Sun-Flour is a nut-free, almond flour substitute made with soaked, dehydrated and ground sunflower seeds!
UPDATE: I am always learning. This was one of my earliest posts, before I learned that all nut/seed flours should be used in strict moderation and should only rarely be heated. If you frequently use almond flour or other nuts/seeds for baking, please read my post 5 Reasons to Avoid Almond Flour for important information!
Why soak and dehydrate?
Yes, it would be much simpler to just throw some raw sunflower seeds into a coffee grinder and get instant sun-flour. But I always soak and dehydrate any nuts or seeds. Why?
Nuts and seeds are naturally high in enzyme inhibitors, which often causes stomach aches and after consumption. Soaking in salted water activates other enzymes that neutralize these trouble-causing enzyme inhibitors. The seeds then must be dried before they are ground into flour.
You may also use pumpkin seeds or probably even sesame seeds with this technique!
Nut Free? Try This Almond Flour Substitute!
I recently started experimenting with using Sun-Flour in place of almond flour, and the results are delicious! I can’t guarantee that you will have perfect results every time you make this substitution, but it is a great solution for those who have nut allergies. Not only is this almond flour substitute more healthy, because it has been soaked and dehydrated to reduce the enzyme inhibitors that are present in almond flour, but it is more affordable.
How to make Sun-Flour:
Cover sunflower seeds with filtered water and add 1 Tbs. sea salt for about every 2 cups of seeds (you don’t need to be exact). The salt helps destroy the phytic acid.Soak for at least 8 hours or overnight.
Rinse the sunflower seeds in a colander. Spread sunflower seeds onto dehydrator sheets and dehydrate between 105 to 150 degrees until crispy, 12 to 24 hours. Alternatively, dry on baking sheets in a warm oven (no more than 150 degrees) for 12 to 24 hours.
Grind sunflower seeds in a carefully cleaned coffee or spice grinder until fine, about 15 seconds. Grind in batches. This seems like it would be time consuming, but it only takes me about 5 minutes to grind 2 cups of flour! Grind until very fine. It’s okay if it starts to get clumpy, that just means it is finely ground and you can fluff out the clumps with a fork.
You will get approximately 1 cup flour for every cup of sunflower seeds. Store your sun-flour in a jar in the refrigerator or freezer, and use within a few months. Substitute for almond flour in recipes!
Hello! I thought seeds were like nuts and shouldn’t be heated?
Yes! I am always learning and this was one of my earliest posts, before I learned that almond flour and all nut/seed flour should be used in moderation and never heated. I am going to update this post with that info!
Hi, Lauren —
You said “I am going to update this post with that info”, re’ alternatives to heating them, but still handling the phytic acid.
Have you created a post somewhere with that update? Otherwise, is it just a matter of skipping the heating step?
Thanks,
— Doug
If you “skip the heating” what can you use the sunflower flour for? Baking is heating.
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I mistakenly bought lots of almond flour (bulk buy) – is there a way to remove the phytic acids in them after they’ve grinded – or is it too late?
If I make them into a yoghurt – will that remove the phytic acid?
I don’t want to throw away my almond flour! Cost me over £100! But at the same time don’t want to hurt my already stressed out and sensitive body (lots of health issues including digestive). I also don’t want to give it to others because I don’t want to hurt other people.
Please advise!
Thanks
Most almond flour is not soaked anyway. In modest amounts, you should do fine, depending on your own health issues. The goal is to reduce the amount of phytic acid overall. Store it in the freezer if you can and use small amounts at a time. Often people lean on nuts and seeds when they limit grains, and you can get too much. So if some is soaked and or sprouted, it helps. Also keeping overall nuts and seeds to a couple ounces a day max is good.
My daughter and I are doing SCD–IGG testing says no gluten, dairy, eggs, legumes, nuts, coconut, tomato. This will be a joyous relief for us!! Heading for the grocery store!
Thank you so much.
I soaked my sunflower seeds in some 3% peroxide to kill fungus and then rinsed and soaked overnight. I forgot to put salt. I then put in oven to dehydrate and they turned dark some are black. Has anyone experienced this? Why do you think they did that? Are they still good to eat? Would love some feedback on this! Thanks!
Apparently defatted sunflower seed flour is very low calorie-wise and amazing in fat, fiber and carb count. But, I can’t find out where to buy it from! What would the macros be for this homemade flour?
I don’t want to purchase a dehydrator so I roast on low heat. But it takes too long for me to roast . What do you think about grinding it first and then roasting the flour (instead of dehydrating) and then eating it???
Hi
“All nut/seed flours should be used in strict moderation and should only rarely be heated” – so it is fine to soak and then put it in the oven at a low heat