Dear friends! I’m on tour! And what a total blast and a half it’s been so far – my mind is blown by the outpouring of enthusiasm and pure LOVE here in New York City. Thanks to all of you for coming out to the events with your biggest smiles and warmest hearts. Taking my book on the road sure is a change of pace from my quiet, private, and relatively introverted life in Copenhagen. But, seeing as I like humans so much, I welcome the explosive energy, side-splitting laughter, and long hugs that this tour has brought so far. I feel like you, dear readers, are the most beautiful sort there are, and I am so lucky to have friends wherever I go. Thank you. Cannot wait to see what the next few weeks hold! Just a reminder that I am heading to Toronto, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Fran and LA – check out my Events page for updated info!
In case, you haven’t heard, this latest cookbook of mine, Naturally Nourished, is all about how to take grocery store staples and turn them into powerfully delicious and nutritious meals for you and your family. The recipes are on the simpler side than my first cookbook, and use only familiar ingredients. It was really fun to create this work, since you know how much I dig on the weird stuff: chaga, mucuna pruriens, schisandra berry, ho shu wu, pearl (yup, pearl). But let’s get real, how many of you are going to go out and find ground up pearl to put in your morning elixir? Right. So, this book was a response to the way “health food” can be sometimes: inaccessible, alienating, and even elitist. I don’t like to see the system moving in that direction because I believe that health is everyone’s right, and since we all have access to the good stuff at the local supermarket, let’s not lose sight of the powerful foods that are right under our noses. Dark leafy greens, brassicas, root veggies, squash, stone fruit, citrus, herbs, garlic, ginger – you get where I’m going with this. Naturally Nourished is a celebration of simple, honest, real food, and it will show you how to prepare it in a way that is easy, and crazy-tasty too.
So these cookies. I am pretty over the moon for them. And they are definitely the most decadent recipe in the cookbook – loaded with serious chunks of dark chocolate, a moist, cake-y crumb and unparalleled richness. The sunflower seed crust around the outside adds fabulous texture and tooth, and the perfect crunchy contrast to the creamy chocolate.
I know that the vegans out there may be a little disappointed with this recipe, but please know how darn hard I tried to make them just as good without the eggs! This cookbook was a challenge to see if I could use only very basic grocery store ingredients for every single recipe in the cookbook, so I couldn’t cheat and employ a fancy vegan egg-replacer here, but I am pretty sure it would work. The eggs are important in the recipe not only to bind the ingredients together, but to dry out the dough in the oven, and create the fluffy consistency. Therefore, do not try this with a flax or chia “egg” – sad, sad results will ensue. Trust.
Just a note for when you do make these: the cookie dough is very wet. You’ll be raising an eyebrow for sure, wondering if you’ve done everything correctly, but stay the course and drop those cookie dough balls into the sunflower seeds – they not only act as a tasty, crunchy coating, they also help you with handling, and prevent the cookies from turning into total puddles in the oven.
If you’re pressed for time, skip making your own sunflower seed butter and just use store-bought. To ensure the cookies turn out just the way they are supposed to, use an unsalted, unflavoured sunbutter or another type of seed or nut butter altogether! I’ve tried them with almond butter and they were bangin’. You can also coat the cookies in another seed or chopped up nuts. Hazelnuts would be delightful. Or cacao nibs!
Double Chocolate Chunk Sunbutter Cookies
Makes 20 cookies
Ingredients:
2 large eggs
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup / 250ml Sunflower Seed Butter (recipe follows), or use storebought
1⁄2 cup / 125ml pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1⁄2 cup / 45g cocoa powder
3 ½ oz. / 100g dark chocolate (70% or higher), roughly chopped
1 ¼ cups / 170g raw, unsalted, shelled sunflower seeds
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F / 160°C. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla. Add the seed butter and mix thoroughly. Add the maple syrup, baking soda, and salt and fold together. Sift in the cocoa powder and stir to incorporate. Fold in the chopped chocolate.
3. Place the sunflower seeds in a separate bowl. Wet your hands slightly with water. Spoon the dough into about 20 portions and roll each into a rough ball (the dough will be very wet, but this is normal!).
4. Drop the dough balls into the bowl of seeds and roll to coat them in the seeds. Flatten the balls out slightly and place them on the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches / 5cm apart (they spread a lot!).
5. Bake the cookies for 10 to 13 minutes. Let them cool slightly before serving. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Sunflower Seed Butter
Makes about 1 ½ cups
Ingredients:
3 cups / 400g raw, unsalted, shelled sunflower seeds
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.
