Sunflower Seed Butter

One US cup of sunflower seed butter weighs 256.5 grams. Going the other way, 100 grams is about 0.39 cups.

Also called sunbutter, sunflower butter, SunButter, sunflower nut butter, ground sunflower seed paste.

TL;DR: Sunflower seed butter weighs 257 grams per cup (1.084 g/mL) based on USDA Branded Foods label data, USDA composition data, and independent producer Nutrition Facts panels. King Arthur does not list sunflower seed butter on their ingredient weight chart, but the figure is well-anchored without them and matches cashew butter and tahini at the same density.

Sunflower seed butter is ground roasted sunflower seeds, sometimes with added salt or a small percentage of oil for stabilization. It emerged as the dominant nut-free alternative for school lunches and allergy-sensitive baking, driven largely by SunButter (Red River Commodities), which built the US market from a small allergy-safe niche into a mainstream category. Other retail options include Trader Joe's, Once Again, Simple Truth, and various private-label products, but SunButter's market dominance mirrors Jovial's position in einkorn — one brand shapes the reference figures.

USDA Branded Foods lists sunflower seed butter (UPC 041512138379) at 271 grams per metric cup, converting to approximately 257 grams per US cup — identical to the USDA figure for cashew butter and matching the tahini paste value in King Arthur's chart. Independent producer Nutrition Facts data confirms: SunButter's label lists 32 grams per 2-tablespoon serving, extrapolating to 256 grams per cup. USDA composition data for 'Seeds, sunflower seed butter, without salt' converges on the same figure. Convergence across USDA composition, USDA branded label, and producer label — three independent sources all landing within a gram of each other.

King Arthur Baking's ingredient weight chart lists sunflower seeds at 140 grams per cup but does not carry an entry for sunflower seed butter. As with cashew butter, this reflects the historically lower profile of seed butters in traditional American baking rather than any variance in the underlying figure — the number is settled without KA. Home bakers using sunflower seed butter in cookies, energy bars, or as a peanut butter substitute in school-safe recipes can use the 257 g/cup figure with confidence.

The physical position of sunflower seed butter among ground seed and nut butters is worth noting. King Arthur's almond butter and peanut butter both sit at 270-272 g/cup — 5 percent denser than sunflower at 257 — because almonds and peanuts have higher fiber content and denser cellular structure, producing a slightly heavier paste when ground. Sunflower seeds have roughly the same fat content as cashews (about 50 percent) with slightly higher fiber, but the smaller seed size and softer kernel structure yield a smoother, less-dense paste closely matching cashew butter. Tahini (ground sesame seeds) coincidentally lands at the same 256 g/cup figure despite sesame's very different composition — sesame seeds are much smaller and higher in fiber than sunflower seeds, but the fine grind produces a similarly smooth paste.

Sunflower seed butter's density is sensitive to oil separation, which happens naturally in unstabilized products stored at room temperature. Stir thoroughly before measuring to redistribute any surface oil. SunButter's original product includes small amounts of added sugar and mono- and diglycerides to prevent separation and reduce the chlorogenic acid greening reaction with baking soda that occurs in unstabilized sunflower seed butter — worth knowing when substituting into recipes containing baking soda, since the greening turns baked goods a distinctive pale green color that is harmless but visually surprising.

Practical baker recommendation: use 257 g/cup for sunflower seed butter. Stir thoroughly before measuring. If substituting sunflower seed butter 1:1 for peanut butter in a recipe by weight, expect a slightly softer texture and, in recipes with baking soda, monitor for the chlorogenic acid greening reaction — adding a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar neutralizes it.