With most of our schools being nut free for the safety of our lil ones who have severe allergies, it can sometimes be a challenge to work around our kiddos who adore their peanut butter sandwiches. Enter Sunflower Butter, PB’s delicious cousin. You can purchase Sunflower or Sunbutter (or other seed alternatives such as pumpkin seed butter) at many health food stores and some supermarkets (e.g. https://www.ceresorganics.com.au/products/grocery/ceres-organics/nut-seed-butters/organic-sunflower-butter/) but you can also make your own, and it’s super simple.
Pound for pound (or 100g in this case), peanuts and sunflower seeds are on par for many nutrients, but they do have their special talents. Sunflower seeds stand out against peanuts as a source of vitamins E, B1, B2 and B6 as well as magnesium, copper and selenium, whilst peanuts are a better source of vitamin B3.
Sunflower butter is a great substitute any where you’d use peanut butter (which, in my case is pretty much on anything). Sandwiches (see my handout), in baking, on celery sticks or sliced fruit (nectarines and pear are my favourite) and salad dressings.
| Sunflower Seeds | Peanuts | |||
| Fibre
Saturated Fats Monounsaturated Fats Polyunsaturated Fats Vitamin E Thiamine (B1) Riboflavin (B2) Niacin (B3) Vitamin B6 Folate (B9) Pantothenic Acid Calcium Iron Magnesium Potassium Zinc Copper Manganese Selenium |
8.6g
4.5g 18.5g 23.1g 33.2mg 1.5mg 0.4mg 8.3mg 1.3mg 227mcg 1.1mg 78mg 5.2mg 325mg 645mg 5mg 1.8mg 1.9mg 53mcg |
34%
22%
166% 99% 21% 42% 67% 57% 11% 8% 29% 81% 18% 33% 90% 97% 76% |
8.5g
6.8g 24.4g 15.6g 8.3mg 0.6mg 0.1mg 12.1mg 0.3mg 240mcg 1.8mg 92mg 4.6mg 168mg 705mg 3.3mg 1.1mg 1.9mg 7.2mcg |
34%
34%
42% 43% 8% 60% 17% 60% 18% 9% 25% 42% 20% 22% 57% 97% 10% |
Source: https://nutritiondata.self.com/
Cooking Time: 6-8mins
Preparation Time: 20mins
Ingredients
2 cups sunflower seeds
Pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160C (fan forced) and sprinkle the sunflower seeds onto a baking tray. Roast the seeds for 6-8 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool to around room temperature.
- Pour your cooled seeds and the salt into a food processor, and blend for about 15 minutes (depending on your food processor), stopping every 2 minutes or so to let the machine have a rest and scrape down the sides. The longer you blend, the smoother the sunflower butter.
- Pour into a glass jar (or a couple of smaller jars – freezes well!), and store in the fridge for up to 3 months.
Notes:
For a spread to pair with sweeter things, try adding half a teaspoon of cinnamon or vanilla, or half a date to the food processor while blending. You could also add a tablespoon of cacao powder and a drizzle of maple syrup for a nut free chocolate spread.