Do you like sunflower seed butter? I do, a lot! In fact, Trader Joe’s sunflower seed butter is my favorite. But I wanted to make a homemade raw vegan sunflower seed butter, since I haven’t come across a raw version that I liked. Sounds hard, but it really isn’t. All you need is a good solid food processor. Now, I don’t recommend using a low grade food processor, as running it for 15 minutes like this recipe requires, might potentially overheat the motor and break it.
Since we are making this raw, you start by soaking the sunflower seeds for 8 hours. You can even sprout them as I like to do. Sunflower seeds are very easy to sprout! More about that in future blog. Rinse and drain the seeds, then lay them out on a dehydrator sheet and dry them at 115℉ for 8-12 hours until completely dry.
If you don’t own a dehydrator, and want to make this, you still can! It wont be “raw”, but then, not everything needs to be. Lightly toast the seeds in the oven at 325℉ for 10-15 minutes, stirring often to prevent burning. Take out and cool off.
Add in the sunflower seeds that you either dried or toasted into the food processor, and turn it on. You are going to be running it for 10-15 minutes, while stopping in between to scrape down the sides and to let it cool a bit. You don’t want to cook it, if making it raw! In the beginning, you might feel like it’s just grinding the seeds up and not really going any further. Don’t worry, have faith! You just have to let it keep do its thing. Eventually, it’s going to turn into crumbles, and then into a paste.
Once it becomes smooth, and doesn’t seem to be getting any smoother, stop the food processor. Add in the salt and maple syrup. Then let it run again, as you pour in grapeseed oil, 1 Tablespoon at a time from the pour spout. Do this until it becomes a nice smooth butter. You only want to add just enough grapeseed oil to make it smooth and that’s it.
There you have it! Homemade sunflower seed butter! Who knew it was that easy to make? Now go get yourself some sunflower seeds and let’s make some sunbutter!
- 3 cups raw sunflower seeds
- 3-5 Tablespoons grapeseed oil
- 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ + ¼ teaspoon salt
- Soak the sunflower seeds for 8 hours. You can even sprout them as I like to do, as sunflower seeds are very easy to sprout.
- Rinse and drain, then lay them out on a dehydrator sheet and dry them on 115℉ for 8-12 hours until completely dry.
- Lightly toast the seeds in the oven at 325℉ for 10-15 minutes, stirring in between to prevent burning.
- Take out and cool off.
- Add in the sunflower seeds that you either dried or toasted into the food processor, and turn it on. You are going to be running it for 10-15 minutes, while stopping in between to scrape down the sides.
- Once it becomes smooth, and doesn't seem to be getting any smoother, stop the food processor. Add in the salt and maple syrup. Then let it run again, as you pour in grapeseed oill, 1 Tablespoon at a time from the pour spout. Do this until it becomes a nice smooth butter. You only want to add just enough coconut oil to make it smooth and that's it.
- Store in an air tight container.
Keeps in the refrigerator for 1 month.
[…] Almond butters are everywhere nowadays, but did you know you can make it yourself easily at home? All you need is a good solid food processor* and 15 minutes of your time. Super easy and clean with only 3 ingredients. Raw almonds, a little grapeseed oil, and salt, that’s it. Almonds are rich in vitamin E, minerals, and protein so it is tasty and good for you! If you are allergic to peanuts, almond butter is a great alternative. If you are allergic to peanut butter and nuts in general, check out my homemade sunflower butter recipe instead. […]