Given the number of requests lately that I’ve had for gluten-free recipes that are also nut-free, I decided to create a quick and easy brownie recipe made out of sunflower butter. What is sunflower butter? It is similar to almond butter, however it is made of ground sunflower seeds. These Sunbutter Brownies are a cinch to make and a chocolatey delight.
I find that most baked goods made with sunflower butter have a very strong aftertaste that is somewhat bitter. My children for the most part do not care for the baked goods that I have made with ground sunflower seeds, or sunflower seed butter.
These brownies however, are the exception. They were devoured by the Boulder High School freshman baseball team, a group of teenagers who seems to have turned my living room into their clubhouse. Not that I mind one bit! I love those boys, and they love their gluten-free desserts including these grain-free sunflower butter brownies!
Sunbutter Brownies
Ingredients
- ½ cup sunbutter
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup cacao powder
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a food processor, combine sunbutter, eggs, and maple syrup
- Pulse in vanilla, vinegar, cacao powder, salt, and baking soda
- Stir in chocolate chips by hand
- Transfer batter to a greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish
- Bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes
- Cool for 1 hour
- Serve
These grain-free brownies are rich and moist and call for just a few ingredients. If you’re looking for a grain-free brownie recipe made with nuts, try my Paleo Brownie recipe –here’s what one of my darling readers named Andrea had to say about them:
“Best gluten and grain-free brownie recipe I’ve ever had. Hands down.”
In the mood for an extra decadent brownie treat? Take a look at my Paleo Caramel Brownies. Looking for an egg-free brownie recipe? Try my Vegan Gluten-Free Brownies. If you enjoy my quick and easy recipes, sign up to get my email alerts so that you’ll be the first to know when I come up with fresh stuff!
Jamie Miller says
These look so easy to make. Awesome!
faganeatspaleo.com
Andrea says
If your Sunnbutter already contains salt, you may not want to add salt as my brownies came out too salty. I now have unsalted sunbutter for future use.
Grace says
Has anyone tried adding protein powder to these? I’m looking for a healthy protein bar I can cart around with me, but I’ve found that most experiments of baking with protein powder have turned out disgusting.
samleduc says
Wow I also used a hand mixer as I didn’t have food processor… Wow wow wow…. Drizzled some heavy whipping cream over them…absolutely A+++++. Thank you… My 19 year old daughter is being dragged into this life style whether she likes it or not because when she looked at me earlier and said ” mom I really fancy brownies”. This is what I whipped up and she loved it….Elena you are changing us one recipe at a time.
teabeast says
I saw this recipe on facebook and made it right away. I used honey instead of maple syrup and I used a handheld mixer. The batter was so runny, I didnt think it had enough to hold itself together, but 25 minutes later I had magically baked brownies. This is a wizard of a recipe and it tastes amazing!
Laurie says
Success! This is my second attempt to make these brownies without eggs, using applesauce and baking powder and they are outrageously delicious. Here are the changes I made:
2/3 c. unsweetened applesauce + 3 tsp. baking powder (fresh!) instead of eggs (3/4 c. applesauce was too much liquid and they fell.)
1/3 c. agave (agave is better for me; maple syrup should not change the results)
1 tsp. lemon juice (better for me; vinegar should not change the results)
1/8 tsp celtic sea salt
2 tsp vanilla (enough given that I reduced the sweetener)
I used Once Again brand sun butter (no sweetener added)
Bake: 350? for 35 min. (Check with a toothpick for doneness)
Has anyone thought of adding a bit of konjac root (gucomannan) to make them a bit less fragile?
Did anyone try a different egg substitute?
Risa says
Thank you for sharing. We will try your recipe when our nut allergy friend comes over.
Also, Konjack root.. another ingredient to discover :D
Hannah says
Knocked these up for my hubby and he loved them. He wants me to make them again. Thanks.
Erin says
THANK YOU for a nut-free recipe!!!
Melissa says
Mine came out light and fluffy, more like a chocolate cake. Not sure where I went wrong. I did, however, use almond butter rather than sunbutter, so that could be it…They were still good, don’t get me wrong, but not like a brownie. I am going to stick to Elana’s date sweetened brownies as my go-to brownie recipe! They are my favorite, and with no added sugar, they make me feel better about eating sweets!
Maria says
I’m hoping Elana chimes in here. But when I make them with almond butter I omit the apple cider vinegar and increase the baking soda to 1 tsp with great results. I think the addition of the vinegar is to counteract the sunflower butter from turning the brownies green. I can’t think of another reason for the vinegar. Try this combo next time and I think you will get the brownie texture you are looking for.
Lindsay says
Wow! I may or may not have licked the bowl!! (yeah yeah yeah, salmonella whatever! it was sooooo worth the risk!!!) So I decided to make homemade sunbutter because the jar was 4.99 and the bag of seeds was 1.99. I haven’t really had sunbutter before, so I didn’t want to buy a whole jar and not like it. (plus I had to lug out my food processor for this recipe anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal)
Wow ok, so I have like 1/2 cup left over or so from the batch I made and you know what I’m gonna do with it!? I’m gonna make a sunbutter-tella!!! (nutella with sunbutter). I think I’ll try the maple syrup and cocoa but if it’s too runny coconut sugar or even subbing for some stevia!! I love chocolate sunbutter lol! Can’t say I really liked the sunbutter plain, but my oh my chocolate makes everything better, amiright!?
Oh and the brownies!? WOW! We don’t have a nut allergy but dang if we did, I’d make these all day every day!
One odd thing was I had to bake mine nearly 35 minutes! The center was still really gooey. Not sure if it would have “set” outside while cooling. I’ve never baked without flour before! Someone have any advice here? I’m sure my oven was set to 350.