We're a peanut butter family. Actually, I should say that most of my household is a peanut butter family. While I'm thankfully not allergic to peanuts or peanut butter, thanks to my body's fat intolerance issues my once beloved spread is no longer on my menu. My sister, while she'll eat PB from the jar off a spoon (oh, Heaven!) hates it in any other form, and if she could get away with it she would much rather eat Nutella by the jarful with a side of cinnamon raisin toast. For a while, my Mom was on the almond butter bandwagon, using it in a salad dressing from my cookbook Hungry for Health: Practical Recipes for Everyday Wellness. However, just like me in my youth with peanut butter, and my sister with Nutella today, stopping at one spoonful was easier said than done. A self-intervention of cold turkey avoidance ensued, and now we only have a jar of Nutella for Teaghan and a jar of Kraft Smooth peanut butter for my stepbrother and stepdad to share.
Needless to say, when it comes to using nut butters in baking and cooking, I try to avoid them unless they're extremely marked down at Bulk Barn or I know I can get away with using a few tablespoons out of the peanut butter stash and not catch royal pain for it. However, when I found myself with a few handfuls of sunflower and pumpkin seeds left over from making my mom's go to trail mix (also, FYI, in my cookbook), it just seemed natural to me to puree the suckers into a spread. Heck, I knew that even though it was unlikely that anyone in the house would be spreading it on their toast the next morning (it is, however, a wonderfully healthy Toast Topper option) the resulting mixture could make something baked and delicious down the road (to see what I did with it, stay tuned!).
There really isn't much else to the spread besides the seeds themselves. For consistency, a touch of oil and water "grease the wheel" so to speak, and to accent the toasted, rich flavour of the base ingredients a dab of this amber agave nectar and a dash of sea salt fit the bill nicely. The end product is a slightly off-putting greenish brown, but that's just because of the pepitas - no need to worry or grimace in disgust. If you're really turned off by it, just close your eyes and eat a spoonful. Your mouth's eye will convince you to take another taste.
Pumpkin - Sunflower Seed Butter
Makes about 1 cup, 16 tbsp
1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds
1 1/2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tbsp amber agave nectar
2 tbsp water
pinch salt
- Combine all the ingredients in a small food processor or high powered blender.
- Puree until smooth, adding a small amount of water if necessary.
- Store in a covered container in the fridge
Calories: 34.8
Total Fat: 3.1 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 14.4 mg
Total Carbs: 0.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.3 g
Protein: 1.0 g
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