why i refrigerate my peanut butter 👍

Since the beginning of quarantine, I have developed a habit of eating a tiny peanut butter jelly snack about 30 minutes before bed.

The snack consists of two tablespoons of Skippy's Creamy Peanut Butter spread on one half of an Arnold’s Sandwich Thin Roll (usually whole wheat or honey wheat), with one teaspoon of whatever artisan berry jam looked good on the grocery store shelf that week.

Several years ago I began refrigerating bread as a way to keep it fresh and obviously once a jar of jam has been opened it must be refrigerated too. So for my lil evening nibble: two of the three ingredients were always refrigerated provided that I was not starting a fresh jam jar.

One night, I was in a very “Duuude” state of mine, and as I finished preparing my PB&J, I placed the PB back in the fridge along with the jam and the bread very absent-mindedly and took off for bed. It wasn’t until the following evening when I reached for the Sandwich Thins and the jam that I noticed the PB has been cooling for 24 hours.

After that, everything changed.

Having all three thirds of the recipe refrigerated in advance of prep and consumption, in my opinion, makes for a heightened taste experience. Previously the room temperature PB (still delicious) was stepping all over the cool and soothing bread and jam.

Refrigerating my peanut butter has lead to increased balance and calmness in my evening snack ritual. One that I don’t see changing in the near future.

I would encourage everyone to see how refrigerating your peanut butter (or any nut butter) works for them.

This post was originally published on my medium account.