Thursday, March 14, 2013

Sunflower Butter

Sunflower Butter
The struggle to find a sunflower butter we like, was "safe" (not processed with other allergens), and low or no sugar added led us to make our own.  We get our sunflower seeds from Trader Joe's (after verifying that it was not processed with other nuts or peanuts).  For a $1.99 per pound, why not?  I was excited to use the Vitamix but had to abandon after 4 failed attempts.  As of now, the food processor is our tool of choice.  We add flax seed oil to our butter in an effort to bring balance to sunflower seeds which are high in Omega-6 fatty acids. There are a lot of great resources out there about understanding why Omega-3 and 6 fatty acids are essential for good health.  Here is a good one for starters (Omega-3/6 ratio).

Ingredients:
1 16 ounce bag of roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup flax seed oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon agave nectar or maple syrup (optional)

Directions:
Process sunflower seeds in food processor for 1-2 minutes.  Slowly drizzle in flax seed oil.  Add sugar and salt.  Continue to blend until desired consistency, maybe 1-3 minutes more.  It's that simple!