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    Sunbutter Cookies & Blossoms with Peanut Butter Option

    December 23, 2019 By Meagan Fikes 1 Comment

    A photo of a plate of sunbutter blossoms with mini peanut butter cups in the center of each cookie and a photo of a sunbutter cookie with a bite taken out together in a vertical collage.

    A red plate of sunbutter blossom cookies with mini peanut butter cups in the center of each and Christmas decorations in the background.


    Some links on this site are affiliate links which means that if you make a purchase at one of these links, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Additionally, I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. I only link to products and services I personally recommend and believe will benefit my readers. These links help to cover some of my blogging expenses. I appreciate your support!


    This is it. This is THE cookie recipe. The recipe I've been on and off working on ever since I started this blog back in early 2014. Every year, I say I'm going to finish it before Christmas and until now, I've been wrong every year.

    Sunbutter cookies may seem easy to make and that's because well, they are easy. So why did I struggle so much? It's because I was dying for a very specific texture of sunbutter cookie. You know how some traditional peanut butter cookies are just ever so slightly crisp on the outside and the inside is moist and you can feel the creaminess of the peanut butter with a strong peanut taste as you are eating it? Sometimes there's even a dark line where the moisture is. That's what I wanted.

    A sunbutter cookie with a bite taken out of it.

    I can eat peanut butter just fine but I love all the varieties of nut and seed butters and thought sunbutter cookies sounded really good. It's the best peanut butter replacement in my opinion because it has a rich flavor that butters like almond and cashew don't have. I also don't like to include peanuts on my blog since it's such a common allergen. Since I was making so many batches of this, I started experimenting while using peanut butter to save money until I got the recipe right. It's a 1:1 replacement and if you make a peanut butter version, I've linked to peanut butter cups you can use in the blossoms. Otherwise, the plain ricemilk chocolate was good too!

    A red plate of sunbutter blossoms.

    I tried so many versions - coconut oil, shortening only, brown sugar only, flourless, refrigerated overnight, refrigerated four days, frozen, with/without vanilla, three ingredient, egg free,...I even tried other people's recipes (not to publish here obviously, just to try to satisfy my craving). None of them were it. Next, I started making traditional peanut butter cookies that I found online (again, for my personal enjoyment) and swapping the flours for gluten free and replacing the dairy ingredients with dairy free. It still didn't work.

    A glass plate of sunbutter cookies.

    I believe the reason why all this didn't work was that gluten free flour is very low protein so it's difficult to get any crispiness on the outside if you want the inside to be creamy. Adding more flour to make up for the texture only made the cookies dry and diluted the peanut flavor. On the opposite end of the spectrum was play-doh texture. This was typical of a three ingredient, flourless cookie.

    I really enjoyed the texture using all non-hydrogenated shortening but I also included dairy free butter to make up for any rich flavor lost due to switching from peanut butter to sunbutter. Another thing I found is that if I used a dark brown sugar and equal parts white sugar, the texture was perfectly balanced. I also rolled the cookies in some sugar for a slight added crunch on the outside.

    A sunbutter cookie with mini peanut butter cup in the center has a bite taken out of it.

    The other factors for the right texture were cookie thickness and refrigeration. This is where I might get some criticism because I'm starting to suspect that I like undercooked cookies. You know that dark line in some cookies I was talking about earlier where you really get a different, creamy consistency? I don't know if that means it's undercooked or just delicious but either way, that's what I like. I mostly notice it underneath the chocolate when it's pressed down in a blossom so I think it's mostly compacted or collapsed as it's cooling rather than raw but you can cook yours longer if you think they are underdone.

    Two red plates of sunbutter blossoms - one with rectangular chocolate pieces in the centers and one with mini peanut butter cups in the centers.

    I was able to get this creamy texture in my cookies by keeping them thicker instead of smashing them completely flat. It also had to do with chilling them a little bit. I learned so much about chilling cookie dough in this post by King Arthur Flour (really interesting and definitely worth a read if you enjoy baking!) Basically, the longer you chill dough, the more it dries out and the more the flavor concentrates. Chilling 30 minutes was enough to improve the texture. If you go longer than that, it does start to taste even better but know that it also becomes more crumbly and difficult to handle. If the dough is very cold (chilled several hours), expect to increase the cooking time a little.

