Homemade Sunflower Seed Butter

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This homemade sunflower seed butter is just two ingredients and incredibly easy to make. All you need to do is roast raw sunflower seeds, then blend them in a food processor with a bit of salt. This recipe for sunflower seed butter is paleo, vegan and allergy friendly (nut free).

One thing that I cannot get enough of lately: sunflower seed butter.

I often buy Sunbutter, but have also started making my own. As, it's less expensive and easy to do!

I enjoy it by the spoonful, but also love slathering homemade sunflower seed butter on a piece of dark chocolate, adding a dollop to smoothies or using it in recipes like cookies and muffins.

Sunflower seed butter is a great nut butter alternative. It usually works as a replacement for almond butter, peanut butter or cashew butter in recipes. Better yet, it's less expensive!

Benefits of Making Your Own Seed Butter

Making your own seed, nut, coconut or peanut butter is extremely easy. So, I urge you to try it yourself if you haven't. Literally, all you need is a good quality food processor, some nuts, seeds, dried coconut or peanuts and a little patience.

Some benefits to making butters at home vs. buying them in store include:

Homemade is often cheaper
It's fresh
Top quality ingredients - you have control over what you put in it
You can experiment with different flavor combinations

Ingredients

My recipe for homemade sunflower seed butter is only 2 ingredients and doesn't contain any added sugar or sweeteners. It is paleo, vegan and allergy friendly.

The only two ingredients:

raw sunflower seeds - I recommend using raw sunflower seeds. For this recipe, you'll roast the sunflower seeds, cool them slightly and then blend them in your food processor.
salt - the salt is optional, but highly recommended. Salt really brings out the flavor in this seed butter.

Ingredients needed to make your own sunflower seed butter.

How to Make Homemade Sunflower Seed Butter

Making your own sunflower seed butter is super easy! Here's what you need to do:

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Spread the raw sunflower seeds on a baking sheet. Bake them in the oven for 10 minutes.
Remove the seeds from the oven and mix them using a spatula, then place them back in the oven and bake another 5-10 minutes. They should smell wonderful and have a golden brown color when done.

Remove the roasted sunflower seeds from the oven and let them cool to room temperature.
After cooling, add them to your food processor, along with the salt, and blend until smooth. (I added the salt after blending for a while, but you can add it at any time.) You'll need to stop to scrape the sides every so often and then continue blending. This process takes about 10-15 minutes.

How to make sunflower seed butter in a food processor.

Storage

Store homemade sunbutter in a glass mason jar, or any jar with a lid. (I like to use leftover almond butter or honey jars.) The sunflower seed butter will last well at room temperature for a couple months or in the fridge for up to 6 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to roast the sunflower seeds?

You can make sunflower seed butter without roasting the sunflower seeds. However, baking them brings out a sweeter, buttery flavor.

Also, I recommend baking them yourself instead of buying roasted sunflower seeds because raw is cheaper and roasted sunflower seeds are often salted and baked in unhealthy oil (vegetable oils).

What can you do with sunflower seed butter?

There are so many ways to enjoy sunflower seed butter. Pretty much any way you can eat almond or peanut butter you can eat this salty seed butter.

I love using it to bake vegan muffins and donuts, making sunflower seed butter cups, using it in homemade cereal bars, spreading it on apples and rice cakes, adding it to smoothies or simply grabbing a spoonful straight from the jar.

Is sunflower seed butter paleo?

Yes! Sunflower seed butter is paleo friendly. If you are buying sunbutter in-store, rather than making your own, then be sure to check the ingredient list. Sunflower seed butter with added sugars and oil is typically not paleo.

Recipes Using Sunflower Seed Butter