While it is true that shop-bought ready-prepared peanut butter is in general readily available in places where peanut butter is part of the staple diet, it is also true that in other parts of the world it is not so easy to get hold of (a bit like Marmite). If you should find yourself in such a place - or you simply have a yen for that homemade taste - do not despair. As it turns out, peanut butter is astonishingly easy to make. Here's how:¹

Ingredients.

500g roasted peanuts (salted or unsalted).

About 2 tablespoonfuls of groundnut/peanut oil.

Salt (to taste).

Method.

Generally speaking you can buy your peanuts already roasted. If you really want to go from first principles, for the ultimate in freshness, place your peanuts onto a baking tray and roast in a cool oven for ten to fifteen minutes. Once cooled, the shells should be easy to rub off using a clean tea towel.

Next, grind the nuts up really small. Of course, it depends on whether you are a smooth or crunchy peanut butter person as to just how small.

Then simply add the oil a few drops at a time and beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes a paste of your preferred consistency. If you are using an blender/food mixer, you can add the oil all at once and whizz for about 15 seconds. If you can't find groundnut oil, then pretty much any other kind of cooking oil is an acceptable alternative.

Add salt to taste.