2. Place the sunflower seeds in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until golden and fragrant, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove them from the oven and let cool.
3. Place the cooled sunflower seeds in a food processor and blend, occasionally scraping down the sides, until smooth and creamy (this process can take 10 minutes or more, so be patient). If the seeds are not releasing their oil, add a little olive oil to help the process. Once the mixture is creamy, transfer to a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid, and store in the fridge for up to 1 month.
I am beyond thrilled to be on tour with this second book. To be meeting so many of you who have been following my kitchen adventures for years and years, is beyond amazing. I feel like I’ve said it a thousand times, but I really mean it: your generosity of spirit and support with all that I put out in the world truly humbles me. I feel so lucky to do what I do, and you are the ones that make it possible.
With joy and deep gratitude,
Sarah B.
Another stellar recipe from My New Roots! I use sesame seed butter instead of sunflower seed butter and swap different nuts/seeds depending on what I have on hand. The cookies turn out great every time.
Is it possible to substitute agave nectar or honey for some or all of the maple syrup? Or would that effect the texture/baking chemistry? I ask because maple syrup has gotten so expensive in the last few years.
I have used oats on cookies but have never used sunflower seeds and you have well explained the need to use them. Thank you for this great recipe.
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I’ve made these twice now: once with sunflower seed butter and now with hazelnut butter. And they’re PHENOMENAL! I can’t tell you how happy I am to eat these cakey cookies (yes, cakey! I love cakes so these bite-sized lookalikes keep my cake insanity at bay) that are not full of butter and flour. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Great cookies! I made them and rolled them in almonds and coconut flakes.
Damned! yummy… i can try it
Looking forward to trying these. Does it matter what type of cocoa powder you use, dutch process or natural?
these cookies! I make them all the time now. And I find that while seemingly impossible, wetting my hands before scooping the sloppy mix into balls actually works quite well if you move fast (like making chokladbollar). I’ve been making these with cashew butter instead and I add the chopped slivers of an organic orange peel because dark chocolate + orange is my idea of heaven.
These cookies are amazing! I just added a bit od oat flakes, to thicken the dough. Thank you for these recipe, I’ll definitely bake them again.
new to me, will try soon
Any thoughts about using tahini seed butter instead?
These cookies look heavenly! Might go well with simple matcha tea I take for breakfast!
I have already made these a couple times and they are as awesome as you can expect. (Thank you Sarah xo)
Wanted to say that for my second batch, I chilled the dough, just in the bowl I mixed it up, in for a day. And once it was chilled, I could scoop out the batter and directly plop portions onto my cookie sheet without need for rolling in sunflower seeds. So there’s a variation if anyone requires it!
Sarah, I absolutely adore all your recipes. The gluten-free nuts and seeds bread literally changed my life! I really can’t wait to have the new book over here in London!
xx
Alessia
This recipe for the chocolate chunk sunbutter cookies is amazing! You added all the important instructions and its very easy to follow.
I am in LOVE love love with this new book of yours! I am a big fan of your first as well but Naturally Nourished is really something special. It’s still mighty winter-y in western Canada so we’re working our way through the soups. The cream of mushroom soup – wowza! You must have done a happy dance when you made that one…I certainly did 🙂 Enjoy your book tour adventures!
OMG, these look amazing – can’t wait to try them over the weekend 🙂
Thanks for the recipe!
Love those cookies – what an amazing looking treat!
I can’t wait to try one on my own!
Hello
Do you know the calorie or carbohydrate for these cookies?
Thanks
Just made these with almond butter and they are amazing!! Thank you for another great recipe!
Really good idea this cookies looks amazing! 🙂
Forgot to say, I didn’t add the extra chocolate, just used the cocoa.
Just made these…well kinda. The batter was so gooey so I just poured it into a buttered 9 inch round cake pan and topped it with the sunflower seeds. I baked it in a 325 oven for about 25 minutes. The other change I made was 1/2 tsp baking sofa and 1/2 tsp baking powder. The result was great. It came out like devils food cake! Can’t believe there is no flour with this texture. Awesome, thank you.
Sunflower and chocolate. I think thats a great mix ! Will have to try it, hopefully I will manage to make it as it looks delicious.
hmm yummy.. OMG guys im hungry..
Congrats on your new book, Sarah! I love the concept of using ‘basic’ supermarket ingredients for a fully health-supportive diet. Best of luck with the rest of your tour 🙂
those. look. AMAZING
Hi Sarah!
