I just wanted to share some quick tips about making sunbutter. I mentioned that I would experiment with it after learning to make peanut butter. I’ve been experimenting with it…and have come to a conclusion:
It is not as easy to make as the peanut butter is. :)
Using raw sunflower seeds I tried to make sunbutter just like I had made the peanut butter. Except that I processed it and processed it, and it never turned creamy. It became kind of mealy…and stayed that way.
I added a few drops of olive oil and processed some more. No change.
I finally gave up. Sort of. I mean…I was determined to figure this thing out because Malachi won’t eat peanut butter (long story). And sunbutter is pricey.
So…I took the mealy sunbutter…and made it into mudballs because that’s one of Malachi’s favorite snacks. I just substitute the peanut butter for sunbutter. Ah-hah! Even though the sunbutter started out mealy…the mudballs came out perfectly! Score!
At least I know that the mealy sunbutter works when you mix it into other recipes!
Then…I added a bit of honey to the rest of the mealy sunbutter and put it into a jar and then into the fridge. The honey didn’t make it smooth and creamy, but it did make it less dry. I think it will work great to spread on toast or a tortilla.
By the way, I did a Swagbuck search and discovered that 1) There aren’t many ideas out there for making sunbutter and 2) Anyone else who tried to make sunbutter ended up with mealy sunbutter. It’s good to know that I’m normal. (At least in the area of making sunbutter.)
Do any of you have any experience making sunbutter or other nut butters?
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This post is linked to Kitchen Tip Tuesdays.
I am adding these ingredients to my grocery list this week. That looks so yummy. My daughter loves sunbutter and I never thought of making it myself. I’m gonna have to experiment with it.
I just tried making almond butter last week and the family went NUTS (heehee!) for it! I thought it was a little harder to process than the homemade peanut butter, but it all worked out great! Both were wonderful!! Thanks so much for the inspiration to make it!
Laura,
by any chance have you tried to soak/sprout these first?
Do you think that would make it smoother??
:-)
Thanks for trying this out! We go through A LOT of Sunbutter in my house due to my 4 year old son’s peanut allergy. It is so pricey though! and I have always been curious about making it myself. I’ll be keeping an eye on these comments to see if anyone has any extra suggestions! :)
I haven’t made sunflower butter yet but everything i read has said you need to add enough oil slowly and to keep processing it until it gets warm and then it will turn into a paste instead of a meal.
Think maybe I will give it a “whirl” this week! ; )
I make it by roasting my seeds first- that’s what makes it taste “nutty”. Then I process it with a mild olive oil, sea salt, and honey. The homemade is not exactly like the Sunbutter- but it tastes the same. I don’t recall mine ever being “mealy”. I think it takes more than a few drops of oil:) Trader Joe’s sells their brand of Sunbutter for like half the cost of Sunbutter brand – it’s quite tasty too!!
We use raw sunflowers a lot at our house. Most of the time we soak them overnight or sprout them for two days so they are even more nutrient-dense. As far as sunbutter, we don’t exactly do that, but we do make a pate by adding in savory things like onion, celery, ground carrots, lemon juice & herbs.
If you are making a sunbutter to use like almond butter, I would add in coconut oil. Our home machines (food processor and even K-tec or VitaMix) won’t be able to squash the seeds good enough to resemble the sunbutters sold in stores.
You did awesome improvising the meal into something else though!
Blessings.
Wow, I never would have guessed it would be so difficult. Thanks for sharing your experience.
I made the mud balls today after making the cheese nips (again, this time I added garlic) and corn dog muffins (big hit with the kids). I did not have sesame seeds so I used shelled sunflower seeds. They turned out very good. I will make a double batch next time. Thanks for the recipe:)
I’m glad you posted this! I have tried to make it also, with the same results – I thought I just did something wrong. So do you have a recipe for the balls posted somewhere? Maybe I could use what I made in those…right now it is just sitting in my freezer…
You might try this blog:
http://frugalmegan.com/2010/01/homemade-sunbutter/
Laura,
You off to a good start however the main ingredient in Sunbutter is sunflower kernals not the whole sunflower seed – http://www.redriv.com/SunButter/Default.aspx
Have you tried sprouting the sunflower seeds before making it into nut butter. My pecan butter is just delicious but it won’t get creamy unless I sprout the nuts. I have not tried making sunflower nut butter but will when I get a chance.
