Ever since I discovered that peanuts and my body don’t mix, I’ve been on a quest to find something that fills the void. I’ve tried almond butter, cashew butter, hazelnut butter, and so on. They are all delicious. . . and are a lot more expensive than even the
“good” organic “just peanuts” peanut butter.
A few years ago, a client said that he tried Sunflower Seed Butter or Sunbutter and it is his new favorite treat with apples, celery, gluten free crackers, etc. So, as a Fort Collins Nutritionist, I had to try it! It has all the roasty, nutty, and salty flavors of peanut butter. . . without the peanuts. YUM! It is delicious. It is also a quick and easy real food recipe that you can make yourself at home in about 15 minutes. Smear it on whatever you’d like: fruits, veggies, whole grain toast, crackers, you name it.
Sunflower Seed Butter (or Sunbutter)
Prep time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups raw sunflower seeds, no shell
1 tablespoon oil of choice (like grapeseed or olive oil)
1 tablespoon honey (or sweetener of choice)
Sea salt, to taste
Directions:
1. In a saucepan, dry roast sunflower seeds for about 3 minutes or until seeds turn slightly brown and smell “roasted”.
2. Put seeds in a high powered blender (Vita-Mix or 
comparable) or food processor. Blend until seeds become a fine dry powder. Keep blending on high speed until the powder turns to paste.
3. Drizzle in about 1 tablespoon of oil and honey, add a pinch of salt, and blend until thoroughly combined. Add more oil if needed until the Sunflower Seed Butter becomes the consistency you want it. Taste. Add more sea salt if desired.
4. Scoop Sunflower Seed Butter into a saved jar or container. Store in the fridge. Enjoy!
Note: Be sure to buy RAW sunflower seeds and roast them yourself. There is not enough moisture in commercially roasted seeds to make good sunflower seed butter.