I made these cookies and omg!! they are from a different planet! I love them. I also made my own sunbutter and I can tell you I won’t buy one again! It’s so easy!! Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe!! Xoxo
Woow yummy snacks recipe..Definetly kids loved this.. Thank you for such a wonderful blog !!
Made these last night (basically ran to the kitchen as soon as I saw the recipe) and my husband and I love them!! Thank you so much! 🙂
So delicious ! Yummy !
I’ve just made a fresh batch of sunflower seed butter this week! Now I definitely know what I will be using it for;)
These cookies look so different from the classical version, can’t wait to try them today! I hope I got nought sunflower seeds home! Thank you so much!
These look delicious!
So excited for your new cookbook! And it’s wonderful that the tour is going well. I can’t wait to try these cookies because they look & sound – like everything else you make – amazing! Just wanted to say a quick thank you for doing what you do. I started following your blog in college as I was deepening my forays into the kitchen and into healthy eating. It’s been fun to learn from you and follow along on your own journey. Congrats on this step and I wish you and your family all the best!
I’m making these cookies right now. The batter tastes amazing and I’m about to pop them in the oven. My batter was so wet I couldn’t handle it with my hands; had to drop globs into the sunflower seeds by spoon. Any tips…I know the batter is meant to be quite wet but this seemed to me to be too wet. Maybe the eggs I had were too big? Followed the recipe to the letter.
Thanks
Lisa – try refrigerating the dough for a few hours as it will increase the viscosity of the dough and make it easier to handle!
These sound delicious! I’m so happy to hear that in this book you’ve kept the ingredients for your wonderful recipes a bit more easy to find. I’ll have to check it out!
I love the new cookbook and it was SO fun to come and see you in New York. I just found sunflower seed butter in the market this morning:) so we will be enjoying these soon:))
This looks so good!
Have a lovely day. x
Izzy |http://pinchofdelight.com
I got my copy of Naturally Nourished today and, boy, am I going to have fun with it. Love the rollover feature. Thanks for the great ideas.
YUM YUM YUM need to make a batch of these asap! Thanks for sharing! xx
Hi Sarah, thanks for the lovely recipe.
When will you be launching your book in Europe? Thanks
Hi Sarah,
Did you ever try employing the chickpea aquafaba egg trend for these cookies? I’ve successfully used it in chocolate chip cookies and ooey gooey brownies, so I’m wondering if they might work here as well?! I’ll have to give it a shot and report back, unless you or someone else already has.
Much love (and your recipes are always a saving grace – so flavorful, delicious, and healthy!)
I’m going to reply to my own comment with results of veganizing the recipe. I did eventually find success!
batch 1: replaced egg with chickpea brine (3 TBS per egg). dough was practically liquid, very difficult to ball up, even more difficult to dunk in seeds (only managed 3 then ran out of patience) and spread like crazy in the oven. I could not lift a single cookie off the sheet pan without it falling apart (though the seeded ones did have more structural integrity). taste was phenomenal, execution left much to be desired.
batch 2: replaced egg with chickpea brine (3 TBS per egg), replaced baking soda with baking powder (1 to 1 replacement), and chilled the dough for a few hours. this batch was HEAVENLY!! did not even need to roll them in seeds to keep them structurally sound. they puffed up nicely, spread a bit, and most importantly tasted delicious and have a fantastic texture. I will definitely be baking this version of the recipe more often.
Thank you! I will try your second batch egg free method.
Not sure I can wait for your book to hit the shelves here in Switzerland. I usually avoid Amazon but… And speaking of sunflowers, when I was a broke student in Paris, I used to make sunflower milk cause almonds were too cheap and oats were not “nutty” enough. I toasted the seeds then made nut milk as usual. It was… not bad if you added a little sweetener. So I’ll try the sunflower butter for old times’ sake!
Hi Sarah,
Are you gone do anything here in Copenhagen ?
Regards
G.
I made these as soon as I saw the recipe. They are delicious! Thanks so much. Can’t wait for your new book to arrive!
These cookies sounds absolutely amazing! You can never go wrong with a decadent chocolate cookie <3 I think I'll try my hands at an almond butter version this weekend!
Hi Sarah!
Could these be made without eggs? Maybe a flax or chia substitute?
Thank you- they look delicious!
These sound absolutely divine, Sarah! Can’t wait to try them. And I hope you enjoy your cookbook tour 🙂 So fun!
I just got your cookbook in the mail last week and the thing is full of bookmarked pages!!! Everything looks gorgeous and so well thought-out, I can’t wait to cook everything! But I WILL say that your first cookbook will eternally be my most favorite cookbook ever <3