The fact that stirring a new jar of natural nut butter can be more frustrating than building Ikea furniture by yourself hasn’t stopped me from eating it, mostly because I might die without it. Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration, but I eat a lot of plants, meaning nuts and seeds are one of my main sources of protein and satisfying fat. I add nut butter to oatmeal and smoothies, swirl it into yogurt, spread it on fruit and toast, bake with it, use it as the base of savory sauces, eat it straight from the jar, and smear it all over my body so I can become one with it.
However, the fact that oil pools at the top of the jar—making it seemingly impossible to stir without getting oil all over the kitchen counter—has occasionally stopped me from having a good morning and fully enjoying my afternoon snack. So when I discovered that you can make the nut butter stirring process quick and, well, smooth by using a handheld electric mixer, it was, to put it in millennial terms, a real game changer.
I don’t know the original inventor of this genius kitchen trick, but I believe I first saw it on intuitive-eating dietitian Colleen Christensen’s Instagram stories, and I feel it’s my moral obligation to pass it on to you. And don’t worry if you don’t have an electric mixer handy, or if you’re like my mom and just find it too terrifying to stick an electric appliance into a small jar that’s half full of oil: I’ve also discovered a few other ways to make stirring nut butter less infuriating over the years, and I’ll share those with you too.
How to stir nut butter with a handheld electric mixer
- Attach just one beater to a handheld electric mixer and stick the beater in the jar of nut butter as far down as it will go. (Make sure the power is off before you plug it in—trust me!!)
- Hold on to the jar as tightly as you can to keep it from moving. I repeat, HOLD ON TIGHT. This is by far the most important step. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a rapidly spinning jar and oil flung all over your kitchen and favorite green sweatshirt (true story).
- Put the mixer on the LOWEST speed first, and then gradually increase the speed as the oil gets incorporated.
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That’s it! You’re very welcome and please don’t @ me if you didn’t hold onto the jar tightly enough. I truly am sorry, but you’ve been warned.
How to make stirring nut butter less annoying without an electric mixer
Maybe you don’t have one, maybe you don’t believe in them, or maybe you don’t feel like cleaning the nooks and crannies of the beater afterward. I get it! In that case, the next few tips are for you.
Store the jar upside down.
If you’re a nut butter (and tahini) head like me, you may have heard this tip already, but it really does help. When you bring your beloved jar home from the store, turn it upside down before stashing it in your cabinet or pantry; this allows the oil at the top to slowly spread throughout the jar, making it easier to stir the nut butter when it’s time to dig in. And don’t store it right side up after you’ve mixed it, either—flipping the jar on its lid also prevents the oil from re-separating.
Another pro tip (me–I’m the pro): Stir the nut butter first (ideally with the electric mixer hack above) and then store it upside down. In my experience, the upside down trick doesn’t usually work so well with a particularly separated jar; by mixing everything up first, you’ll make your life easier in the long run.
If it’s really separated, stir it in a mixing bowl.
The main reason it’s so frustrating to stir separated nut butter is because the jar is too damn small, and that’s especially true if you have a lot of oil at the top and extra dry nut butter at the bottom. An easy solution to that problem: Dump your separated spread into a medium-size mixing bowl so you have plenty of room to combine everything. Then simply return it to the jar, using a silicone spatula (if you have one) so it’s easier to get every last precious drop back into the jar.
Use a knife.
While the above strategies are the best I’ve discovered for making stirring nut butter less of a chore, if you’re going to do it the old-fashioned way for whatever reason, don’t use a spoon—a knife leads to less splattering, and less splattering leads to less cursing.
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