These sunbutter blossom cookies are the perfect allergy friendly holiday cookie recipe! Everyone loves these soft, chewy, chocolatey, classic treats. These are a great alternative to peanut butter cookies!
It’s been a mild month so far, and it’s not looking too wintery outside yet. We haven’t had any snow, and I really haven’t had to pull out my winter coat yet. Not that I’m complaining!
But that does mean that I’m feeling a little slow about getting in the holiday mood.
So, we have to make it Christmas-y inside with lots of decorating and cookie baking. Next on my list of holiday cookies to bake were a reader suggestion – an alternative to the peanut butter kiss/blossom cookies.
My reader said that she couldn’t eat peanut butter, but really missed the peanut butter kiss cookies. I love trying to come up with allergy friendly alternatives, so I made these sunbutter blossom cookies. Sunbutter is very similar to peanut butter in texture and in the way it works in recipes, so this was a fairly simple substitution.
I love these cookies – they check all the boxes for me. Chewy, a little salty, some nice richness from the dark chocolate…I don’t feel like I’m missing a thing! Which is always my goal with all of my recipes. You don’t have to miss out on good food when you have food allergies.
Ingredient Notes
- Sunbutter – If you haven’t had sunbutter before, you might wonder what it tastes like. I really like it – it’s lightly sweetened, and (not surprisingly) tastes like sunflower seeds. I enjoy it in place of nut butters or peanut butter. You could also use Wow Butter, which is made of soy if that works better for you.
- Chocolate Kisses – Of course, Hershey’s kisses aren’t exactly allergy friendly, so I had to do a little work there – I simply melted dairy free chocolate chips and piped circles onto waxed paper on a cookie sheet. After about 30 minutes in the refrigerator, they were ready to be placed in the center of these sunbutter blossom cookies.
Baking with Sunbutter
If you’ve baked with sunbutter before, you may know that occasionally, the finished product can turn green!
This is a chemical reaction that happens between the chlorophyll in the sunflower seeds and the leavening agent – baking soda or baking powder. It isn’t harmful.
You can avoid the green color by reducing the amount of baking soda or powder. Don’t worry – I have already adjusted the recipe so that these cookies will not turn green.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Recipe
Sunbutter Blossom Cookies.
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy sunbutter
- ¾ cup organic cane sugar
- 1 Tablespoon golden ground flax seed
- 3 Tablespoons water
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- extra sugar for rolling
- 1 ½ cups dairy free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Make the flax seed egg replacer: combine the ground flax seed and the water in a small cup and set aside for a few minutes until it becomes a gel.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the sunbutter, sugar, flax egg, baking soda, and salt. Stir well until completely combined and smooth. (You can use a mixer if you prefer).
- Refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes.
- Melt the dairy free mini chocolate chips in the microwave for one minute, then stir. Continue to heat in 15 second intervals until fully melted and smooth. Let cool for about 10 minutes, then spoon into a piping bag fitted with a #5 small round tip. Pipe the chocolate into circles on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet. Place in the refrigerator to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Put a few tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl. Form the dough into balls about one inch in diameter, then roll them in the sugar. Place on the cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.
- When the cookies are done baking, press the prepared chocolate blossoms into the center of each cookie.
- Let cookies cool completely on the cookie sheet before moving as they are a bit fragile when warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Georgie
Awesome cookie recipe they tasted really good but after 2 days the bottom of cookies turned black so I threw them out. Dunno why that happened or what it was. I stored them In a sealed container & used exact ingredients too. If u have any ideas please let me know how to prevent from happening again bc my family really thought they were tasty & I would like to make again.
Lizzy
We’re they black or green on the bottom? Baking soda makes the sunbutter turn green once baked. They are still perfectly fine to eat! They make for a fun green surprise inside, great for Christmas or st Patty’s day.
Jennifer
Can I use apple sauce as an egg replacement?
Molly
My son liked these, however, they are completely flat. Any suggestions.
Kelly Roenicke
Did you chill the dough? Could the baking soda have been old?
Pamela
We love these cookies for my sons with allergies. I am 8 months pregnant and trying to prepare as much food as possible before our third gets here. Do you know if these freeze well? they are fairly delicate so I didn’t want to waste the ingredients if they didn’t freeze well/
Kelly Roenicke
I think I would form the cookies and freeze them before baking. I think they would bake fine from frozen, it just may take a couple more minutes.
Stephanie
I want to make these for my sister that has allergies. She is not allergic to eggs will I be able to use an egg in place of the flax egg? If I can would it just be one egg in place of it?
Kelly Roenicke
Yes, just use one regular egg!
Alanna
I made these with my toddler son’s “help”. They are delicious! I am putting this recipe in my regular rotation. Your recipes have helped my family deal with dairy/egg/soy/tree nut/peanut severe food allergies, please keep up the great work!
Kelly Roenicke
Thank you for your nice note! I’m glad you liked these cookies!
Mary
Can I use peanut butter?
Kelly Roenicke
Yes, any nut or seed butter will work!
K
These were AMAZING. But I’ve got to confess, I was way too lazy to make my own kisses. I just put the enjoy life chips right in the dough and called it a day. So, mine totally were not blossom cookies, but delicious :-) thank you!!
Allison Buchert
Where can I find dairy fee chocolate?
Kelly
I use Enjoy Life or PASCHA brand, and you can find those on Amazon, or at Whole Foods or most health food stores.
Sharon (Nut Free Wok)
That’s an amazing recipe because it doesn’t have any kind of flour in it! I love your top 8 free recipes!
Kelly
Thank you so much, Sharon!
Kristine | Kristine's Kitchen
I love that you made an allergy friendly version of the blossom cookie! These cookies look like they just about melt in your mouth!
Kelly
Thanks, Kristine!
alisamarie
That is a genius way to make the chocolate kisses for the middles!
Kelly
Thanks, Alisa!
Kristy @ Southern In Law
These look deeeelish! I loveee sunbutter and chocolate only makes these even better! ;)
whiskandshout
Love that extra sugar you rolled the cookies in! And yay for allergy friendly treats :)
Kelly
Thank you!
Strength and Sunshine
These are my brother’s favorite cookie and I just made a healthy version for him that came out fantastic! Such a great cookie all around!
Kelly
Such a holiday favorite!
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice
I’ve never tried sunbutter before, but it sounds delicious! I bet these cookies taste amazing!