Thank you to Let’s Do…Organic for providing the arrowroot powder I used while developing this recipe!
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I set out to try the Paleo Lemon Cookies from Texanerin Baking, and found that I was missing some ingredients…so I experimented. Although what I came up with was not lemon cookies (and I look forward to trying the original recipe sometime when I do have all the ingredients), we were pretty happy with the version I made — and with the adaptation. I think it might even be possible to roll this dough out and use it with cookie cutters, but I haven’t tried that yet because I ran out of almond flour.
I wasn’t sure what to call them, because they’re basically just “sugar cookies” — except they don’t have any conventional sugar in them, so that seems misleading. I decided, therefore, to simply call them “Paleo Cookies.”
My originals have just a hint of cinnamon in them, which doesn’t really make them cinnamony, but just adds some depth to the flavor. If you can’t have cinnamon, just leave it out.
Paleo (“Sugar”) Cookies
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- 1-1/3 c. blanched almond flour
- 3 Tbsp. arrowroot powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- ⅛ tsp. cinnamon
- ¼ c. virgin coconut oil or butter, melted
- ⅓ c. maple syrup
- 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
- Whisk together the almond flour, arrowroot, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Add the remaining ingredients and stir well with a wooden spoon or rubber/silicone spatula until evenly distributed.
- If the dough is too soft and sticky, refrigerate it to firm it up. (When I made it with coconut oil, my dough was great right away. When I made it with butter, it was overly soft. I'm not sure if the different fat was why or if this was coincidental.)
- Whenever the dough is a good cookie dough consistency (right away, or after chilling if/as necessary), roll into roughly 1-tablespoon-size balls.
- Place these on a parchment-lined baking sheet and press them down with a hand or the bottom of a glass to flatten.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 10-13 minutes, or until lightly golden all the way across. Do not underbake. (Because of the lack of eggs, etc., these are completely safe to eat underbaked, but they have a little bit of a doughy taste if they're underdone.)
- Let cool before removing from the cookie sheet. They'll be very soft when they first come out of the oven but will firm up as they cool.
- Before baking, roll the dough balls in a mixture of 1 Tbsp. coconut sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon to coat. Then press down and bake as before.
- Omit cinnamon. Replace arrowroot powder with 6 Tbsp. cocoa. (Because this is very dark, we like to increase the salt a little, too.)
Almond flour as an ingredient is known to be potentially finicky, as it varies from brand to brand. Feel free to use whatever brand you prefer; any brand theoretically should work. If you're having trouble, though, and want to rule that out as the issue, Nature's Eats is the brand I used.
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I forgot to take a picture of the chocolate version after it came out of the oven, because I was too busy eating them. But they were that good! I made a half batch, because I was almost out of almond flour, and I finished it all off by myself in a single sitting.
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