The Basics: Homemade Peanut Butter · Kinship

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How to Make Homemade Peanut Butter for Your Dog

It’s National Peanut Butter Day! Celebrate by whipping up some baked PB & Banana treats for your pup.

by Claudia Kawczynska
January 24, 2022
a dog getting ready to eat peanut butter from a spoon
Elizabeth Foley / Adobe Stock

When thinking of superfoods, one generally considers kale, spinach, or something else green we’re all constantly telling ourselves to eat more of. However, there’s one superfood with a muddier color palette — albeit for dogs — and that’s peanut butter. If you’ve ever used peanut butter to bake treats, make pills more enticing, or stuff a Kong, you’re well aware of how much dogs love the stuff. The only problem is many commercial peanut butters contain ingredients that are unnecessary for dogs (like sugar) or downright toxic (like xylitol). Ideally, the peanut butter you give your dog should contain little to no additives. 

There are dog-friendly peanut butter options, but you can also choose to make it yourself — it’s easier than you might think. Check out the simple recipe for homemade peanut butter below; then, use it to make the easy, frozen peanut butter-banana treat recipe that follows. 

Benefits of Peanut Butter for Dogs

Peanut butter is a great addition to your dog’s diet. Here are a few reasons why:

  • Roasted peanuts contain 22 percent more antioxidants than uncooked peanuts.

  • Peanut butter packs vitamin E and cholesterol-regulating monounsaturated fats.

  • Peanut butter is cholesterol-free.

  • The vitamins in peanut butter, such as vitamins H and K, give dogs a shiny coat.

Recipe: Homemade Peanut Butter for Dogs

Homemade Peanut Butter for Dogs

If you have a food processor or blender, you can make this foolproof recipe. Here’s how.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cup unsalted, roasted peanuts

1 tsp. honey or molasses (optional)

1 tsp. or more peanut or safflower oil (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Place peanuts into a food processor or high-speed blender.

2. Process the peanuts until the butter is the desired consistency.

Note: Peanuts go through different stages when blended, starting with a crushed “blob,” then becoming a paste with the consistency of pie dough. After that, it becomes a thicker paste before it finally becomes a more creamy, textured peanut butter. It can take around three minutes for the oils to be released so the peanut “paste” can become a butter.

3. For dogs who like a bit of a crunch, chop up 1/4 cup of peanuts and add to the finished peanut butter using a spatula.

4. Refrigerate the peanut butter in an airtight container. Makes around one cup.

Tip: When I first made peanut butter for my dogs, I wasn’t aware of all the processing stages, so I stopped when it was a “thicker paste,” which made it difficult to spread (the dogs didn’t mind though!). But only a minute or two more of processing time results in a perfectly creamy peanut butter. The lesson here is to keep processing. If your blender or food processor gets too warm, turn it off, let it cool, and then continue processing. It’s like magic once you get to that buttery stage.

Easy Frozen Peanut Butter-Banana Treat for Dogs

Dogs love these delicious, peanut butter snacks. Consider adding in some other superfoods like blueberries or pumpkins, too.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 mashed banana

Water

DIRECTIONS

1. In a bowl, mix the peanut butter and banana with a little water.

2. Put into ice cube trays (silicone ones work well).

3. Freeze for a few hours.

Claudia Kawczynska

Claudia Kawczynska was co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Bark for 20 years. She also edited the best-selling anthology Dog Is My Co-Pilot.

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