This Maple Cinnamon Sunflower Seed Butter is nut-free, allergy-friendly and a fun way to change things up from traditional nut butter. Easy to make at home and perfect for nut-free schools and daycares.
*Originally published June 2015*
Hi Friends!
Back to school season is here and this Maple Cinnamon Sunflower Seed Butter is is must-try recipe. It’s an easy substitute for the peanut butter or almond butter you typically use toast or sandwiches with and it’s incredibly easy to make at home. Plus it’s perfect if your school or daycare is nut-free.
Although I typically prefer my nut butter to use just two ingredients, nuts and salt, I’ve decided that adding a couple extra ingredients to this version is worth it. Especially if your kiddos are used to eating peanut butter.
Sunflower seeds have a bit of a different taste and while they don’t taste bad, I’ve found that adding a little extra sweetness and flavor is helpful when introducing a new food like this. As they adjust to the taste, you can always decrease the amount of maple syrup you add.
Maple Cinnamon Sunflower Seed Butter
For this seed butter, you need just a few simple ingredients:
- Sunflower seeds – I made this with both roasted and raw sunflower seeds and prefer to use roasted. If you choose raw, you can toast the seeds in the oven for 10 minutes or so to help release their natural oils but for me, buying them roasted is easier because I can skip that step.
- Cinnamon – Adds so much flavor.
- Maple syrup – for sweetness. Start with a little and add more as needed.
- Vanilla – Optional but another way to add flavor.
- Salt – as much or as little as you’d like!
And that’s it! The maple, cinnamon and vanilla add a fun twist to classic, plain nut and seed butter. Use it on sandwiches, smoothies, or sauces or add to your morning oatmeal. And if you’ve never made nut or seed butter at home, consider this a kick in the pants, encouraging you to give it a try. And add some flavor to make things a little more exciting!
Here’s how you make it:
PrintMaple Cinnamon Sunflower Seed Butter
This Maple Cinnamon Sunflower Seed Butter is nut-free, allergy-friendly and a fun way to change things up from traditional nut butter. Easy to make at home and perfect for nut-free schools and daycares.
Ingredients
- 2 cups sunflower seeds (I used roasted unsalted)
- 1–2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract, optional
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Combine sunflower seeds, cinnamon and salt in a food processor and process 7-10 minutes until desired consistency is reached.
- Add maple syrup and vanilla, if using. Pulse a few times to mix and transfer to storage container.
Notes
Don’t add the maple syrup or vanilla at the beginning as it may cause the seed butter to seize up.
If your sunflower seeds are raw, spread on a baking sheet at bake at 350 for 10 minutes prior to processing.
Feel free to adjust the maple, cinnamon and vanilla to fit your flavor preference. Just know that if you add more liquid after you’ve already got it nice and creamy, it will probably seize up for a little while. Just let the processor continue to run and it will smooth back out! The batch in the pictures is made with raw sunflower seeds so it didn’t get quite as smooth as it does when you start with roasted sunflower seeds.
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
Get my free Table Talk email series where I share bite-sized nutrition information about carbs, protein, and fat, plus bonus information about snacks and sugar!
Oh yum! I need to start making more nut butters (or any actually lol!) now that I have a good blender. I do love sunflower butter.
I have to say, maple and cinnamon are definitely two of the best flavors out there! And then of course vanilla! 🙂 YUM!
YUMMY! Once we’re back in the US I can’t wait to use my Vitamix more frequently and start making nut butters! This looks delicious though I may use almonds instead of sunflower seeds!
would def be delicious with almonds!
I’ve made sunflower seed butter before but never with anything but cinnamon. The yum factor has been elevated!
oh my gosh MAPLE CINNAMON!??!!? sounds amazing!! i already love sunflower seed butter but this is ridiculous!!
The combo of maple and cinnamon sounds to die for!!! yum!
I totally agree that regular sunflower seed butter doesnt do it for me… maple cinnamon sounds much more exciting! (So glad no nut allergies for Squish- huge relief for a fellow nut butter lover I’m sure!)
yes! such a relief!
I’ve never seen this flavor of sun butter–creative to me! This sounds so, so good. I likeeeee sunflower seed butter, but maple cinnamon flavor sounds way better 😀
I love this flavor combo! My kids and I can’t eat nut butters so I love seeing sunflower seed butter here!
yes! it’s a great alternative!
The combo of maple syrup and cinnamon sounds delicious! I have actually never made my own nut or seed butter, but I want to give it a go one of these days!
I’ve been making my own almond butter at home for a couple years and I always have it on hand bc I am obsessed. I tried making sunflower seed butter and it was the grossest thing ever. I may have to buy my seeds already roasted bc I bought them raw and toasted them and I think something may have been off in the process. Yours looks delicious though so maybe I’ll give that a try!!
yeah i think the roasted is key!
I love seeds, too! We have a local Amish grocery store near us and I just stocked up on some of their homemade butters…including sunflower seed!
I pretty recently made homemade cashew butter with vanilla beans. The verdict – meh. Maybe a little maple syrup would have helped. I was trying so hard to make it taste good without an added sweetener but it just really needed something else. And since the raw nuts and vanilla beans are so costly I really should’ve sucked it up to make the recipe a little more worth while. I’m working on my RD credentials right now, so it’s nice to hear that an actual RD isn’t opposed to a little added sweetness. Definitely will keep in mind for next time.
you know it! a little goes a long way- especially in something like this!
this looks amazing! yum yum can’t wait to try!
Yes! I love my sunflower butter! A staple in my house!
I am seriously obsessed with sunflower seed butter (in my baked sweet potatoes!), so I am loving the sound of the maple addition. I bet this is just perfectly sweet/salty!
I’ve been saying forever I want to try making my own nut butter. Well the word maple might have just made me finally commit to it. This looks yummy.
hope you love! the maple is such a nice addition!
Ohh yum! This sounds delicious!
This looks delicious!
Looks great! Can you give some info on storing? How long (roughly) will it last, and does it need to be refrigerated? Many thanks — can’t wait to try this!
I stored mine in the fridge- it should be fine for a couple of weeks!
yummy! I want a sunflower seed butter and jelly sandwich right now!!
I just recently started making my own sunbutter and love it!! I was hesitant to start because I really don’t care for the store-bought version but homemade it is amazing!! I have been making it plain, but the maple, vanilla and cinnamon sound like such a tasty treat 🙂
yes! so much better homemade!
This is perfect, I was just thinking about trying to make a nut butter today. Great minds think alike! 🙂 I will have to try this sunflower seed variation!
woohoo! hope it was a hit!
I’m diabetic – is there something I could substitute for the maple?
you don’t need the maple syrup. it just makes it a little sweeter. you could increase the vanilla and cinnamon for more flavor
I can only imagine how good this would be smothered on pancakes! I’ll soon be finding out! 😉
I have been making a variety of nut butters for years and was excited to transition over to this fantastic sunflower seed butter. My trusty Vitamix has been a workhorse for over 10 years, but I think this was my first fail….NOT your recipe, but my darn tamper! I was going to town for at least a few minutes trying to push down the seeds and all…these things took forever to blend and my motor was getting hot, so I started swirling the tamper clockwise instead of up & down. All of a sudden the blade caught the tamper and mutilated it at the tip, sending pieces of black plastic swirling through my sunbutter….NOOOO!!
Had to scrap the whole thing, after sampling a little (yum), and will be ordering a new tamper. No more “swirling”…I’ll try again soon (not sure if my food processor is powerful enough).
oh no! hope it works next time!
This sound amazing. Maple syrup takes it to a whole notha level.
Must try.