Mae
Hmm…good idea.
I found a GREAT recipe for sunbutter. I am terribly allergic to peanut butter and you can’t find sunbutter in Israel (where I live), so I messed around with a few recipes – this site has the closest recipe to my beloved bottled sunbutter: http://www.domestifluff.com/2009/09/sugar-free-sunbutter-sunflower-seed-butter/
I tried the recipe on the link from HillyG using the canola oil the recipe suggested and it worked great. Since I know canola oil isn’t the best for you, I used coconut oil the next time and it did turn out mealy but I was using it for Laura’s homemade granola bars and it still worked out great, just wouldn’t be great as a spread for a “sunbutter and jelly” sandwich.
How odd. I read the peanut butter page and then jumped up and immediately went and tried sunbutter without reading this page and realizing it may not turn out right. Mine turned out perfectly, first try. I used roasted sunflower kernels, did a very small batch (my food processor is a “mini” size that I use for baby food) and within 30 seconds I had about 5 tablespoons (told you it was mini ;)) of perfect sunbutter. Maybe smaller batches are the key? Even my husband was impressed! lol
I just made a batch and looks great and tastes pretty good.
Since others have had trouble, I’ll offer my experience. I tackled this as a way to do something in the kitchen during a heat wave. I had roasted unsalted sesame seeds that had been around for a month or so.
I had seen another recipie that used more oil (they said 2 tbls). I pulsed the dry seeds until I was close to flour and added 2 tbs of Canola oil and a dash of salt. I then added some high fructose corn syrup (pancake syrup that I had around, did anyone faint?) again about a tablespoon. It looked close. So I proccessed some more and worried off the sides with a spatula and tasted etc.
Then I thought. Natural peanut butter has oil on the top that must be stirred in. I think peanuts have more oil than sunflower seeds (by my taste), so I added more oil. If I over did it, I could skim it off the top. 4 tablespoons did the trick. It ws smooth and a little dry.
I bet it varies a lot with how your seeds were prepared and how old they are.
I would like to know how you sprout your pecans? The sun butter takes a bit more time than peanut butter, you have to process it longer to get the seeds to release the oils. you just have to be patient. Don’t add the olive oil till after the seeds release their natural oils.
I have a recipe for making sunflower butter that works great. It’s spreadable and can be used for sandwiches, cookies, fudge etc. I add a LOT more oil. You can use any nut or seed and get a good nut butter with out the price tag you pay in the store. :) Try it again but add more oil. Here’s mine if you want to see pictures of how it looks. Hope this helps :) http://elianasnaturalliving.blogspot.com/2011/09/spreadable-sunflower-butter.html
Your problem perplexed me so I looked around and found this http://www.prudentbaby.com/2011/08/how-to-make-sunbutter-best-sunflower.html :)
No oil needed, just takes some time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agRmw1uI4FU&feature=related
try putting olive oil melted and a bit of almondmilk in it it makes it less dry.add a bit of stevia liquid form to sweeten it.
I actually had great luck using half lightly roasted seeds and half raw seeds. It turned creamy faster and was ultimately more creamy. Give it a shot. Raw are probably healthier too.
For best results process for 10 minutes. It gives
Plenty of time for the national oils to release.
I think it was because they were raw and not roasted. I made Peanut Butter for the first time with Raw peanuts and it NEVER got creamy. Next time I used roasted and nice and creamy. I think roasting must release the oils more or something. Try again with roasted and I bet it will turn out great!
Tina