The “rule” of peanut butter, I finally broke – and why is the key to better cook

For years, I have kept a pot of natural, biological peanut butter and an ingredient in my pantry – healthy, slightly fatty and always necessary. It was at the time when I lived in the Hudson valley, surrounded by natural food stores on every street corner. Abandoning my beloved skippy for the “best” completely natural things was inevitable.

Before knowing it, my grocery store had filled with Berry Goji Berry-Chia seed granola in Maca; the more ancient grains than the last; Antioxidant supermarkets by handles; and – of course – a pot of peanut butter in peanuts. But once I went to natural peanut butter, the desire to dig a spoon directly into the pot suddenly disappeared – and with it, one of the little pleasures of life.

Living in New York has a way to strip the pretension of things. Since he moved here, I exchanged the open greenery of the Hudson valley for Brooklyn neighborhood parks and corner bodegas. And just as I no longer think twice before eating a fatty slice of pizza at 1 am, I stopped reflecting on peanut butter. I will keep the natural genre at hand for stews and sauces, where it shines, but when I want a spoonful of something delicious or I need the perfect bp for cooking, I reach the undeniably delicious, creamy, sweet and emulsified stuff. Call him self-removing, call this a return to what seems familiar-anyway, my skippy jar is back in my pantry where it belongs.

Why is the creamy sweet peanut butter so good?

So, what makes the conventional sweet conventional peanut butters such as Skippy, JIF and the brands of similar stores, so well? It’s more than just nostalgia, although it plays a role, for me at least. The real answer lies in the ingredients: a little sugar and salt, as well as stabilizers and emulsifiers who keep smooth and stable.

Unlike natural peanut butter, which separates into a layer of oil and grainy solids, conventional conventional peanut butter generally contains additional oils – often hydrogenated vegetable oils – which act as stabilizers, preventing this separation. Thanks to hydrogenation, hydrogen atoms are added to unsaturated fats, converting them into saturated or partially saturated fats. This changes the structure of the oil, which makes it more solid and smooth at room temperature and much less subject to separation.

The emulsifiers such as mono- and diglycerides or lecithin are also commonly added to maintain water and fat linked together. Meanwhile, a little sugar (or corn syrup) and salt complete the flavor. The result is an always creamy stable propagation which will not separate or will not grasp during the introduction to humidity.

When to use stabilized peanut butter, emulsified ”

This stability makes a big difference in cooking. The emulsified peanut butter is perfectly folded into melted chocolate, butter and dough without becoming grainy or greasy. It remains smooth in frosting, holds its shape in bars without cooking and makes the cookies softer and more consistent. In pies and garnishes, it mixes evenly for a more silky finish. Natural peanut butter, on the other hand, can cause seizure, separation or cook mixtures. Even apart from cooking, stabilized and emulsified peanut butter is more practical: it is effortlessly spread to toast, does not need to stir and offers this clean and dense spoonful when you stand in the kitchen, looking for a quick collection.

When natural peanut butter is the best adjustment

This does not mean that natural peanut butter has no place. Its rich hazelnut flavor and the fact that it is generally not sweet in fact better for savory dishes such as the stew of West African peanuts or Sudanese Mullah Kombo, where the grilled flavor of peanuts can pass without interference. Just be ready to make him a huge excitement – without the emulsifiers, the oil separates and needs a little effort to bring it together.

Comfort to be reached

For me, the creamy emulsified peanut butter is a reminder that everything in the pantry should not be virtuous. Sometimes he just needs to really taste, really good. Sometimes a spoonful of slightly sweet and perfectly smooth peanut butter directly from the pot is the kind of silent and transcendent comfort that cuts the cacophony. For me, it’s a simple pleasure to keep.

July 2025