    Sunbutter blossom cookies.

    That was probably horribly boring to read but I have just learned so many interesting things during this almost six year process that I just had to share it! I hope you guys enjoy this recipe as much as I did - please let me know how it goes if you make it!

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    Recipe

    A red plate of sunbutter blossoms with mini peanut butter cups in the center of each one.

    Sunbutter Cookies & Blossoms with Peanut Butter Option

    5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 1 review
    • Author: Meagan Fikes
    • Prep Time: 15
    • Cook Time: 10 mins
    • Total Time: 55 mins
    • Yield: 20 cookies 1x
    • Method: baking
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    Description

    This sunbutter cookie dough can be made into either sunbutter cookies or blossoms. Includes a peanut butter option too. Gluten free, dairy free.


    Ingredients

    • 1 ⅓ C Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour, see notes
    • ½ tsp baking soda
    • ½ tsp salt
    • ¼ C non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
    • ¼ C dairy free butter, softened (I used Earth Balance soy free baking sticks)
    • ½ C + 2 Tbsp sugar, divided
    • ¼ C + 2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
    • 1 egg
    • 1 C unsweetened, unsalted Sunbutter or peanut butter if tolerated

    For blossoms you'll also need:

    • approximately 20 pieces of allergy friendly chocolate, see notes

    Instructions

    1. Whisk together the gluten free flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
    2. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the shortening, dairy free butter, ¼ C + 2 tablespoon of the sugar, and the brown sugar.
    3. Add egg and sunbutter or peanut butter and continue to mix.
    4. Slowly add the flour mixture and continue to mix until combined. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
    5. While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350ºF. Put the remaining ¼ C of sugar in a small bowl and set aside.
    6. Once the dough has chilled, use a cookie scoop or a spoon to make around 20 scoops of dough. (It's find if you don't get exactly 20, just adjust the baking time accordingly). Roll each scoop of dough in the palm of your hands to form smooth balls then roll those in the bowl of sugar to lightly coat.
    7. Place the prepared dough balls on a cookie sheet. If making regular cookies, slightly flatten them with the prongs of a fork to get the classic peanut butter cookie crosshatch pattern. If making blossoms, leave them as-is.
    8. Bake for about 9-11 minutes depending on the size and how well done you like them. If making blossoms, immediately press a chocolate piece into the center of each cookie as soon as they come out of the oven.
    9. Allow cookies to slightly cool on the cookie sheet for about 2 minutes then you can transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling then serve.

    Notes

    • Potential allergens contained in these cookies may vary due to brands of ingredients used, product reformulations, etc. Please verify that all your ingredients are safe for you to consume and always be mindful of allergen cross contact while cooking.
    • Flour: I’ve tried several different 1-1 gluten free flours in cookie recipes and have had many cookies fall apart and crumble. Unless you have another reliable 1-1 gluten free flour that contains xanthan gum, I would stick with Bob’s Red Mill since that’s what these were tested with. Note that this is made in a facility with tree nuts and soy according to the package I had.
    • Chocolate: I chose to use Enjoy Life ricemilk chocolate bars which are free from most common allergens. Each bar contains 4 rectangles of chocolate and I recommend cutting each one in half which means that each bar will make 8 sunbutter blossoms. If you can eat peanuts and soy, the Justin's mini dark chocolate peanut butter cups were good in these too. Note that only their dark chocolate doesn't contain dairy and even so, these are currently produced on shared equipment with dairy as well as tree nuts. See packaging and their website for the most relevant allergen information.
    • Cookie discoloration: Note that the high chlorophyll content in sunbutter can react with baking soda and turn the cookies green. Adding an acid can counteract this and since this recipe contains brown sugar (acidic), it should be fine but know that if you notice any little green spots or discoloration start to happen, even days after they're baked, it doesn't necessarily mean they're bad. It's most likely just the chlorophyll!

    Did you make this recipe?

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    A sunbutter cookie with more cookies in the background.

