspoons neutral oil such as peanut or avocado oil (optional, for texture)

Instructions

Start the processor. Add the peanuts to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Process on high for 1 minute — the peanuts will break down into a coarse, crumbly meal.
Scrape and continue. Stop the machine, scrape down the sides of the bowl, then process again for another 1–2 minutes. The mixture will clump into a thick ball before it loosens. Be patient — this is the resistant stage.
Refine the texture. Continue processing, scraping down as needed, until the butter is smooth and glossy, 2–4 minutes total. If the mixture seems stiff, add oil one teaspoon at a time with the machine running.
Season. Add salt and honey or maple syrup if using. Pulse 5–6 times to incorporate, then taste and adjust. The butter should be savory-forward with a clean, roasted finish.
Store. Transfer to a clean glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, or refrigerate for up to 2 months. Stir before each use if oil separates.

Nutrition (per serving, approximately 2 tablespoons)

Homemade Peanut Butter — When the Pounding Clears the Mind