Yes, we usually soak. If there’s not much time, though, we’ll just go ahead and put our blender blades to the test. Your almond/sunflower mix sounds pretty good. You probably have a better blender than we have; I didn’t care too much for the mixture without it being strained first. We take the pulp, put it in the refrigerator overnight in an open container, so the moisture evaporates out somewhat, and then we put it in the oven (very low temperature) for a few hours, and it makes a nice crunchy addition (like croutons, bacon bits) to salads, sweet potatoes, etc.
Sort of like a granola cereal I’ve made, although I didn’t soak or blend first. Maybe that would make it stick together, which was always a problem.
Oh, this was decades ago. I might try it again, though. Sounds good with a bit of almond flavoring, and using the bits after is useful too. I hate to throw anything away. Strained bits would be good toasted into home made granola, which I’ve been thinking of making again.
Years ago I used to have a *very* natural cookbook called “Ten Talents” by a Seventh Day Adventist. They had a lot of granola recipes and used flour in them, I think it helps make the granola stick together in chunks better.
When my kids were small, I’d make banana and powdered milk smoothies (often too poor for fresh milk) and add some vanilla and a couple of spoonfuls of peanut butter. They loved ‘em!