Ingredient: ripe banana, mashed

CELEBRATING ST. PATRICK’S DAY!

The term ‘green food’ can mean several things. More and more households are ‘going green’ with their menus, buying food from sustainable local sources. People who are ‘eating greener’ include those who grow their own food and compost all their waste to those who simply take a re-useable bag to the supermarket. Most of us are interested in making decisions that are better for the environment.

Others immediately think ‘green vegetables’. Then of course there are those who, especially at this time of year, may think of the color green and foods with which to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. There is so much you could do with this holiday in terms of food such as rainbows, leprechauns, shamrocks, pot of gold ………

In North America, St. Patrick’s Day is pretty much just a fun day here. Green food has been getting more and more ‘creative’ on this particular holiday. For the most part, it’s an excuse to party and drink some green beer.

In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, I wanted to incorporate some ‘green’ food into our day. I decided on some ‘magic’ sunflower seed cookies. These cookies are quite unique in that when you use sunflower butter combined with baking soda in the batter the bread turns green. The green color is a harmless result of natural chemical reactions and doesn’t affect the taste or safety of the cookies.

Sunflower seed butter, often called Sunbutter, naturally turns green when these two ingredients meet during baking. The alkaline baking soda interacts with the acidic chlorogenic acid, producing a green pigment called chlorophyllin. This reaction intensifies as the cookies cool down, leading to the characteristic green hue.

Nevertheless, I thought it was a fun way to put a different twist on today’s green celebrations.

Print Recipe

Green Sunflower Seed Cookies

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Rating: 5
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Course

dessert

Cuisine

North American

Keyword

green sunflower seed cookies, sunflower bread

Servings

MetricUS Imperial

Ingredients

Cookies

• 2/3 cup ripe banana, mashed
• 1/2 cup sunflower seed butter
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup or honey
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup oatmeal, quick cooking
• 6 Tbsp brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips, white or brown

Topping

• pepita OR sunflower seeds

Course dessert Cuisine North American Keyword green sunflower seed cookies, sunflower bread Servings MetricUS Imperial Ingredients Cookies 2/3 cup ripe banana, mashed 1/2 cup sunflower seed butter 2 Tbsp maple syrup or honey 2 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp sea salt 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 cup oatmeal, quick cooking 6 Tbsp brown rice flour 1/4 cup chocolate chips, white or brown Topping pepita OR sunflower seeds

Votes: 1 Rating: 5 You: Rate this recipe!

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Mix everything together in one bowl until well combined.
3. Scoop the dough, roll in seeds & place onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. This amount will make 12 large balls or 15 small ones.
4. Bake 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven & cool on wire rack.

Recipe Notes

• It's definitely very important to use baking soda and make sure to mix the batter adequately to disperse the baking soda fully,  otherwise the chemical reaction that produces the green color won't happen. It also needs to sit for a few minutes after baking. Some brands (or even jars) of sunflower butter do work better than others, whether it has to do with freshness, added ingredients, or what. It's the secret ingredient to the green color - any other nut butter will just be brown! Look for a jar with as few additives as possible.