These peanut-free Chocolate Chip Sunbutter Cookies are the perfect treat for school or birthday parties. A little bit crispy and a little bit chewy, they’re the perfect texture and super delicious!
Ahh, peanut butter. One of the great loves of my life. Apparently I passed this love down to my toddler as well, since it’s one of her favorite lunch foods.
The problem? No peanuts (or any nuts for that matter) allowed at her school!
So many nut allergies these days. So, thank goodness for sunflower seed butter! Aka sunbutter. Which is made from sunflower seeds instead of peanuts and luckily tastes a whole lot like peanut butter. SB&J sandwiches all the way.
No peanuts also means no peanut butter cookies. But since peanut butter cookies are pretty much the best thing on the planet, there’s got to be an alternative. There is!
These Chocolate Chip Sunbutter Cookies are peanut-free and tree nut-free, so they are the perfect treat for school or anywhere else those pesky peanuts are banned. But they’re just as delicious as the old favorite! They’ve got the same familiar crispy-yet-chewy texture and the sunbutter pairs perfectly with the chocolate chips.
I actually made these sunflower seed butter cookies because I accidentally bought unsweetened sunbutter and Molly was not a fan. I don’t fully disagree either. Though we’re both down with unsweetened peanut, almond and cashew butter (which is all I buy), seeds don’t have the same natural sweetness as nuts and really need a little sugar to balance the bitterness.
So what was I to do with a big jar of sunbutter no one was really into? Add sugar and make cookies, of course! And I’m not mad about it.
You could definitely use the regular sweetened version of sunbutter in these cookies too. Because there really isn’t such a thing as a cookie that’s too sweet. At least not in my book!
The dough for these cookies will be a bit crumbly– that’s OK! Just use your hands to form the dough into balls and the oven will do the rest of the magic.
When the sunbutter cookies come out of the oven they’ll still be soft. You’ll want to cool them completely on the pan and once cool they’ll be the perfect texture! You’ll just have to figure out how to resist the intoxicating smell until they’re cool. It’s hard.
Even if you’re not avoiding peanuts, these cookies are a yummy way to change things up! Sunflower seeds are packed with lots of great nutrients so you can feel just a tiny bit better about stuffing your face with ALL THE COOKIES. Right?
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup unsweetened sunflower seed butter
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Add the butter and sunflower seed butter to the bowl of a mixer. Beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add sugars and continue beating 2 minutes.
- Add milk, egg and vanilla and continue beating.
- Slowly add the flour mix and mix until everything is well combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips with a spoon.
- Dough will be a bit crumbly. Using your hands, form dough into heaping teaspoon sized balls. Place on baking sheet a few inches apart and flatten each ball slightly.
- Bake 10-15 minutes, until cookies are barely browned on the bottom edges. They’ll seem a little undercooked, but once they cool, they will be PERFECT!
- Cool completely on pans. Then enjoy!
If you prefer a peanut version, check out these Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies or these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies!
I just baked these delicious cookies… Great recipe!