3 Great Peanut Butter Recipes To Try At Home
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Peanut butter is super versatile – don't be scared to experiment and put it in everything. It enhances most dishes, adding thickness, flavour, depth and texture where required. It can be used as a neutralising product for dishes that use heat and spice, just like yoghurt. ManiLife is so rich and nutty that it can stand up to spice, sugar and acid.
What peanut butter you use – crunchy, smooth or natural – depends on what you want from the recipe itself. Is the peanut butter going to be the main feature or the unsung hero? For something like beef barbacoa, a cocoa peanut butter adds a subtle richness that compliments the dried spices and the beef. Whereas in the black bean peanut butter daal, we wanted pops of crunchy deep roast peanut butter that surprise you when you bite into them. Then if you bake our gingerbread cake, smooth peanut butter gives a velvety richness to the swiss meringue buttercream.
Peanut butter shouldn’t be overlooked in savoury dishes. It can provide salt and fatty characteristics to dishes and in that way is a very useful cooking tool. That said, we do have some killer baking recipes in the book – our miso caramel peanut brownies always go down a storm.
We were really inspired by south-east Asian cuisine. For instance, the spicy caramelised roast chook is inspired by a meal we ate on the streets of Bangkok – funky, sour and salty. It has everything you could want (and it was really spicy too). We were impressed by the versatility of peanut butter in so many dishes, used instead of tahini in a baba ghanoush for example or to lend a surprising richness to a moussaka.
Peanuts are higher in protein than any other nut – meaning that the addition of peanut butter to recipes can make plant-based dishes more filling. They have a number of other nutritional benefits, such as being high in fibre, promoting healthy digestion and gut bacteria, being high in monounsaturated (aka healthy) fats – which is good for your heart and brain health – and being high in micronutrients and antioxidants. Peanut butter is also fantastic for vegan recipes, such as a charred broccoli tikka masala, which is a real showstopper. The gochujang aubergines also hit the spot for spicy, creamy goodness.
Everyone loves the ease of a tray bake – so for a midweek go-to, dish try our cauliflower, chickpea and paneer traybake. The mustard greens toastie is a firm favourite in the office. It is inexpensive, delicious and quick to make. If you’re looking for quick nourishment – a hug-in-a-bowl kind of dish –you can’t beat the curried udon. We’re also massive fans of sausages with cheesy polenta and scotch bonnet gravy. If you’re a chocolate addict, you can’t go wrong with the melting middle chocolate fondants, which despite what MasterChef suggests, are surprisingly easy to make.
Mustard Greens Toastie
Lightly spiced fried greens, pops of pickled jalapeño and peanut butter make this cheese toastie off the charts. It’s filthy and gorgeous – one for when you need a pick-me-up.
Finely slice the spring greens. Melt half the butter in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the greens, along with a pinch of salt, and fry, stirring regularly, for 3-4 minutes until cooked through. Add the cumin and mustard seeds and cook for 30 seconds more. Transfer to a bowl and season to taste.
Coarsely grate the cheese. Spread each slice of bread with mayonnaise.
Put the same frying pan back over a low heat (no need to wash in between) and melt in the remaining butter. Lay in two slices of bread, mayo-side down. Spoon the peanut butter across the top of each slice, then pile in the spiced greens, grated cheese and jalapeños. Sandwich together with the remaining bread, mayo-side up.
Increase the heat to medium. Fry the toasties for 1 minute until the undersides are deep golden, then carefully and confidently flip to fry the toasties for a further 2 minutes on the other side. Press down on the toasties with a slightly smaller frying pan when frying on the second side – this will help the cheese melt for the ultimate goo.
Remove from the pan, slice in half, and enjoy.
Curried Udon
This is incredibly simple and flavoursome – just use whatever veg floats your boat. The PB in this makes for a super creamy yet vegan broth. Top with crispy fried onion, chilli oil and coriander, and you’ll be licking the bowl.
Finely slice the onion and pepper, and chop the ginger into matchsticks. Slice the mangetout and peel the carrot into long ribbons.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the onion, along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes until the onion is beginning to soften, then add the ginger and crush in the garlic. Cook for another minute.
Add the curry powder and cook for 1 minute more before adding the pepper. Cook for another minute, then pour in the stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
In a small bowl, whisk the ManiLife together with the juice of 1 lime and a little of the curry-flavoured stock to loosen, then add to the pan, along with the carrot ribbons, mangetout and udon noodles. Cut the remaining half lime into wedges.
Once everything is piping hot, divide between two shallow bowls. Sprinkle over the crispy onions, spoon over the crispy chilli oil, and serve with the lime wedges for squeezing.
Miso Caramel Peanut Brownies
There are brownies, then there are these: brownies swirled with homemade miso caramel, crunchy ManiLife and chunks of dark choc. It’s worth making just that little more effort when you’re looking for the wow factor – and that’s exactly what these deliver.
Preheat your oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Butter a 20cm square brownie tin and line with baking paper.
First make the miso caramel. Using, a fork whisk the miso with the double cream in a jug until there are no noticeable large lumps. Sprinkle the sugar evenly into a small frying pan over a high heat. Be careful not to stir but swirl the pan occasionally until the sugar has turned into an amber caramel. Now pour in the miso cream. When the cream is added, the mixture will seize – don’t panic, this is normal! Continue cooking, stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you have a smooth, unreal caramel. Set aside to cool.
Brownie time. Roughly chop all the dark chocolate. Measure 100g into a bowl and set aside for later, then tip the remaining 200g into a medium-sized saucepan. Roughly chop the butter and add this to the saucepan too, along with the coffee. Put the saucepan over a low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter and chocolate are melted. Add the sugar and whisk for a minute or so until it has dissolved, then take the pan off the heat.
Crack in the eggs and whisk to combine, then add the flour and cocoa powder. Whisk until you have a smooth brownie batter. Pour half the batter into your prepared tin, then top with half your remaining chocolate. Dot in 3 teaspoons of the ManiLife and swirl in half the caramel. Repeat with the remaining batter, chocolate and peanut butter, then swirl the remaining caramel across the top.
Bake for 30 minutes in the centre of the oven, or until the edges are set and the centre still has a wobble.
The Peanut Butter Cookbook by ManiLife (Ebury Press, £20) is available to buy now. Visit Amazon.co.uk
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All products on this page have been selected by our editorial team, however we may make commission on some products.