Off to See the Wizzard
There are some people who like peanut butter, and then there are some people who LOVE peanut butter. Dawn Murphy, founder of local nut butter sensation Whizz-n-Smash and the recent recipient of the Emerging Business of the Year award from the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce, falls into the latter category.
While whipping up her own homemade peanut butter for a recipe, the Fredonia native stumbled upon something truly unique. “I didn’t google anything or look anything up,” said Murphy. “I just put some nuts in a blender and hoped for the best.” She added that her peanut butter creation tasted not too far off from the natural peanut butters she had purchased from Wegmans and Whole Foods.
At the time, Murphy, an intrepid home cook and self-proclaimed foodie, was a health and wellness coach on the side while also working full time at a local nonprofit, a position that she has been in for almost 25 years.
Unsuccessful in her attempt to find a comparable natural nut butter in taste and price on store shelves, Murphy went back to her own creation. “I tweaked it and added just a couple of simple ingredients and there you have it—I had this really tasty nut butter.” Her signature peanut butter contains only peanuts, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt.
One day, something incredible happened. While rushing out the door, Murphy grabbed a jar of her homemade nut butter to snack on at work. “The gals at work tried it, and by lunchtime, my jar of peanut butter was empty,” she recounted. Her coworkers told her to sell her peanut butter, but she just shrugged it off.
The next time Murphy needed peanut butter for herself, she purchased some extra nuts at the store. “I figured, ‘Oh what the hell? I’ll just make a couple of batches,’” she said. Using Mason jars from her garage and Scotch Tape for labels, Murphy took a photo and posted it on Facebook. “I said, ‘I made peanut butter. Does anyone want to buy it?’”
She sold out in less than five minutes.
After the success of that initial post, Murphy started dropping new blends weekly. “Every week, I would make something different,” she explained. “I did peanut, and then I did a mixed nut butter, and then I did almond, and then I tried cashew, and then I did maple cashew, and then I thought, let’s get crazy—because we all have a little sweet tooth—let me make this peanut butter with some chocolate and banana chips.” Murphy knew it was something special. “So I named it Monkey Butt.” The demand for her nut butters took off, leading to 69 different blends.
Murphy had to quickly turn her passion project into a business when she was invited to attend a Small Business Saturday event in Dunkirk. “Within 72 hours, I had thought of a name—Whizz-n-Smash literally just comes from the way that I talk,” she explained. “When I make peanut butter, I would say that I have to go home and ‘whizz nuts.’” The smash part, she continued, comes from smashing berries for her homemade mixed berry jam. “That was the name. I had a label made, I attended the event, and I sold out.”
While there, Murphy was invited to sell her nut butters at an event the following weekend, which she did, and sold out again. With this forward momentum, Murphy sought all of the necessary certifications and built a commercial kitchen space in Dewittville.
“And now, here we are,” she said. “I’m going through up to 250 pounds of nuts a week.”
Whizz-n-Smash’s 69 unique nut butters are featured in 14 retail locations across Chautauqua and Erie counties and at the Westfield Farmers’ Market. “And this has all just been me,” she added. “No one has ever seen me make peanut butter, and I love that, because it kind of gives it a Wizard of Oz vibe.”
Truly, her love for her product shows as Whizz-n-Smash heads into its sixth year in 2025. “My baby turns 5 this year!” Murphy exclaimed. Her hard work, sacrifice and determination go into each and every jar of her nut butters, which have amassed a local following: the Whizz Fam and its #AintNoFamLikeTheWhizzFam.
From the basic peanut, almond and cashew nut butters, to her more elaborate concoctions, like Monkey Butt, Snap Crackle Whizz (with Rice Krispies, banana chips and semi-sweet chocolate), and the Kitchen Sink (with pretzels, caramel, semi-sweet and white chocolates), to top sellers Nutty AF! (a blend of eight different nuts) and Superseed (her signature “peanut butt” blitzed with sunflower seeds, flax and chia), Whizz-n-Smash nut butters are available for direct order via dedicated Facebook posts or purchased directly at the Whizz-n-Smash booth at various festival and events.
Varieties are sold in eight-ounce Mason jars, or 32- or 64-ounce “whizzed to order” tubs. Big on recycling, Murphy offers discounts off future purchases for Mason jar and tub returns.
“I do not have a team, I am the team—the maker, the marketer, the inspector, the laborer, the scheduler, the promoter, the buyer, the boss,” Murphy summarized. “I am the Whizzard,” a name that one of her customers endearingly gave her.
So, what blend is next for the Whizzard? We’ll have to check Whizz-n-Smash’s Facebook and Instagram for the latest drop.
