Nutrition Facts and Recipe for Chocolate-covered Sunflower Seeds

Chocolate-covered sunflower seeds are an eclectic mix of the nutrition of sunflower seeds and the yumminess of chocolate. This  article sheds light on their nutrition facts and a recipe to dish them out at home.

In a one ounce serving of Trader Joe's Chocolate Covered Sunflower Seed Drops, there are around 140 to 150 calories. The calorie breakdown is 51% fat, 40% carbohydrate, and 9% protein.

What happens when you take sunflower seeds, dip them in chocolate, and then coat them with candy? You get a bright array of scrumptious rainbow-coated, chocolate-covered sunflower seeds. Alternatively, sunflower seeds are also coated with milk chocolate and dark chocolate. Chocolate-coated sunflower seeds were introduced for the first time by a Missouri-based company, Sunflower Food and Spice Company after which they gained popularity as baby shower favors.

They are a great way of combining the health benefits of sunflower seeds with the deliciousness of chocolate. Eating a small handful of these yummy tidbits benefits those who crave chocolate. They are a fun snack that's packed with healthy fat, protein, and fiber, thus making it partially healthy. They satisfy your taste buds, and are also appealing to the eye. In this Buzzle article, we provide you with nutrition facts and also the recipe for chocolate-covered sunflower seeds.

Nutrition Facts

The following table gives the nutritional information of chocolate-covered sunflower seeds offered by nuts.com in terms of Daily Value (DV). This value was developed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It tells us the amount of a particular nutrient present in a foodstuff in relation to its approximate requirement in one day. %DV mentions the percentage of a serving of a product that contributes to reaching the total DV.

Nutrient Amount Per Serving %DV
Calories 200 -
Calories from Fat 100 -
Total Fat 11 g 17%
Saturated Fat 7 g 35%
Cholesterol 0 g 0%
Sodium 20 mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 22 g 7%
Dietary Fibre 2 g 8%
Sugars 19 g -
Protein 4 g -
Vitamin A - 0%
Calcium - 2%
Vitamin C - 0%
Iron - 6% 

 

How to Make Chocolate-covered Sunflower Seeds

 

Ingredients

» Sunflower seeds (raw), 1 cup
» Chocolate chips, 2 ounces
» Water, as required
» Salt, to taste

Method of Preparation

First we need to make the sunflower seeds crispy. For that, rinse them thoroughly with water. Drain the water away.
Soak the seeds in water, and also add some salt. Keep it that way overnight.
On the next day, drain away the water from the seeds. Allow them to dry by spreading the sunflower seeds on a paper towel. Roast them in an oven.
If you want, you can open the seeds from the middle. But this is very tedious and time-consuming.
Now we need to prepare the coating for the seeds. Heat some water in a vessel and dip the bag of chocolate chips into it. Allow the chocolate to melt and then remove the bag. Alternatively, you can also melt the chocolate chips in a microwave.
Finally, dip the sunflower seeds in the melted chocolate and remove them. Allow them to cool and set.
Keep the bowl in the refrigerator for at least four hours. The chocolate coating will solidify, after which our chocolate-covered sunflower seeds will be ready to snack on!

For a quick, homemade version, we have left out the crunchy candy outer coating. But if you want and have the time, you can go an extra step further and coat it with candy. In that case the chocolate-covered sunflower seeds will look like this:

            

 

Chocolate-covered sunflower seeds are becoming a popular wedding favor these days. You can either prepare them on your own for your loved ones, buy them from the nearest local store, or order them online to gift these treats to your friends/family. While people generally relish these tidbits as it is, you can also add them to pancakes, cookies, ice cream, and so on.