Sunflower seed flour makes a wonderful low carb, nut-free replacement for almond flour. It’s easy to make your own at home and save money! Great for those with nut allergies.
A lot of readers ask me for nut-free alternatives for many of my recipes. While some things can be made with coconut flour easily enough, other recipes cannot. What is a nut-free keto dieter to do?
Sunflower seed flour to the rescue! I have found that it’s the best one-to-one replacement for almond flour, and it’s incredibly easy to make your own at home.
All you need is a coffee grinder, a sieve, and some sunflower seeds. And about 5 minutes of your time. Yep it’s that easy!
Why make Sunflower Seed Flour at home?
So many keto baked goods are based on almond flour. But many people who choose the keto diet have additional allergies and intolerances, and this leaves them with few good, healthy flour alternatives.
While coconut flour can make some pretty great nut-free keto treats, it’s not always a great replacement for almond flour. They behave so differently that the whole recipe needs to be completely changed. More eggs, more oil, more liquid, etc. It isn’t an easy substitution and it may or may not work out very well.
Whereas a seed meal like sunflower seed flour can be used as a direct replacement for almond flour in most recipes.
I used to purchase Gerbs Sunflower Seed Meal on Amazon, but it’s on the pricy side and sometimes they don’t carry it. Whereas the seeds themselves are readily available and usually inexpensive. A 4-pack of Bob’s Red Mill sunflower seeds is only $11.39! Bob’s Red Mill Natural Raw Sunflower Seeds, 20-Ounce Packages (Pack of 4) I also bought some bulk organic sunflower seeds at Whole Foods the other day for only $3.99 per pound.
When I made my favourite Rosemary Parmesan Keto Crackers, I saw how easy it was to get a fine grind with my coffee grinder. But the trick was to get out the bigger seed pieces so all that remains is the finely ground flour. A little sifting in a sieve with relatively large holes solved that. You don’t want too fine a sieve mesh, because the flour won’t go through, but something with a bit of a more open weave works beautifully.
How to use Sunflower Seed Flour
I do have some special tips for using this nut-free keto flour in place of almond flour.
- It can be a 1:1 replacement, but you may find you need a tiny bit more of it to get the right consistency. Keto batters are typically thicker than conventional batter, so just add a bit more of the nut-free flour until your batter is scoopable but not pourable.
- Sunflower seeds are a bit higher carb than almonds, so your flour will be as well. But not significantly so. I’d say each serving will be about 1g higher in carbohydrates than something made with almond flour.
- If you have severe nut allergies, please please please make sure that the sunflower seeds you purchase are not processed in a facility that also processes nuts.
- The funny green reaction: If you’ve never baked with sunflower seed meal before, you might be startled to see that some of your baked goods turn greenish as they cool. This is a reaction between the chlorophyll in sunflower seeds and your leavening agents (baking soda or baking powder). Not to worry, there are ways around this!
- This reaction can be offset using some acid, such as lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. About 1 tablespoon will be enough for most recipes.
- If you’re making something with chocolate, such as nut-free chocolate cupcakes, the dark brown of the cocoa or chocolate will cover the green, so no need to add any acid.
What to make with Sunflower Seed Flour
So what do you do with all your newly ground sunflower seed flour? You get baking, of course! It makes a great allergen-free replacement for almond flour, and I have quite a few sunflower seed flour recipes already. Check out all these great recipe ideas!
Keto Mini Chocolate Muffins (these are made with pumpkin seed meal but can easily be made with sunflower seed flour instead.
Keto Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffins
Sunbutter Chocolate Chip Cookies
How to Make Sunflower Seed Flour
Ingredients
- Raw sunflower seeds, (I used Bob's Red Mill)
You will also need:
- Coffee Grinder
- Open-mesh sieve, the holes need to be big enough for the flour to fall through
- Medium Bowl
Instructions
- Set an open mesh sieve over a medium bowl.
- Pour 1 cup of sunflower seeds into your coffee grinder and grind for 10 to 20 seconds. Don't grind too long, or you may end up with sunflower seed butter.
- Pour ground seeds into sieve and shake vigorously, then return remaining seed pieces back into coffee grinder. Repeat until almost all the sunflower seeds are finely ground.
- 1 cup of seeds makes approximately 1 1/4 cups flour.
- Store in an airtight bag or container in the fridge or freezer.
Video
Notes
Total fat: 14.55g
Calories from fat: 130
Cholesterol: --
Carbohydrate: 5.52g
Total dietary fiber: 3.08g
Protein: 4.61g
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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I’m loving your recipes! Thank you so much for this great service you are providing!
