National Peanut Butter Day

National Peanut Butter Day on January 24th recognizes an American staple in our pantries. Whether creamy or chunky, with chocolate or with jelly, peanut butter gets the recognition it deserves each year on this day.

The early peanut butter made by the Aztecs and Incas around 1000 BC was more of a paste and not nearly as creamy as the peanut butter we know now.

Peanut butter didn’t become widely used until the 20th century. First, the peanut had to be considered more than animal feed, which was until the late 1800s. At the turn of the century, inventions that made planting, cultivating, and harvesting the legume (the peanut isn’t a nut at all) made it possible to see the peanut as a retail and wholesale food item.