Sunflower Seed Cookies Recipe

Here is an easy recipe for delicious sunflower seed cookies. These cookies contain chocolate, cranberries… and of course, sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds are a great cookie ingredient because they add “crunchy” texture to cookies. They also eliminate the need to add peanuts and/or tree nuts to cookies in order to gain that crunchiness.

Nevertheless, if you don’t like roasted sunflower seeds then you probably will not like sunflower seed cookies. HOWEVER, if you like sunflower seeds, you will LOVE these chocolaty sunflower seed cookies.

Sunflower Seed Cookies

FYI – Given food allergies, some people like to use sunflowers as an alternative to peanuts or tree nuts. Of course, you should always first check with your doctor before eating sunflower seeds if you or family have any potential food allergy issues.

Recipe Sections

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Helpful Tips

Key Ingredients – Sunflower Seeds, M&Ms and Dried Cranberries

Ingredients

• 16 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened) – 230 grams
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 Teaspoon – Vanilla Extract – 5 milliliters
• 1 Cup – White Granulated Sugar – 200 grams
• 1/2 Cup – Light Brown Sugar (packed) – 107 grams
• 2 1/4 Cups – All Purpose Flour – 270 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 grams
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 3 grams
• 2/3 Cup – Roasted Sunflower Seed Kernels (not raw sunflower seeds) – 150 milliliters
• 2/3 Cup – M&Ms (or chocolate chips) – 150 milliliters
• 2/3 Cup – Dried Cranberries (or raisins, dried blueberries, etc.) – 150 milliliters

Servings – Roughly 24-30 cookies (depends on the size of your sunflower seed cookies)

Equipment – Measuring cup & spoons, mixing bowl, electric hand mixer, cookie dough scoop, oven mitts, flexible silicone spatula, cookie baking sheets, oven thermometer, wire cooling rack and an oven.

Before Baking – Add Extra Sunflower Seeds, M&Ms, etc. on Top of Cookie Dough Balls/Patties

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Soften butter in the microwave.
• Mix butter, eggs, vanilla extract, granulated white sugar and light brown sugar in a large bowl. Use an electric mixer to mix these ingredients together. Mix until creamy.
• Then stir in the flour, baking soda and salt. Use an electric mixer to mix all of the ingredients together. Mix until ingredients are completely blended and cookie dough looks creamy. FYI – Read the tips section below to find out why using an electric mixer results in a much better cookie than mixing by hand (when using vegetable oil). However, don’t overmix. Only mix the dough for 1-2 minutes with an electric mixer.
• Stir the remaining ingredients (sunflower seed kernels, M&Ms and dried cranberries) into the cookie dough. Use a large spoon (not an electric mixer) to stir in these ingredients. Stir until evenly mixed throughout the dough. Optional – Save 1/4-1/3 of the sunflower seeds, etc. to place on top of the cookie dough “patties” before baking. See the steps below.
• Optional (but recommended) – Chill the dough in a covered bowl in your refrigerator for 30-60 minutes. This helps to prevent the cookie dough from spreading in the oven and reduces the potential for overly thin/flat cookies.
• Scoop the dough with a tablespoon or cookie dough scoop and place this dough “ball” onto a non-stick baking sheet. You will need at least 2 baking sheets in order to bake all of the cookies at the same time (if they can fit in your oven) or you will need to bake each batch separately (one after the other).
• Leave space of roughly 2-3 inches between each dough ball because the cookies will spread as they bake.
• Optional – Gently press some of the sunflowers, M&Ms and dried cranberries into the tops of each cookie dough patty (in order to create a more attractive cookie top).
• Place baking trays into the oven. Wear oven mitts.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
• Remove baking sheet/tray from the oven. Wear oven mitts. Leave cookies on baking sheet to cool for 2-3 minutes. Otherwise, cookies might break when removed from the baking sheet.
• Use a spatula to remove the cookies from the baking tray and place the cookies on wire cooling racks in order to cool completely.
• Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common cookie problems.

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Other Bread Dad Sections

• Baking Tools & Equipment
• Cookbooks – Cookie books, bread machine books, etc.
• Dessert Mixes – Ingredient mixes for cookies, brownies, etc.

Helpful Tips

• The tips below are designed to help cookie “novices” and/or people with limited baking experience. Please read these tips to ensure that your cookies come out correctly.
• Click on our “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include our tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• This recipe calls for the use of ROASTED sunflower kernels. I do not recommend using raw sunflower kernels for this sunflower seed cookie recipe because raw sunflower kernels spoil more quickly than roasted kernels and can turn rancid. This results in the sunflower seeds tasting bad, having a strange odor, etc. Roasted kernels have a longer shelf life than raw kernels. Moreover, roasted sunflower kernels add a nice crunch to cookies.
• As you probably know, sunflower seed kernels are the inside of dehulled sunflower seeds. They are the soft seed left after the hard exterior shell of the sunflower seed has been removed.
• According to Wikipedia, “The seeds are a rich source (20% or higher of the Daily Value, DV) of protein (42% DV), dietary fiber (36% DV), many B vitamins (23–129% DV) and vitamin E (234% DV). The seeds also contain high levels of dietary minerals, including magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, iron and zinc (40–94% DV).”

