Sunflower Seed Butter Cookies

Some of you may recall my recent obsession with trying to make sunflower seed butter cookies, and the minor setbacks that put this recipe on hold. I'm please to announce, I finally got around to making them! For those of you who've never heard of or tried sunflower seed butter (SFSB from now on... I'm too lazy to keep typing it!), it tastes a lot like peanut butter and has the same consistency. You can get it at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, but I'm sure there are many other stores that carry it.

I'm not just proud of these cookies because they turned out delicious, but I'm proud because I made up a hybrid recipe, based mostly on the one I used last week when I made peanut butter cookies. I've never experimented like this when it comes to baking, and it WORKED! I'm super excited!

The best thing about sunflower seed butter? It's nut-allergy friendly! Apparently, nut allergies are so common that many schools have banned peanut products. When I heard that, my heart sank a little. Not because I am some peanut butter activist, but because the idea of a kid not being able to eat PB&J for lunch kills a long tradition of bringing those squished sandwiches in paper bags to school. (I never thought I'd see the day when cell phones were OK but peanut butter was not. I was suspended for having a cell phone in school back in 1997ish... I want an apology! Haha) Long story short, your kids can once again enjoy these yummy sandwiches without making one of their friends break out into a full-body rash.




Nothin' but goodness...

 Note: I had 2 people with peanut allergies try these cookies. (Neither have had peanut butter cookies before, for obvious reasons.) One seemed to like them, but my Dad (who is DISGUSTED by the smell of peanuts and peanut butter) wasn't a fan. He still ate a couple of bites though, which really surprised me! Thanks for being a trooper!


Ingredients
Makes 20 cookies

1 Cup Sunflower Seed Butter
1/2 Cup butter, unsalted
3/4 Cup organic white sugar
1/2 Cup organic brown sugar
1 organic (cage-free!) egg
2 Tbs Milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 Cup organic All-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Begin by preheating your oven to 375 degrees. Combine sugars, peanut butter and butter. Mix on medium-high until well blended, or about 2-3 minutes.

Add the egg, milk and vanilla, beating thoroughly after each addition.

In a seperate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually beat the flour mixture into the SFSB mixture.

Now your dough will be thick and easy to work with. If it's not quite firm enough for you, refridgerate the dough for an hour or two.

Form 1 1/2" balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Press the cookies down with fork tines or create the classic peanut butter cookie pattern. (You can also sprinkle them with sugar for a pretty effect.)

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets for about 3 minutes. (They are way too crumbly to take off right away!)

Transfer to cooling racks to finish cooling.

Enjoy!