The Peanut Butter “Rule” I Lastly Broke—And Why It’s the Key to Higher Baking

For years, I stored a jar of pure, natural, one-ingredient peanut butter in my pantry—healthful, barely oily, and at all times in want of a stir. This was again once I lived within the Hudson Valley, surrounded by well being meals shops on each nook. Abandoning my beloved Skippy for the all-natural “higher” stuff was inevitable.

Earlier than I knew it, my grocery tote had stuffed with maca-dusted goji berry–chia seed–flaxseed granola; grains every extra historical than the final; antioxidant superfoods by the handfuls; and—naturally—a jar of peanut butter manufactured from simply peanuts. However as soon as I switched to pure peanut butter, the urge to dig a spoon straight into the jar all of a sudden disappeared—and with it, one in every of life’s small pleasures.

Dwelling in New York Metropolis has a means of stripping the pretense from issues. Since shifting right here, I’ve traded the open greenery of the Hudson Valley for Brooklyn’s neighborhood parks and nook bodegas. And simply as I now not suppose twice about consuming a greasy slice of pizza at 1 a.m., I’ve stopped overthinking peanut butter. I will hold the pure variety readily available for stews and sauces, the place it shines, however once I need a spoonful of one thing scrumptious or want the right PB for baking, I attain for the undeniably scrumptious, creamy, sweetened, emulsified stuff. Name it self-reclamation, name it a return to what feels acquainted—both means, my jar of Skippy is again in my pantry the place it belongs.

Why Is Creamy Sweetened Peanut Butter So Rattling Good?

So what makes the sweetened standard peanut butters similar to Skippy, Jif, and comparable retailer manufacturers, so good? It is extra than simply nostalgia, although that performs an element, for me no less than. The actual reply lies within the elements: a little bit of sugar and salt, plus stabilizers and emulsifiers that hold all the things clean and shelf-stable.

In contrast to pure peanut butter, which separates right into a layer of oil and gritty solids, standard grocery store peanut butter usually incorporates added oils—usually hydrogenated vegetable oils—that act as stabilizers, stopping that separation. By way of hydrogenation, hydrogen atoms are added to unsaturated fat, changing them into saturated or partially saturated fat. This alters the oil’s construction, making it extra strong and clean at room temperature and much much less susceptible to separation.

Emulsifiers like mono- and diglycerides or lecithin are additionally generally added to maintain water and fats certain collectively. In the meantime, a bit of sugar (or corn syrup) and salt spherical out the flavour. The result’s a constantly creamy, secure unfold that will not break up or seize when launched to moisture.

When to Use Stabilized, Emulsified “Junky” Peanut Butter

That stability makes an enormous distinction in baking. Emulsified peanut butter folds seamlessly into melted chocolate, butter, and batter with out turning grainy or oily. It stays clean in frostings, holds its form in no-bake bars, and makes cookies softer and extra cohesive. In pies and fillings, it blends evenly for a silkier end. Pure peanut butter, then again, may cause mixtures to grab, separate, or bake up dry and crumbly. Even exterior of baking, creamy stabilized and emulsified peanut butter is extra sensible: It spreads effortlessly on toast, does not want stirring, and delivers that clear, dense spoonful while you’re standing within the kitchen, searching for a fast pick-me-up.

When Pure Peanut Butter Is the Finest Match

That is to not say pure peanut butter does not have its place. Its wealthy, nutty depth of taste and the truth that it is usually not sweetened make it a greater match for savory dishes similar to West African peanut stew or Sudanese mullah kombo, the place the toasty taste of the peanuts can come by with out interference. Simply be prepared to provide it a severe stir—with out emulsifiers, the oil separates and desires a bit of effort to deliver it again collectively.

A Consolation Price Reaching For

For me, creamy emulsified peanut butter is a reminder that not all the things within the pantry must be virtuous. Typically it simply must style actually, actually good. Typically a spoonful of calmly sweetened, completely clean peanut butter straight from the jar is the type of quiet, transcendent consolation that cuts by the cacophony. That, to me, is an easy pleasure price conserving.

July 2025