Super Seed Butter
Thick, luscious seed butter made from iron-rich hemp and pumpkin seeds is perfect for toast, baked goods and more! And because it's nut free, you can pack it to school.
Equipment
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups raw pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 cup raw hemp seeds
- 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 2 tablespoons avocado or raw pumpkin seed oil
- 1-2 tablespoons pure cane sugar or maple syrup (optional, see note!)
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger or 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place the pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds and sunflower seeds in a food processor and process them until they turn into a nice crumb.
- Next, with the motor running, drizzle in the oil to help get the butter process going. At this stage, the seeds will start to look like a dry dough and require lots of scraping.
- Keep going, scraping as necessary, and slowly it will form a paste that seems close to ready by 15 minutes. However, it's not quite creamy. What you're waiting for is the machine and the butter to start really heating up and the oils of the seeds to release. Some will toast the seeds in the oven first to get the oils releasing...but here I'm relying on the motor of the food processor to do my bidding.
- At about 20-25 minutes, it will look like a thick, glossy butter and then it is ready. When ready, add the salt and cinnamon and give it another whir to combine. Now, you've got a decision about sweeteners.
- If you add liquid sweeteners to a butter, you run the risk of it seizing and turning into a dough. So the safest bet is to add sugar and dried ginger and whir again.
- However, if you like living dangerously...which I do...then turn off the machine and add a bit of maple syrup and fresh ginger by hand. Now, it's ready to transfer into a glass jar and store in the fridge for up to a month. Or, eat it all on freshly toasted bread with a few of your closest friends and call it brunch.
Notes
A few notes:
If your butter doesn't seem buttery enough, you can cheat and drizzle in some more oil and process for a couple more minutes. This will also help rescue it if it seizes.
If you're interested in making some low sugar, nut free energy bites, then add the two tablespoons of maple to the processor and seize the butter on purpose! Roll the dough into balls, dust with cinnamon and store in the fridge.
If you want a milder flavoured more traditional nut butter, substitute all the sunflower seeds and 1/2 cup of the pumpkin seeds with 1 cup cashews.