Maple Toasted Sunflower Seeds ( + Avocado Toast)

This. Because when this video went viral over Christmas I thought it was the cutest thing. I was somewhat impressed that this little toddler even knew what an avocado was, much less the fact that he was (maybe) excited about receiving it as a Christmas gift.

That being said, Dan’s mom got him a pineapple once for a gift and he was genuinely excited about it. That guy loves pineapple.

It’s a drizzly, cold, dark, and wet day here in the Twin Cities. I’m hoping my bike race get cancelled so I don’t have to freeze for an hour and a half and then clean by bike tomorrow. Instead, I could do yoga and bake chocolate cookies for next Sunday’s post and skim through all of the amazing new cookbooks I got for my birthday. Love and Lemons new cookbook has got me so excited for this summer’s CSA box.

I’m also super excited for Sally’s Candy Addiction because (duh, and) I like the challenge of making some of those tasty looking truffles dairy free. Sally’s blog has always been one of my favorites for bars and cookies, especially. Cookies are very forgiving, so you can often swap cornstarch for eggs and use a vegan butter substitute for the regular stuff and they come out great.

Anyways.

Avocado toast seems to be everyone’s recent obsession, mine included. I was pumped to recently find it on the breakfast menu at one of my favorite cafes in Green Bay. I like mine with EVOO, tomatoes, and a dash of salt/pepper. For a bit more crunch, I started adding toast nuts/seeds. My newest favorite is these maple toasted sunflower seeds that you can whip up in less than 15 minutes. My secret is that I use a sauté pan. You can skip the oven preheat step, overall cook time, and it’s also way easier to watch these guys so they don’t burn. The maple syrup gives a toasted nutty flavor that is out of this world, just make sure you use the good stuff. I won a jar of homemade maple syrup at a chili cook off so I’m pretty spoiled but you know what I mean by the “good stuff”.

 

As with any sauté, you’ll want to bring the pan and oil/syrup up to temp before adding your ingredients. Warm your syrup to a “medium” heat and let sit for about 5 minutes. Add seeds and immediately mix to coat them in the syrup. Stir frequently until they begin to brown. You will be able to smell the roasted seeds JUST before they start to burn so it’s important to watch them closely around the 5 minute mark.

Remove from heat and let cool for at least 30 minutes before sealing in an airtight container. I like to enjoy these seeds on toast with avocado or hummus, salads, and even my morning oatmeal for some crunch.

 

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Avocado Toast with Maple Toasted Sunflower Seeds

Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 1 serving toast, about 1/2 cup toasted seeds

 

Ingredients: 

Toast:

• 1/2 medium ( & ripe!) avocado
• 2 pieces of your favorite bread
• 2 TBSP Maple Toasted Sunflower Seeds

Maple Toasted Sunflower Seeds:

• 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 3 TBSP pure maple syrup

 

Directions:

1. Heat syrup in a sauté pan on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add sunflower seeds and stir immediately to coat. Stir frequently until the seeds being to brown slightly and remove from heat. You will start to smell the “roasted” flavor, but they can burn rather quickly if you’re not careful. Start to watch them pretty carefully around the 4-5 minute mark.
2. Remove from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes before eating. Meanwhile, you can toast your bread and mash your fresh avocado on top of it. Each slice of bread gets 1/4 of a medium sized avocado. I like to slice length wise and then mash down onto the bread with a fork.
3. Sprinkle about 1 TBSP of seeds onto each slice of bread and enjoy. Wait at least 30 minutes before storing your seeds in an airtight container for up to two weeks. Enjoy over toast, salads, or even in your oatmeal for some extra crunch.