I've been meaning to post DIY basics like this homemade sunflower seed butter for a while...luckily for you, I'm finally seizing the opportunity.
I had an awesome idea for an upcoming recipe (now published!) that requires sunflower seed butter, but I was out. That's not a problem for a well-stocked paleo kitchen (read: I have a nut & seed hoarding problem) so I just roasted up some raw sunflower seeds and made my own sunbutter! Now that my photography skills are gradually improving, I snapped some photos so I could confidently share the instructions with you.
Oh my gosh, it's like I'm a legit food blogger or something. That's the kind of thing food bloggers do, right? Take pretty pictures of food presented in a nearly-unattainable way. Wow, I almost just offended myself - but at least I can take a joke! Ha.
Here's how I can tell I'm diving a little deeper into blogger world - I've joined Yummly. As a publisher. Up to this point, I haven't been very proactive about sharing my posts, other than throwing out the link (and pretty pictures) on the major social media outlets...but now I'm branching out. I might even try submitting to Foodgawker. Yup. I'm in deep. Anyway, if you don't know about Yummly, it's basically Pinterest for just recipes. It's a pretty slick site - you'll definitely have to check it out! And make sure to "Yum" all your favorite recipes of mine. Or just all of them, if you love me enough. *wink*
One of the reasons I held off for ages from posting these easy recipes (are they even recipes?) for how to make store-bought pantry items at home is that I was missing the photography factor. Let's face it, you can easily Google "homemade sunflower seed butter" and get a billion results. I wanted to be able to add to the masses with more than the same-old tutorial - I wanted to share gorgeous pictures, too.
I think I managed that.
I know that pride is one of the seven deadly sins and everything, but I'm so goddamn proud of how these pictures turned out. They make me pause. They make me remember the "peanut butter" flavor. They make me want to run to the kitchen and make another batch immediately. And that's the point. So I must have succeeded!
Now if only every photoshoot could go this well. In addition to photographing food, I've also found a hobby in photographing local CrossFit events. I definitely feel like my food photography has improved more than my athlete photography. Still, they're both skills to keep improving on. In the end, that was the point of getting a DSLR - learning and improving on a new skill. And even if nothing comes of it monetarily (let's face it - most bloggers start nowadays just to try and earn and income), I'm at least proud of what I can create.
I mean look at these pictures. how could I not be proud?
You'll notice I mentioned that I made this for an upcoming recipe. You'll definitely want to be around when that's posted - it will be so, so worth it! [Update: it's now published...paleo "peanut butter" cookies!]
More recipes using homemade sunflower seed butter
- 4-Ingredient "Peanut Butter" Fudge
- Thai Cabbage Salad with Sunbutter Dressing
- Sunbutter Sweet Potato Brownies
- Simple Sunbutter Fruit Dip
Homemade Sunflower Seed Butter
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup sunflower seed butter 1x
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread out the sunflower seeds. Bake for 5-10 minutes, until slightly golden brown.
- Add roasted sunflower seeds to food processor or high-powered blender (I use a Vitamix) and blend until smooth. It takes a few minutes. Be patient and you will be rewarded! Yields about 1 cup of sunflower seed butter.
Mary Jo says
Hi Chelsea, i love the recipe and i thank you for it, but i was a little put off by your cursing our Father in heaven, well actually, a lot put off by that, i was going to just leave your site as i do others where i see this. But Father spoke to me and asked me to give you a message,so here it is. "My daughter if you would Bless my name instead of cursing it, oh How Blessed Your Life Would Be, so many use My Name and My Son's Name in vain daily, yea even many time a day, and woe unto then on Judgement Day! But you Dear Child, if you would give it a chance, Try Me, how about for thirty days, and if you don't see a change in your life, different areas of your life, then, If you like return to your way of speaking. In those thirty days I would ask that you rephrase some things, like Bless God I'v got the Best Recipe Ever
Chelsea says
Hey-o Mary Jo! I appreciate you stopping by. It's a bummer that my words bothered you, but I am an atheist and my life is pretty awesome as it is! Hope you have a wonderful day!
Amanda says
Hi Chelsea! I just tried to make this and after 30 minutes of processing it on high it ended up only grainy. I tried adding about 2 T of olive oil and yet, it still ended up grainy with a little bit of the same texture as yours. I'm not sure what i did wrong, I toasted for 10 minutes, until golden brown, and put it in the food processor on high. And the color was completely off. Have any tips I could try next time? Thanks!
Chelsea says
Did you start with raw sunflower seeds? The only things I can think would cause the oils to not release are if the sunflower seeds are pre-toasted (and thus dried out), or if there weren't enough of them. If you're starting with too few sunflower seeds for the size of your food processor, there's just too little for the blades to hit. I'd also make sure to stop every couple minutes to scrape down the sides of the food processor to make sure the seeds aren't just sticking to the sides.
Whenever I have trouble with my nut and seed butters (like after 10 minutes, no progress), I often just turn the blender/food processor off and walk away for an hour. That gives the oils a little time to release. Then I'll turn it back on, stopping to scrape the sides occasionally, and usually that gives me the smooth texture I'm looking for!
I hope that helps, Amanda!
Jill says
Recipe looks great! How long will this keep for? I don’t eat sunbutter super often!
Chelsea says
I've kept it for months at a time. It's similar to peanut butter or almond butter - as long as it's in a sealed container, it's good for quite a while!
Kelli says
Could you add chia seeds to this? If so, how would you recommend I do that?
Chelsea says
Hey Kelli! I wouldn't add chia seeds to this, just because this is a base recipe for making sunflower seed butter - just like making peanut butter or any nut butter! If you want to use it in a recipe with chia seeds (like this one: Chunky Monkey Chia Pudding ) or swirl chia seeds into the sunflower seed butter...that's totally up to you! Use the sunflower seed butter for whatever kitchen dreams you have. Hope that helps!
Sophie says
Love this recipe, just made my first batch! Excellent photos too, really got my attention 🙂 Question : does this need to be kept in the fridge? Thanks so much !
Chelsea says
Keeping it in the fridge is optional! I usually don't...however, the oils will become rancid after a couple months. If you store it in the fridge, it will keep much longer.