Easy 3-Ingredient Sunflower Cookies

These cookies are made with sunflower seed flour which gives them a delicious nutty aroma and flavour. They are incredibly easy to make, require only three simple ingredients and are ready in under 20 minutes, which is perfect for when those evening munchies hit you and you are craving something sweet, yet healthy.
Sometimes the best things in life are the easiest ones and so is the case with these cookies. Recently, on a warm Saturday evening (me being the introvert that I am) I was unwinding on the couch after a long day with a cup of tea in my hands and Bridget Jones Baby playing on my laptop. Then, all of a sudden I had a thought: “Cookies would make this whole evening so much better”. So, without hesitation, I paused the movie and marched into our tiny kitchen.
After rummaging through our pantry, I discovered that I was out of all my usual ingredients for cookies (peanut butter, almond flour). And then my hand fell upon a pack of raw sunflower seeds. Suddenly a thought occured: “Hmm, why not make sunflower seed butter and make my Sunflower Butter & Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies“.
I usually make the sunflower butter in a high speed blender but this time I was feeling kind of lazy to take the blender out (and the thought of washing it on a Saturday evening kind of terrified me too) so I decided to just make the butter in a little food chopper. While the food chopper is strong enough to turn raw peanuts into peanut butter in a matter of a few minutes, the sunflower seeds were a little more difficult to grind into butter and all I got after 2 minutes of processing was a very fine sunflower flour.
I wasn’t about to waste anymore time in the kitchen (Bridget Jones was waiting for me!) so I just decided to work with what I had and added an egg and some brown sugar powder to the sunflower flour. I processed it all together for about 15 seconds until a sticky dough formed, then run my hands under cold water and scooped out little balls of the dough, flattening them in my hands as I laid them out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Fifteen minutes later I took the cookies out of the oven just as they started to turn golden. The whole kitchen smelled incredible (of roasted nuts)! I let them cool down for a few minutes and tasted one – it was perfectly crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Just like I love them ๐ I poured myself a glass of (soy) milk, took my cookies and devoured them while watching my movie. Couldn’t have had a better Saturday evening, if you ask me!
If you love quick, easy and healthy recipes, then this one is definitely for you! Try it out and leave a comment below and tell me what your perfect Saturday evening looks like. Does it involve cookies and a film? Or are you more of a party person? ๐
- - 1 cup raw sunflower seeds
- - 1 large egg
- - 1,5 tbsp of brown sugar or coconut sugar
- - vanilla extract (optional)
- - Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celcius/392 degrees Fahrenheit.
- - In a food processor, process the sunflower seeds until they reach the consistency of a fine flour. Add the egg and the sugar and process for 15 more seconds, until a sticky dough forms.
- - Wet your hands under running water and scoop out a bit of the dough. Form a ball and then flatten the ball with your palms a little. These cookies don't spread when baked, so the shape you form with your hands will be the end-shape of the cookie.
- - Lay the cookies out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- - Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cookies turn a little golden.
- - Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes and dig in ๐
- Adding vanilla extract will add a nice touch to the cookies, as well some coconut flakes sprinkled on top. Add some chocolate chips to the dough before baking for an even more indulgent version.