Have you ever made really good homemade Sunbutter (aka – sunflower seed butter)?
If not, you are in for a treat! As a long-time peanut butter lover (understatement), I have really picky ideas of what sunbutter should taste like. I have made a bunch of variations on this recipe until I finally nailed it with this combo and I think it’s awesome.
The secret ingredient in this How to Make Sunbutter tutorial is Ghee.
Now, I know that kind of sounds like a pain in the butt thing to either have to make something else first or buy something you don’t usually use. I am telling you that the addition of just a couple teaspoons of Ghee turns ordinary sunbutter into a rich, creamy and yes, buttery treat you will be swiping fingerfuls from every time you open the fridge.
BTW-Aren’t these photos stunning? They are the work of the ever-talented Pamela Bolig, who is slowly, steadily and very patiently giving me photography lessons. She did what I always strive to do (but don’t accomplish nearly enough) with my food photos- she made the dish look as good as it tastes.
NOTES:
- If you are Vegan, try substituting extra light olive oil. If you want to use organic virgin coconut oil, please note that I have found that it needs a lot more sweetener.
- Store in a glass container in the fridge for up to two weeks.
- You may need more salt or more sweetener depending on your taste preference but don’t add more Ghee (or oil) until you have fully processed this as the seeds really need time to release their oils.
- This Homemade Sunbutter is Paleo and naturally Gluten-Free.
RECIPES THAT USE SUNBUTTER
Sunflower Seed Butter and Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
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How To Make Sunbutter. Paleo Sunbutter
- 1 pound raw sunflower seeds
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons ghee
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Preheat oven to 350F. Divide sunflower seeds up on two baking sheets.
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Roast for 4 minutes. Rotate trays and toss seeds. Place back in the oven and roast for another 4 minutes.
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Carefully transfer to a food processor (or high powered blender) and add sea salt.
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Process for about 1 minute until seeds become powdery.
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Process 16 to 18 minutes, stopping every 2 minutes to scrape down the sides.
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Add the ghee and maple syrup at about the halfway point. Here are some photos of what this looks like.
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This might sound like a lot but it takes a while for the sunflower seeds to release their oil.
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If you stop too soon, the sunbutter will NOT be creamy.
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Trust me on this and be patient.
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Hi Alyssa, Where’s a good place to buy hulled sunflower seeds inexpensively in bulk?
Trader Joe’s, the bulk section at the grocery store and online!
Do you think soaked dehydrated sunflower seeds would work. I like soaking to get the antinutrients off of the seeds and then dehydrate them. i’m wondering if the oils dry in the process. do you know or have an opinion? Thanks!
Hi Judy – As long as the seeds are “dry” to start with, it shouldn’t impact the oil breakdown
I don’t have a food processor, but I do have a Vitamix blender. Do you think that would be sufficient at doing the job?
I think so Neka!
This recipe is NOT paleo! Ghee is technically butter, and that is dairy, which is not part of the paleo diet.
ghee is clarified butter- meaning it has been boiled and strained to remove dairy chunks.
Ghee (may have trace amounts of casein and lactose remaining, but unless a person is extremely sensitive, it will normally not cause problems, even if other dairy does.
Hi there I dont have a food processor and I have a recipe that requires sunbutter, what could I use as a substitute in this recipe that is similar to sunbutter.
You can purchase commercially made natural SunButter, use Soybutter, or if you are not allergic to nuts substitute any nut butter.
My daughter has dairy, nut and egg intolerance so this recipe is perfect with the suggested evoo sub. She was so excited because she’s never had peanut butter before. Patience was key but it was great!
That makes me so happy Michelle! So glad this works for her. Thanks for letting me know 🙂
tahini tastes alot more like peanut butter but you would have to make it yourself as I have not seen any that is not processed in same facilities
Could you use room temp palm oil shortening instead of ghee? I have had that in a peanut butter recipe before and was curious if you thought it’d work for this recipe. My daughter and I can’t have dairy or ghee. Thought I’d ask before trying it with the olive oil. Thanks!
Nevermind…I tried making this this morning using olive oil and it was an epic fail. Followed the recipe exactly and I ended up with a brick of gross tasting paste. I could not even pulse this for 2 minutes before having to stop it as the density of it was overheating my heavy duty Cuisinart food processor. I labored at this for over 2 hours…never got a creamy texture, not even close and it killed my food processor. Now I have to buy more Sunbutter…and a new food processor.
What size food processor do you have Anna-Lynn? It sounds like it may have been overloaded. That sucks!
It’s an 8 cup, and I didn’t even put the whole batch in at the same time, when I saw it wasn’t coming together and kept gumming up my blade I removed half the batch to another bowl with the idea of slowly incorporating it if/when the amount left in the processor finally came together. It just never got past the brick stage and it was like my processor just gave up…haha..It’s a professional one too so I was really shocked it quit. I’ve put it through “worse”. Do you think it was the type of oil used that caused it not to come together? I had read all the comments before attempting this, waited and waited and waited for the natural oils–my seeds were raw organic and not old–but nothing happened. After an hour I started adding the oil figuring I’d been patient enough and hoping that would help it finally start to come together but it didn’t, I just got a brick of paste…any ideas??
I think an 8-cup may not have a powerful enough motor. The seeds could also not have been super fresh as it sounds like either because of the motor OR the quality of the seeds, they never released their oils. If you decide to try again, I would even put less in this time – like 1/3 and see if it works. Either way, it must have been so frustrating! I hate wasting ingredients.
Hi Anna-Lynn,
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say if it would work (or taste good!).
I stirred in some water this morning and noe it is delicious and spreadable. Thanks for the yummy treat.
So glad to hear it!!
I also added water to mine to help smooth it out and it globbed up something terrible and now I am trying to figure out what to do to get this edible.
I just made a half of batch of this and it tastes delicious but the consistency is a little dry. I added extra ghee and maple syrup which helped but didn’t fix it. I blended for extra time too. I may have added the syrup and ghee too soon. Would that do it or do you have other suggestions for next time?
You have to process until the seeds release their own natural oils and that takes a while. It sounds like you may have added the syrup and ghee a little too soon and they were absorbed instead of adding flavor. I would put it back in the processor and keep it going until the oils release and then add the ghee and syrup. Also, depends on what size processor (or blender) you are using and how powerful.
A-ha! Your sun butter looks so smooth and creamy! I make it similar to your recipe, but I stop the processing in the 5 to 10 minute range and mine always comes out grainy. I don’t know why I didn’t think to just keep going. Now I know it could take double the amount of time, but it will get smooth.
Hope it works for you next batch Nancy! Do you also add Ghee?