Candied sunflower seeds are a great snack, charcuterie board addition, or salad topping. The perfect combination of salty and sweet!
Salad is such a great meal. You can use it as a side to stretch your main, or add some meat and make a salad a true main course. One of our favourites is the Fresh From the Garden Salad. Literally we step outside to our "kitchen garden" and snip some lettuce and fresh herbs and we are good to go!
Blueberry Salad Dressing is a great pairing with these crunchy seeds, and I also recommend adding them to Watermelon Arugula Salad.
Key Ingredients
Seeds - Look for shelled, raw seeds. You don't want them already roasted, salted, or oily.
Butter - Butter is the basis for any sort of caramel sauce.
Sugar - Yup, can't have candied anything without sugar!
How to Make Candied Sunflower Seeds
***See recipe card below for precise measurements and instructions.***
Step 1: Melt better in a large skillet.
Step 2: Add sugar and salt and stir.
Step 3: Work over low heat and stir constantly.
Step 4: Just as the sugar is done melting, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and seeds.
Step 5: Spread out on parchment paper. A fork is helpful!
Step 6: Once completely cooled, you can break these apart as desired, much like making peanut brittle.
FAQs
Feel free to swap things out. I just love how small sunflower seeds are because they really get a lot of coating on them and feel like such a sweet treat. You can definitely use peanuts or if you want larger nuts like pecans or walnuts you could chop them first. This would also work on pumpkin seeds.
Add to an airtight jar and they will keep on the counter for a couple weeks, if you don't eat them as quickly as we do! Just make sure you have a good lid. You can reuse jars such as pasta sauce if that's something you buy. Another option is to source a pack of airtight, spill-proof Ball jar lids. They really are a handy thing to have on hand for items that really need that airtight seal.
Make sure you are keeping this over low heat or no more than medium. You definitely do NOT want this sugar to boil, and you need to stir constantly but gently. This is a small amount of sugar so just get it to melt and stir it in so there isn't any graininess. Then you can stir in the nuts and spread out immediately. The sugar will want to harden up very quickly.
Photos by Megan Hampton
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Candied Sunflower Seeds
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups sunflower seeds shelled and raw
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium low heat.
- Add sugar and salt. Continue over medium heat, stirring constantly until all the sugar is melted.
- Be careful not to let it boil (it can burn quickly) and make sure every chunk of sugar is melted. Turn down the heat if necessary.
- Coat the seeds with the sauce and spread onto a parchment lined pan to cool. Pressing with a fork works nicely, but work quickly. The sugar hardens fairly quickly.
- Allow to cool completely. The seeds should break up nicely with your hands, but will still be in chunks, stuck together.
Notes
- Store in an airtight container for a couple weeks.
- Make sure you have everything prepared before starting. Prepare a pan, measure all ingredients, have a fork out. You need to work very quickly so that it doesn't harden before you are ready.
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