Flavored Sunflower Seeds

How to Flavor Your Own Sunflower Seeds

This was a request from the Mr. since baseball season is in full swing and we are getting our fill of sunflower seeds! As I started looking into this I originally was going to get some raw seeds and start from total scratch. Then I started looking at the ingredients for all the different kind of seed flavors and notice the original seeds ingredients are just sunflower seeds and salt! The next time I try this I will start with raw sunflower seeds (preferably the ones I or a friend have grown), but for now I decided to start with a a bag of salted and roasted seeds. I didn't get too creative with my flavor choices, just went with some of our favorites and what seemed to be the easiest.

bacon             salt & vinegar         barbecue

Homemade BBQ Sunflower Seeds

1 cup of salted and roasted sunflower seeds

1 1/2 tablespoons of water

1 1/2 tablespoons of barbecue seasoning (I used a McCormick Grill Mates Barbecue that I sifted with my mesh colander to removed the larger seasoning pieces)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place seeds in a small bowl. Pour water over and moisten all the seeds. Drain. Sprinkle and coat the seeds with the barbecue seasoning. Spread evenly on a cookie sheet and bake for 3-5 minutes or until seeds are dry. Let cool and store in an airtight container or enjoy immediately.

Homemade Salt & Vinegar Sunflower Seeds

1 cup of salted and roasted sunflower seeds

1 1/2 tablespoons of vinegar

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place seeds in a small bowl. Pour vinegar over and moisten all the seeds. Soak for 5 minutes and then drain. Spread evenly on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 3-5 minutes or until seeds are dry. Let cool and store in an airtight container or enjoy immediately.

I wish these turned out more vinegary ... will have to tweak this one!

Homemade Bacon Sunflower Seeds

1 cup of salted and roasted sunflower seeds

4 strips of crispy cooked bacon 

1 1/2 tablespoons of water

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Crush bacon in a food processor until fine. Mix crushed bacon and salt and set aside. Place seeds in a small bowl. Pour water over and moisten all the seeds. Drain. Sprinkle and coat with bacon salt mix. Spread evenly on a cookie sheet. Bake for 3-5 minutes or until seeds are dry. Let cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge or enjoy immediately.

The finer the bacon the better it will stick, if you have bacon salt on hand this could be substituted for the real bacon, but if you are trying to cut out unnecessary ingredients check the ingredient list first.

We will be enjoying these at tomorrow's game ... can't wait to get the kiddos feedback (they don't sugar coat anything)!

Cost comparison: Due the fact I used the store bought salted and roasted which are the same as all the other flavors I didn't save any money today, so I guess I can just be pleased with feeding my kids a healthier version of these! When it comes to growing my own and roasting them myself, that's where we will see the savings. 

Today's Question: What's your favorite sunflower seed flavor?