QUESTION

Chicago, IL

An Ashkenazi woman discovered a Pesach recipe that belonged to her grandmother. One ingredient is peanut oil. Is she entitled to return to that prior Minhag of her family?

ANSWER

See Rav Moshe (Iggrot Moshe OC 3:63), who allows peanuts for those that don’t have a practice otherwise. He specifically mentions at the end that he has seen that they give a kosher-li-Pesach hekhsher on peanut oil. OU states that only “some” have the practice to not use peanut oil, see here.

I would say that unless she was consciously adopting a Minhag to not use peanut oil then she