How to stir natural peanut butter and avoid a huge mess!! When I was little we ate JIF Peanut Butter and I used to LOVE it when I was the first person to dig into a new jar. Dipping my spoon into the completely smooth top and coming out with a perfectly round of peanut butter on my spoon was oddly satisfying. Heck! I’d still like doing that today, but I’ve converted to being a natural peanut butter girlie. And natural peanut butter comes with an, unfortunately, task — stirring peanut butter to avoid separation.
I use to avoid being the first to open the new jar of natural peanut butter because I absolutely hated mixing the oil and peanut butter after it sat on the shelf and separated. When I went to stir, the oil would inevitably splash out of the side, it took a surprising amount of elbow grease to get it mixed completely, and apparently, I wasn’t that good at it because, by the time I got to the bottom of the jar, it was just a rock of unspreadable peanut butter screaming for oil.
I KNOW I can’t be the only one who hates that process and has wondered how to stir natural peanut butter or the best way to stir peanut butter — especially if you can leave the scene of the crime without a ring of oil left on the counter. So I experimented!
In search of the best way to mix peanut butter
I had tried a few things: stir with small spoon, stir with large spoon, stir with spatula, stir with knife, etc., but nothing ever seemed to make a difference. I heard you should flip your peanut butter jar over so let the oil seep the other way and distribute it again. So I did that. And it helped a bit.
But guys. If you’re wondering how to stir natural peanut butter, I cracked the code one random weekend when I thought, “hmmm, what if…?” Inspired by the most well-known method for shredding chicken, this method for how to mix peanut butter is not revolutionary, but it is very effective.
The best way to stir peanut butter
You need two things to stir peanut butter
- Natural peanut butter (also works for how to stir almond butter with almond butter oil on top or any kind of natural nut butter that separates)
- An electric hand mixer
Step 1 – Optional prep step
If you have the time, turn your jar of peanut butter over for a few hours or a full day. If you’re about to dig in and don’t have that kind of time, this step is helpful but definitely optional.
Step 2 – Set up
Set up your electric hand mixer with just one mixer attachment and open your jar of peanut butter.
Step 3 – Stir your natural peanut butter!
Put your single mixer into your jar of peanut butter and turn it on to the lowest speed. You can slowly increase the speed if you want, but it doesn’t need to be super fast to get the job done. Also, the jar will start to spi so be sure to hold your jar with the other (non hand mixer) hand to secure it.
Step 4 – Enjoy!
Enjoy your perfectly stirred peanut butter! Also, the mixer. It’s not as good as cookie dough, but you do get to lick the mixer afterward. I usually give it to our dog Miles instead, he’s a pb addict.
I go through peanut butter pretty fast, if you don’t you might need to repeat this mid-jar or at least continue to flip your jar whenever you use it to avoid uneven oil distribution.
If you’d rather watch how to stir natural peanut butter…
Check out my reel that goes through the whole process to stir peanut butter, without the mess. Don’t forget to share with a friend that needs a way to deal with their peanut butter separation too.