Sunflower Seed Butter | cooking ala mel

Let me tell you something about me. When I become interested in something, I get interested to the point of obsession. I don’t have idle interests. When I like something, I really, really like it. I will learn everything I possibly can about it. A few of these things are or have been: Harry Potter, baking, working out, skiing, Pride and Prejudice, etc. Well, I’ve found something else that I am completely obsessed with: Downton Abbey. If you’ve seen this British TV show, I’m sure you wholeheartedly agree with me. I love everything about it – the characters, the romance, the wit, the scandal, the history – but I especially love how after I watch an episode, my thoughts are reeling for hours afterward, trying to figure out why this or that happened and what’s coming next. And don’t even get me started on how much I adore Maggie Smith. She’s one of the best actresses I have ever seen. I began watching it last Sunday (from Season 1, episode 1), and I was up to date with Season 2 by late Tuesday night. I couldn’t stop watching it. If you haven’t seen it, I couldn’t recommend it highly enough. The entire first season is on Netflix, so if you have Netflix, get to it!

While we’re discussing my obsessions, I often get obsessed with different ingredients or foods, too. Like how I’ve had a green smoothie almost every day for the past 2 or 3 weeks. Or how I have a banana every morning with two pieces of high fiber toast, one with coconut oil, cinnamon, and truvia, and the other with some sort of nut butter (I can’t even remember how long this has gone on, and I’m still not sick of it). When I got my first jar of sunflower seed butter from Trader Joe’s, this turned into one of my new favorite things to eat. I started having it every morning slathered on my slice of toast, and I never looked back. Until my jar was empty, that is, and I discovered the only sunflower seed butter I could find around here was the Sunbutter brand at $5.99 a jar. No way was I going to spend that much money with how fast I was eating it. There aren’t any Trader Joe’s near me, so I decided I would make my own (look here to see how that turned out).

With a new food processor and 5 lbs of raw sunflower seeds, I was ready to try again. I am so glad I did. I never have to buy a jar of sunflower seed butter again (although, let’s be honest here, I’ll probably buy some if I go to TJ’s anytime soon). Because I’m used to TJ’s sunflower seed butter, and they sweeten theirs, I made sure to save a bit in my jar so I could do a taste comparison to make sure I got it spot on.

I can’t wait to slather this on my toast in the morning. If I’m able to save enough of it, I might just have to make some more of those sunflower seed butter scones. They were delicious. But that might have to wait for the next batch. I don’t see this jar lasting very long.

Do any of you have things you love to the point of almost obsession?

Sunflower Seed Butter

makes 1 16-oz. jar

3 cups raw sunflower seeds

2 1/4 t truvia (or 2 T sugar)

1 t salt

Toast the sunflower seeds on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes at 350ºF, until lightly browned. Allow to cool.

In a food processor, combine the sunflower seeds, salt and truvia. Run on high speed for about 10 minutes (stopping every once in a while to give the motor a break and to scrape down the sides), until they become a buttery consistency. Taste and add any extra salt or truvia if you think it needs it. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

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