Quick question. Could you, would you consider also using raw unsalted pumpkin seeds in the place of sunflower seeds? I rarely keep sunflower seeds on hand, but I have a ton of raw pumpkin seeds.
You could definitely try it. I’ve used pumpkin seed meal in recipes… but do know that it’s definitely “greenish” so the appearance of your recipes will change accordingly.
Will my VitaMix make this too fine?
I have no idea, I don’t own one.
I have just been printing off a bunch of your nut-free recipies. (Thank you!) I could not remember what you had previously told me was a good 1:1 substitute for almond flour (due to my nut allergy), since coconut flour definitely isn’t 1:1. I’m soooo glad I found this info about sunflower seed here. Thank you for all you do!
Can you give us a link to the coffee grinder you are using?
What type of grinder mechanism does it use?
Thanks,
Shirley
I have seen videos on how to make flour from sunflower stalks. It’s very intriguing, but I can’t find anything that talks about the carb count. Do you have any idea what the carb count for sunflower stalk flour might be?
Thank you for taking the time for nut allergic keto bakers!!! I’ve printed off 4 recipes and am heading to the kitchen! Can’t wait to make some sunflower seed flour!!!
I have to stay away from nuts for a while, as they’re causing some stomach problems, so I thought I’d try this flour and use it in the Raspberry Cheesecake cookies. The flour was extremely easy to make. I was worried it might want to turn into sunbutter, but it gives you plenty of warning before it turns into a paste, and the flour was superfine and fluffy.
It turned out well in the cookies. I couldn’t taste the tablespoon of lemon juice and there was no odd colour. In fact, both my husband and I preferred the flavour over almond flour–it’s more neutral. The cookie dough did come out a little thin, even though I added some extra flour. I was nervous about overdoing the flour content though so I might try adding a bit more next time than I did this time. But overall the cookies were delicious. This flour is going to save me from nut-free misery.
I’m curious Carolyn if you’ve ever tried it in your pie crust (a staple in my household, or in cakes? Also is there a rule of thumb for how much lemon juice per cup of flour is needed? And a way to estimate how much extra flour will be needed? I wondered if going by weight might be more reliable?
Thank you for another amazing recipe!
Is it on to used roasted sunflower seeds, or do they have to be raw?
I can’t figure out if my coffee grinder is too fancy or if I have the wrong seeds. Even on super coarse setting, it would only come out as a butter paste.
It’s meant for raw sunflower seeds. If you’re using roasted, that might be the issue. They release their oils more easily…
can’t wait to try these.
Oops sa daisy, I clogged up my conical coffee grinder! It made very little flour before I realized it had become gummed up with sunflower butter ????Should I have used a regular bladed coffee grinder?
Thank you Thank you, Carolyn!! I’m allergic to almonds and I have celiac disease. I also try to keep my diet low carb. I’ve tried hazelnut meal in many keto recipes, but it never gives the same results as almond flour. I can’t seem to find it as finely ground as almond flour so my baked goods always end up sort of mealy. And it has a sort of sweet taste that ruins savory food. I thought to try walnut flour, but boy is it pricey…. Now I have an affordable alternative that can be very finely ground! I’m so excited to try so many of your yummy recipes????
The problem with nuts like hazelnut and walnuts is that they can’t be completely free of the skins like almonds. That’s why the flours/meals end up more coarse. Sunflower seeds don’t have skin so it’s a bit better!
Would it also be possible to make one´s own almond flour with a coffee grinder?
Almonds are a lot bigger and harder. You could try with sliced almonds (the really thin ones). You probably will never get it as fine as commercial almond flour, though.
Whey protein powder. I am somewhat lactose intolerant. Does unflavored whey protein powder have lactose? Is the a good substitute for it if not?
You can try egg white protein powder.
SO, if one uses egg white protein powder instead of whey powder, is it a 1 to 1 swap? I have some egg white protein to use up. Thanks for SHARING your Knowledge with all of us. Much appreciated! 🙂
In most recipes like cakes and muffins, yes. I’ve found a few things, like pancakes and waffles, get rubbery.
This is awesome. So many recipes are made with Almond flour and sunflower seeds are a low oxalate substitution. I like the coffee grinder you used in the video. What brand is it?
Thank you for the instructions. Is the 1 g serving size a typo?.
YEP! This system puts in automatic weights if I don’t specify. A serving is 1/4 cup.
Hi! What about using a food processor instead of a coffee grinder? Is the motor too powerful, causing the seeds to turn to butter too soon?
In my experience, the larger blades and bowl of the food processor tend not to catch the little seeds as much and get them finely ground. But you’re certainly welcome to try if you want.