So…have you ever had cookies turn green a day after you made them? I have, and here’s the simple lesson I learned about allergy-free baking:
Cookie Success: Easy, Yummy, Allergy-free Treats for Grandparents’ Day
Just this last spring, my in-laws were visiting so that they could attend Grandparents’ Day at my oldest daughter’s school. The school had asked families to bring cookies or other desserts. Of course, to make sure there was an allergy-free option for my kiddo, I signed up.
I turned to one of my favorite blogs, Chocolate Covered Katie, to find a fun recipe. There was a super easy recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies that Izzy wanted me to make. I had all the ingredients on hand, so it was a no-brainer. 🙂 We made the cookies; they looked just like the blog photos (woo-hoo!), and were dee-lic-ious. I packed up a box for school the next day and happily crossed that accomplishment off my to-do list.
The next morning I labeled the box as “allergy-free” and proudly gave the box of cookies to Izzy to take on the bus with her. The cookies STILL looked fabulous, by the way. It was all I could do not to eat them! 😉
The grandparents were leaving town after visiting Izzy at school, so I said my goodbyes and headed off to my part-time job for the day.
The Green Surprise
When I got home that evening, Izzy told me all about her special day with Grandma and Grandpa and told me she loved her cookies. In fact, she asked to have another one right then! Since dinner was still some time from being done, I relented (they are fairly healthy cookies, right?) and secretly planned to have a cookie while making dinner myself. 😉
Imagine my surprise when I opened the container and WALLA! THE COOKIES WERE GREEN! I don’t mean like a slight greenish cast or a trick of the light here. THOSE LITTLE GEMS HAD TURNED A DARK, MOLDY LOOKING GREEN. I was shocked! Could they be moldy already? That’s not even possible within a 24 hour period, right?!?!?
I yelled to my husband…”AAACCCKKK! LOOK AT THESE GREEN COOKIES! WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH THEM?” My husband was just as flabbergasted as I was. Then, my thoughts turned to the school. “Izzy,” I frantically asked, “were the cookies green at school?” I pictured grossed-out grandparents and kids pointing at the weird or decaying “allergy-free” cookie option on the dessert table. I was mortified.
Of course, all Izzy said was: “They still taste great, Mom! Can I have one now? I LOVE them! They are like MONSTER COOKIES!” She was utterly delighted and still begging to have one for an after school snack.
Thank You, Google. 🙂
Thankfully, my husband kept a level head and did what any calm, problem-solving person would do. He consulted the internet. And lo and behold, after asking me what ingredients were in the cookies, he consulted the FAQ page of the official Sunbutter product site, which reads:
My cookies turned green, what happened?
When substituting SunButter in your existing recipe, you may have to reduce the baking soda/powder by about one-third. The chlorogenic acid (chlorophyll) in sunflower seeds reacts with the baking soda/powder when baked, causing the green color when the cookies cool. This is completely harmless! Depending on the recipe, a splash of lemon juice may also help. You can also check out our tried and tested SunButter recipes.
Yes folks, Sunbutter (sunflower seed spread–our peanut butter substitute) was the culprit. After cruising the inter webs, I found a few more pages discussing the subject, and honestly felt a little sheepish that we didn’t already know this fun little fact. 🙂
On the flip side, you don’t have to use sunflower seed spread in this recipe…so if you can use another nut butter alternative, you can avoid the green surprise. Also, the cookie recipe I used alternatively suggests using oil in place of a nut butter, so we may be using that option in the future. However, Izzy does like the Sunbutter flavor and insists that the green, monster cookies are the coolest thing ever. Who knew! 😉
I’m sharing this story so you all can learn from our mistake! And hopefully, you can enjoy a laugh over our monster cookie episode, too. Food allergy cooking and baking is quite the adventure, isn’t it? 😉
Did you know that baking soda/powder reacts with sunflower seeds, causing a green color? Do you have a funny “green story” to share?
Linda says
January 6, 2020 at 1:57 amHi! so glad I found your post. My daughter and I made chocolate chip peanut butter cookies today using Coconut flour and sunflower seed butter (instead of peanut butter since she can’t bring peanuts to school). This was our first time making cookies with coconut flour. We did notice a slight green tinge when we ate the cookies straight out of the oven but thought it was from the coconut flour. Then a few hours later, when I ate another one it was super spinach green (but only on the inside)! It was kinda cool but it really freaked me out.
Thank goodness it’s some odd chemical reaction that’s not very well known. Baking soda was in the recipe. Honestly, it looks like someone snuck spinach into the cookie.
Christy says
October 18, 2021 at 12:05 amThanks so much for posting this. I made some pretty delicious pumpkin breakfast cookies for my quick mornings this week. I substituted sunflower seed for the almond butter.
In the midst of Sunday night lunch packing and bath time, I heard a shout up the stairs… why are these cookies so green… immediately I remembered I’d given a half the cookies to a friend and imagined her opening them to quickly grab on her way to work Monday morning and freaking out.
Thanks for sharing your internet find!
Melinda says
December 6, 2021 at 3:36 amI just tried to make some sunbutter star cookies for christmas (no egg as well). I got one pan baked and didn’t have time for the rest and left it for the next day or 2. It turned green, and we threw it out! Later discovering this fun fact from sunbutter website that we didn’t need to.
Sue says
February 20, 2022 at 11:20 pmThank you, thank you for this article! I just made a cookie recipe with sunflower butter, laid down for a nap and woke up to green, moldy cookies!! I panicked and threw them away!!! 🤢🤮🥴
I’m new to the food elimination due to allergies and learning as I go. So it was a relief when I read your article!! Point taken when it comes to sunflower butter!!
Again, thank you! 😊
Janis says
June 30, 2022 at 11:04 pmOMG. So glad I found your explanation about green in cookies. I made a huge batch of vegan oatmeal, sunflower butter, chocolate chunk cookies yesterday. Today my hubby noticed green inside. I immediately put them in the backyard for the creatures.
I can’t eat peanut butter so I made them for me to eat as well…guess I’ll go back to peanut butter for the family. 😍
Sandra says
July 28, 2022 at 4:15 amI was so relieved to discover this bizarre, obscure fact too – it saved me from wasting half a pan of delicious but GREEN tahini “brownies.” I’d run out of tahini while making the recipe and figured, well, tahini is basically sesame seed butter so why not fill in the rest with sunflower seed butter? That should be fine, right? The brownies were gorgeous and scrumptious right out of the oven … the next day I noticed a strange hue and thought “hope I’m not poisoning us” … and then when I put them in the fridge they turned that literal, alarming dark green and I was like WAS THAT TAHINI BAD?! I actually wrapped them up and put them in the outside garbage before wondering “hm … the internet …” and when I realized the truth I dashed back to the garbage and rescued them!