(Most of) Our Family Loves SunButter

My husband and I are big fans of SunButter. We think it’s delicious, and I like the fact that it’s got plenty of Vitamin E, iron, protein, and fibre. 

Our nut-allergic son was so excited about eating it when we first bought it that he wanted to eat it in the car. I told him that he had to wait until we got home, and he chanted “I love it, I love it, I love it!” from his car seat in excited anticipation of trying a new treat. Once in the kitchen, I spread a thin layer on his favourite kind of cracker. He ate it, small bite by small bite while whispering “I love it, I love it, I love it” more and more quietly. When he’d eaten the whole thing, I asked him if he wanted some more, and he said, “No… I love it …. I love it.” I said, “You don’t like it, do you? It’s okay if you don’t.” “No, I don’t like it,” he replied. He still mumbled “I love it” under his breath a couple more times as if he was desperately trying to convince himself he did. 

So, he doesn’t like it. I’ve heard the same thing from other parents of peanut-allergic children — many of these children do not like peanut butter substitutes. Maybe it’s a natural defense mechanism. I think SunButter is so much like peanut butter that I would have believed it was if I didn’t have the jar in front of me. So maybe it would be confusing to our son to know that SunButter is safe for him to eat, whereas something that appears to be identical to it could make him very sick.

Nevertheless, we are happy to have SunButter in our house so those who like it can partake while our son remains safe if he comes in contact with it. 

Sunbutter Cookies

If you have not had the chance to try Sunbutter I strongly urge you to try it. It tastes so close to peanutbutter it’s unreal. There is a slight ‘green’ taste (like you might expect when eating sunflower seeds) that gives it a bit of a unique taste but the roasting of the sunflower seeds gives it an uncanny resemblance to peanut butter.

The below recipe is one of  many available on the web and in some cases people will put lemon juice in the mix to keep the cookies from coming out green. This happens due to the clorophyll in the sunflower seeds. When cooked it turns green!  (please note, I have not tried the below recipe yet. If you do let us know how you like it!)

Sunbutter Cookies

This recipe for Sunbutter cookies was adapted from a classic peanut butter cookie recipe. If you have a peanut allergy and haven’t tried Sunbutter yet you’re missing out! The taste and texture is very similar (it even tastes great by the spoonful right out of the jar!) This was my first try baking with it and I think it works very well. I hope you think so, too!

Ingredients:

1/3 c. “safe” margarine

1/2 c. Sunbutter

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons Ener-G Foods Egg Replacer + 2 T. warm water, mixed together

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1-1/4 c. wheat-free all-purpose flour mix

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/4 c. granulated sugar

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2) With an electric mixer, cream together the margarine, Sunbutter and sugars. Mix in the vanilla and egg replacer mixture. In a separate bowl, combine the baking soda, baking powder, flour and xanthan gum. Add to the Sunbutter mixture and mix well. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.

3) Put sugar in a bowl. Roll chilled dough into balls (about 1″ in diameter) and roll in sugar. Place balls on an ungreased cookie sheet. Using a fork, flatten the balls making a criss-cross pattern. Bake in 375 degree oven for 7-9 minutes. Let cool slightly on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

via Sunbutter Cookies From Eating with Food Allergies.