    Sunbutter Cookies and Blossoms with Peanut Butter Option | This sunbutter cookie dough can be made into either sunbutter cookies or blossoms. Includes a peanut butter option too. Gluten free, dairy free. | eatsomethingdelicious.com
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Raechel

      December 17, 2022 at 5:33 pm

      Just made these! So good. I added Trader Joe’s dark chocolate sunbutter cups. Excited to give these out for Christmas

      Reply

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    About Meagan

    About Meagan

    I started out with a passion for creating unique recipes and decorating cakes. In June of 2012, I discovered I was not only severely gluten intolerant but also, many of the foods I was eating I simply couldn't include in my diet anymore. Fortunately, my love for trying new recipes, ingredients, and cooking methods made re-learning how to cook seem more like a fun challenge than an unfortunate circumstance. I'm so happy to say that my dietary restrictions haven't stopped me from doing what I love. I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I do.

    Some links on this site are affiliate links which means that if you make a purchase at one of these links, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only link to products and services I personally recommend and believe will benefit my readers. These links help to cover some of my blogging expenses. I appreciate your support!

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    I was going to write some jokes about logging but I was going to write some jokes about logging but you wooden get them. Because they’re super dumb. Ok, I’ll share anyway.
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How do lumberjacks find a missing exponent?
By using LOGarithms
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What did the lumberjack wear to work on casual Friday?
His favorite Tree-shirt
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When is the most stressful time of year for a tree?
Sept-timber
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I told you they were bad, right? 😅 Cut me some slack, they were for a kids birthday party. Oh, and I have more…
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Why did the logger get a gym membership?
He wanted to get lumber jacked 💪
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Why couldn’t the tree answer the riddle?
He was stumped
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What kind of beer do lumberjacks drink?
Loggers 🍻
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Why did the logger have back pain?
He didn’t have enough lumber support
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Embarrassingly enough, I have a bunch more but I’ll save them for a project in a later blog post. For now, I just have the cake.
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This is a 2 part, absolutely massive blog post on making this logging scene cake from start to finish. The cake is chocolate and vanilla layers with cookies & cream filling. And as always, gluten free and dairy free.
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The recipe is at the link in my profile
👉@eatsomethingdelicious
Thanks for chopping by 👋
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#glutenfree #dairyfree #dessert #foodallergies #celiac #glutenintolerant #eatsomethingdelicious #cakedecorating #foodbloggerpro #cake
    Big news: I cleaned my house the other day 😅 Bu Big news: I cleaned my house the other day 😅 But seriously, it’s amazing how much having a clean space can help. My energy levels are completely uncalled for considering we’re well beyond a month of Erika barely sleeping at night and at least one family member dealing with a cold. I’m so tired of snot 😩 And being responsible for 3 peoples noses. We’re trying to graduate one nose to self-care but apparently the art of nose blowing takes a lot more boxes of tissues to master. We’ll get there.
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Ok enough gross stuff. My finally clean again space has made me so much more focused and motivated to get things done. I’ve burned through most of my work to-do list and made it to the fun stuff that I don’t have to do but just want to. And since I was at that point, I decided to do something for myself by working on my blog. And I went a little overboard by working on 5 blog posts at once. I probably won’t get through them all but I have 3 ready so far.
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This first post is a 30 minute ground beef stroganoff that I made almost 3 years ago. I didn’t do a great job writing down the recipe so I wasn’t able to post it until I figured out what I forgot to write down. Figured it out the other day and it was so good!
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You can get the recipe at the link in my profile
👉@eatsomethingdelicious
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#glutenfree #dairyfree #celiac #eatsomethingdelicious #30minutemeals #foodallergies #foodbloggerpro #glutenintolerant
    Not really a new recipe but I shared my sons 4th b Not really a new recipe but I shared my sons 4th birthday cake on the blog today. Also wrote a recap on everything that’s been going on for the past year since I would normally write about it in my blog posts but haven’t written anything! I don’t know when I’ll be back on there. I’ve only had time for site maintenance and I really miss blogging but I’ll be back on once things slow down. The link to the new post is in my profile!
