Chocolate Spiked Sunflower Butter

A few months ago, I finally took a plunge and bought sunflower seed butter from, of course, Trader Joe’s.  After all, everything I’ve ever bought from Trader Joe’s has turned out to be delicious.  Chocolate covered almonds with sea salt and turbinado, anyone? How about some triple layer hummus, or delicious bruschetta for when your home-grown tomatoes are long gone. I dug into my new jar of sunflower butter with such enthusiasm, you’d think I hadn’t eaten in weeks. Needless to say, I decided that I must recreate this heavenly spread in my own kitchen.  Better yet, I decided I had to recreate it, and also include chocolate.

Chocolate Spiked Sunflower Butter

1 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, roasted

75 grams (about 2/3 cup)  chopped dark chocolate, I used 70% cacao

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

sweetener, to taste

If your sunflower seeds are raw, spread them evenly on a baking sheet and roast at 300°F for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden. If your seeds are pre-roasted, skip this step.

Pour all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until smooth and creamy, about 10 minutes.  Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary.

Store in a glass jar in the fridge.  It will harden when cooled, but comes back to its original texture nicely  when heated slightly.

I enjoyed my first (okay, second) taste with a plate of sliced bananas. Simply perfect.

Do you like to make your own nut and seed butters? What is the most interesting flavor combination you’ve come up with?