• Optional – I do not mix in all of the sunflower seeds, M&Ms and dried cranberries into the cookie dough. I like to save 1/4-1/3 of these ingredients in order to press them into the top of the cookie dough balls/patties (just before placing the baking tray in the oven). I think this results in the finished sunflower seed cookies having a more attractive appearance.
• Optional – If you do not have any M&Ms or do not want to make a special trip to buy M&Ms, you can use chocolate chips as a replacement. You will be making some fantastic sunflower seed chocolate chip cookies!
• Optional – If you do not like dried cranberries, you can easily use alternatives such as raisins, dried blueberries, dried cherries, etc. in order to make your sunflower seed cookies.
• Some people like to use sunflower seeds as a baking alternative to tree nuts and/or peanuts. Of course, you should always first check with a doctor if you are considering using sunflower seeds as a replacement for peanuts or tree nuts if someone has potential food allergies.
• For more information on using sunflower seeds as an alternative to peanuts & tree nuts., you might like to read this WebMD article called Nut Allergy? Try These Swaps. However, people should always confirm with their doctor that they are not allergic to sunflower seeds or any nut alternative BEFORE eating peanut & nut replacements.

• These cookies come out much better if you mix the ingredients with an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes. The cookie dough comes out “creamier”. However, don’t overmix (don’t mix for more than 1-2 minutes) because this could result in problems such as cookies spreading too thin during baking.
• Completely mix the eggs, butter and sugar together with an electric mixer BEFORE adding the flour. This will result in much better cookies. See the inadequately blended problems in the line below.
• Mixing only by hand can lead to the cookie dough being inadequately blended. This can result in your cookies having unwanted “clumps” of ingredients (i.e. small flour clumps) and/or a gritty texture (inadequately blended sugar grains). Use an electric mixer for only 1-2 minutes for the best results.
• However, do not use the electric mixer on the trail mix ingredients… as this will just grind & chop them into tiny bits! Hand stir the trail mix ingredients into the cookie dough with a large spoon.
• Do NOT substantially reduce the sugar in this recipe. For the best results, always use the ingredient amounts called for by a recipe. Reducing sugar can affect a cookie’s texture and taste. If you make a significant reduction to the sugar quantity then you will get much drier & blander cookies. Sugar helps to retain moisture.

• Tips to PREVENT cookie “spreading” (i.e. overly thin cookies) – Chill the cookie dough, don’t squish the dough flat (higher dough results in higher cookies), use fresh baking soda (cookies made with stale baking soda don’t rise properly), measure the recipe ingredients exactly!! (too much oil results in “runny” dough and flatter cookies), always use cool or room temperature baking sheets (don’t reuse a hot baking sheet to make another batch… i.e. the hot baking sheet that was used to bake your first batch of cookies), don’t overmix the dough (only use an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes), make sure to use the correct oven temperature (follow the recipe’s instructions because ovens that are too hot will cause cookies to “melt” too quickly and thus they will spread more than expected), etc.
• Some bakers like to chill the cookie dough patties in their refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before baking in order to prevent flat/thin cookies. Colder dough results in less spreading.
• DON’T OVERBAKE!!! Overbaked cookies come out hard & dry. Don’t leave the cookies in the oven longer than recommended & don’t use a higher than recommended baking temperature.
• If you liked this recipe, you might also like our Trail Mix Cookies recipe. Mix & match trail mix ingredients to make your own unique cookies.

• Use FRESH ingredients (i.e. baking soda and flour) for the best results. For example, if you use stale baking soda, your cookies will not rise properly. The cookies will be flat and dense. Baking soda & powder is best if used within 6 months of opening the container.
• Old or expired baking soda can also “clump”. This could leave small bitter lumps of baking soda in your baked goods. There is a much lower risk of these baking soda lumps if you use new baking soda.
• You can make the cookie dough balls (drops, spoonfuls, etc.) with 2 tablespoons, a cookie dough scoop or your hands. Some people also like to wear food grade plastic gloves when making cookie dough balls/drops.
• Use of a cookie dough scoop will give you more consistently shaped cookies versus varying sizes from using a less “exact” methods such as using a tablespoon or your hands.
• For “rounder” cookies (with no edges sticking out), you can use a cookie dough scoop or mold the cookie dough by hand into round balls and then press down on the dough ball until it turns into a pancake shape.
• Place the baking tray on the oven’s middle rack for best results. If the baking tray is placed too high or too low in the oven, the baking tray may be too close to the heating element.

• FYI – According to Wikipedia, “Mechanically dehulled kernels are sold raw or roasted and are sometimes added to bread and other baked goods for their flavor.” “There is also sunflower butter, similar to peanut butter, but using sunflower seeds instead of peanuts, which is a common substitute in schools for children with nut allergies”.
• Historical Fact – According to Wikipedia, in 1938 “Ruth Wakefield invented the chocolate chip cookie. She added chopped up bits from a Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar into a cookie” and “Andrew Nestlé and Ruth Wakefield made a business arrangement: Wakefield gave Nestlé the right to use her cookie recipe and the Toll House name for one dollar and a lifetime supply of Nestlé chocolate”.
• FYI – Many chocolate chip cookie recipes are some type of variation of this original Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe. For more information, you should read the Wikipedia article on Chocolate Chip Cookies.

• If you have a problem with a cookie recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (i.e. using the correct oven temperature), using the correct amounts of ingredients (i.e. don’t eyeball the measurements versus using a measuring cup or accidentally add a tablespoon when a teaspoon is called for), using the correct ingredients (i.e. baking soda/powder versus yeast or all purpose flour versus bread flour), etc. Please don’t “wing” things with recipes.
• My recipes are based on US ingredient measurements (i.e. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (i.e. grams & milliliters). Since I rarely use European measurements when baking, please let me know in the comment section below if any of the European ingredient measurements need to be changed (i.e. for XYZ ingredient, milliliters are more commonly used versus the grams information listed in the recipe).
• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with hot ovens, baking trays, etc.
• Be safe! Food that contains candy is a potential choking hazard for very young children.
• Please visit Bread Dad’s section on Easy Cookie Recipes if you are looking for more simple & delicious homemade cookie ideas.

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Reference Sources

• Wikipedia, Cookie
• Wikipedia, Sunflower Seed

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