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#glutenfree #dairyfree #cakedecorating #foodallergies #celiacdisease
    I almost didn’t make this into a casserole becau I almost didn’t make this into a casserole because the sauce and pasta combined made a delicious side dish on their own! @beldolcefood #sponsored my most recent blog post and provided me with their new gluten free fusilli and penne to try out. I used the fusilli in this recipe and the sauce is a creamy, cheesy enchilada sauce made from just 3 ingredients.
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I ended up adding taco meat, fire roasted tomatoes, corn, black beans, and dairy free cheese to make a taco noodle casserole. Then we ate it all and I made it again! This is one of those recipes that will be going in our regular meal rotation.
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This is a pretty versatile recipe. It can be made vegan just by leaving out the meat and it’s just as good. And as I said earlier, the pasta with just the sauce makes a really good side dish. You can also top it with whatever you like such as cilantro, jalapeños, sour cream, scallions, or salsa.
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The recipe and details on @beldolcefood new gluten free pasta is linked in my profile:
@eatsomethingdelicious
Let me know if you try it!
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#glutenfree #dairyfree #glutenfreefacility #pasta #casserole #beldolce #foodallergies #f52grams #foodbloggerpro #celiac #glutenintolerant #eatsomethingdelicious
    I’ll just say it - I’m one of those bloggers t I’ll just say it - I’m one of those bloggers that makes cakes for their blogs “birthdays”. Or uses the blog birthdays as an excuse to make yet another cake recipe....yeah, that’s probably more accurate.
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Definitely felt like I needed a good excuse for this one because it’s my fifth variation of gooey butter cake! However, my site is seven years old so maybe I should have had seven gooey butter cakes ready to go? Guess I’d better get caught up before year eight 😉
.
Anyways, I really enjoyed this carrot cake variation of gooey butter cake. The cake layer/crust swaps out the yellow cake mix with spice cake mix and I added in some shredded carrots and raisins. I kept the “gooey” top layer the same except that I topped it with a sprinkle of cinnamon and additional raisins before baking.
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If you want to try the recipe, the link is in my profile: @eatsomethingdelicious
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#gooeybuttercake #foodallergies #glutenfree #dairyfree #foodbloggerpro #baking #celiac #f52grams #f52sweets #glutenintolerant #carrotcake
#glutenfreelife #eatsomethingdelicious
    Here are a few last minute treat ideas! The carame Here are a few last minute treat ideas! The caramel stuffed crispy rice treats recipe is written below. The other recipes (gooey butter cookies, salted caramel turtles, and pumpkin snickerdoodles) can be found at the link in my bio!
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CARAMEL STUFFED CRISPY RICE TREATS
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INGREDIENTS
.
• ¼ C dairy free butter, divided
• 4 C mini marshmallows (regular and vegan both work), divided
• 6 C gluten free rice cereal *see notes*
• 1 tsp vanilla extract, divided
• 10-11 oz dairy free chewy caramels
• 11.25 oz can sweetened condensed coconut milk
.
DIRECTIONS
.
1. Melt 2 tablespoons of the dairy free butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat. Add 2 cups of marshmallows and stir until they are melted with no lumps.
2. Remove from heat and stir in ½ tsp of vanilla then gently fold in 3 cups of cereal until it is well-combined with the marshmallows.
3. Using wet hands, press this mixture evenly into the bottom of a 7x11 inch casserole dish and set aside.
4. Unwrap the caramels and add them along with the sweetened condensed coconut milk to a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir often to avoid burning. Once this has turned to a completely smooth sauce, pour over the cereal layer.
5. Make your top cereal layer by repeating steps 1 and 2. Distribute this evenly over the caramel layer and pat down with wet hands.
6. Once the treats have cooled down, they will firm up and hold their shape when cut. Cut into squares and serve.
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NOTES
.
• Potential allergens contained in this recipe may vary due to brands of ingredients used, product reformulations, etc. Please verify that all your ingredients are safe for you to consume and always be mindful of allergen cross contamination while cooking.
• Double check that the cereal you use is gluten free. At least one brand carries 2 different versions of rice cereal and only one is GF.
• Don't make both cereal layers in one large batch then divide it up. The top layer will cool and firm up before you can layer it on which will make the caramel seep out when you press it down.
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