Dear Peanut, I am leaving you for Sunflower Butter!

{Image Courtesy}

Channing Pollock, and American playwright and critic once said, "No man in the world has more courage than the man who can stop after eating one peanut."

This quote made me chuckle thinking back to my day at the baseball park when I kept snacking on the shelled peanuts that cost $6.00 a bag. Truthfully, no matter how hard I tried, I could not put those delicious, salty peanuts down.

Unfortunately, my snack of choice would put many people in a full-blown allergy attack, some severe enough to require an immediate trip to the emergency room.

Chances are, if you are like me you are wondering how people can survive a life without peanuts. And if you are allergic to these nuts, you are probably feeling a sudden itch on your skin. Well, fear not because I am here to tell you about a never-know-the-difference alternative to good ol' fashioned PB!

Sunflower Butter has been on the market for a few years now and is an ideal low-fat, high fiber substitute for traditional peanut butter. Some schools are now offering this alternative to students with nut allergies, making for a safe eating environment while allowing those students to still enjoy the taste of real PB&J.

Those suffering severe peanut allergies are now afforded the chance to enjoy sunflower butter the same way their peers enjoy PB: on celery, morning toast, with jelly and on crackers.

In fact, people are now using sunflower butter to make those melt-in-your-mouth chewy cookies with the famous crisscross imprint on the top!

I found this great recipe at Baking Bites:

{Image Courtesy}

Sunflower Butter Cookies

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup sunflower seed butter

1/4 cup sugar + 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon + 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Beat in egg, blend in vanilla and sunflower seed butter. Add in dry ingredients and mix on low speed until combined..

Drop dough into 1-inch balls on prepared baking sheet. Dip a fork in water and press down gently to flatten each cookie. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar-salt mixture.Bake for 10-12 minutes, until just beginning to brown on the edges.Cool on baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen