Peanut Butter - Spread it Thick

This month (November) is National Peanut Butter Lovers’ Month, what a good time for those tasty holiday recipes, nutty treats, and smooth gooey sandwiches.

The definition of peanut butter is “food paste made primarily from a ground nut of the legume family”. That doesn’t sound appetizing at all! But people have liked the taste of peanut butter for centuries. Peanuts were primarily grown in the Americas where they are native, and were used by Indians in South America as early as 950 B.C. Since then, peanut butter has been invented and reinvented several times.  I always thought the credit went to George Washington Carver, and with his background of living in Missouri and Kansas and attending Iowa State University in the late 1800’s, he seemed almost like a local we could be proud of for developing such a well-liked food.
Even though Mr. Carver did find over 300 uses for the peanut, he didn’t patent any of the methods or recipes, believing that food products were all gifts of God.

In the early 1900’s others weren’t so shy about making a profit from their inventions to process the food. Many companies were producing peanut butter in 1914; and in 1928 Peter Pan Company received a license for a churning process to create a smooth peanut butter. Not to be outdone, the Skippy Company soon developed and marketed chunky peanut butter.

Recently another nut spread – hazelnut – has been gaining popularity. We usually know it as Nutella, but that’s a brand name. It is a chocolate flavored spread of hazelnuts, originally developed in WWII because of the cocoa shortage. We’ll soon see other companies marketing this tasty spread too; Jif Company has introduced a Chocolate Flavored Hazelnut Spread and a Mocha Cappuccino Flavored Hazelnut Spread. Not in my local store yet, but something to look for when I go to the big store in the city. The hazelnut spread is especially yummy with peanut butter – for a triple treat add a smear of Marshmallow Fluff on the graham crackers! Eat slowly, its not a diet food.

Besides eating Peanut Butter on graham crackers, jelly sandwiches, or just out of the jar (doesn’t that happen at your house?), there are lots of tasty recipes. After the pie day for Fall Festival at church I vowed to try Peanut Butter Pie. So how lucky was it that my Good Housekeeping magazine had a recipe in the current issue? It was as good and as rich as you might expect. Again, cut small pieces and eat slowly!

Peanut Butter Pie

1 9-inch refrigerated ready-to-use piecrust

¾ c. sugar

1/3  c. cornstarch

1 tsp. salt

4 cups whole milk

4 lg. egg yolks, lightly beaten

1 cup peanut butter

3 Tbsp. butter, at room temperature

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Prepare piecrust as for one-shell baked crust/custard pie.

In large saucepan, stir together sugar, cornstarch, and salt. In large bowl, whisk milk and egg yolks until blended; gradually whisk into sugar mixture. Heat o medium 6 – 7 minutes, or until mixture thickens and boils, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute, stirring. Remove from heat; stir in peanut butter, butter, and vanilla until well blended.

Immediately pour peanut butter mixture into baked pie shell; press plastic wrap onto surface of filling. Refrigerate pie at least 4 hours or until well chilled and set.

To serve, top with whipped cream (or Cool Whip) and garnish with chopped peanuts.