Why yes... that is what it looks like

Chocolate peanut butter: Why? Because I can.

One of my homeschool buddies recently hosted a blender party. Ok, it was technically a vitamix party, but since I have a Blendtec, I was asked to come along and bring my particular brand of blender to add to the fun.

We had a lot of fun. It was just the three of us, and I'm sure we probably collectively wasted about a pound of food... eggs during failed Mayonnaise attempts and a successful scrambled egg attempt, tomato soup with a bit too much onion and mock devonshire cream in a container that got too hot. Overall, it was a lot of fun, though, and I'd do it again in a heart beat.

The best thing that happened was that I was pushed to experiment a bit more with my blender. Since then I've made Crepe batter, a Chai Frappuchino that's better than $bucks makes, and my latest experiment: Chocolate peanut butter.

My friend made peanut butter in her blender (I feel awkward not calling it a Vitamix), and it was so yummy that we all started speculating on whether or not it was financially viable to start making it instead of buying it ready made.

Well I was at Costco yesterday and I did some comparison shopping. A 52 oz can of roasted

peanuts is $5.59. Two 28 oz jars of Costco brand organic, all natural peanut butter costs 8.69. I wanted to compare the cost of the organic, all natural stuff because that's essentially what I'd be making. I'm sure the stuff with sugar and fillers added would cost less than the peanuts (probably should have checked that price just to be sure), but for now I'm not too worried about it.

Of course, I can't leave well enough alone. One of my favorite spreads is Nutella. Nutella is RIDICULOUSLY expensive. So I thought, if I can make peanut butter in my Blendtec, why not try making Nutella. The only problem is, I bought peanuts... not hazelnuts. So I decided to try

one of the recipes I found, substituting peanuts... and let me tell you.... it's soooooo good.

So here's the deal. If the Italians have been giving their kids chocolate hazelnut spread for breakfast for years, then why can't Americans. Of course, to make it truly American, it would have to have peanuts as the main ingredient.

Here's my recipe. Borrowed from a couple of other blogs, and tweaked a little.

Chocolate Peanut Butter

1 cup Roasted, Salted Peanuts

1 T peanut oil

4 ounces chocolate chips, melted

2 tablespoon cocoa

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1/2 tsp Vanilla

1/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream (maybe more)

Follow Blendtec directions for making peanut butter. Add remaining ingredients and repeat the cycle for making peanut butter (press speed up to level 5, allow to run for a cycle, scrape sides of container with spatula, etc).

If you aren't getting a smooth consistency, drizzle additional whipping cream into the mixture until it turns glossy and smooth.

Store in the refrigerator in a sealed container. I would say, use by ______ time, but honestly... I don't think it's going to last long enough to go bad. Enjoy.