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These Healthy Cookies are about to be your new favorite cookie recipe! They are made with 100% whole food ingredients: no flour, no added oil, and no added sugar. And oddly enough, they remind me of the popular “soft batch” cookies I used to eat when I was growing up.
Why You’ll Love Them
This recipe is what I consider the “healthiest cookies ever.” They are made with ingredients that you may already have in your pantry, and because they’re flourless, they’re naturally gluten-free, too.
Ingredients You’ll Need:
- Walnuts: Walnuts are a plant-based source of omega-3 fatty acids, specifically the essential fat alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Research shows that eating ALA may help to lower your risk of heart disease. The polyphenols found in walnuts may also help to fight inflammation.
- Dates: Dates are loaded with fiber and may be beneficial for controlling your blood sugar. Dates are considered a low-glycemic food, and have a high antioxidant content that may help lower inflammation and reduce the risk of diabetes.
- Flax Seeds: Ground flax seeds may help to lower cholesterol and they may help to lower blood pressure, too. Eating ground flax seeds regularly may even help to expedite weight loss, as well!
- Baking Soda + Vinegar. This combination helps them rise, without using eggs.
- Vanilla + Salt. Contributes to the classic cookie flavor you love.
- Dark Chocolate Chips. Or, you can use cacao nibs, raisins, or extra nuts as a sugar-free mix-in.
I use the flax seeds as an egg substitute in this recipe, and I think it keeps them a nice and soft in the center– which I love. If you would rather use a real egg, you can replace the flax seeds and water with one for a little more protein in this recipe.
Substitution note: I’ll often use pecans when I don’t have walnuts on hand, and the results are just as delicious! I think that buttery nuts work best in this recipe, so macadamia nuts would probably work well, too.
How to Make Them
- Grind the nuts. Add the walnuts to a food processor, and process briefly until they have a coarse, crumbly texture.
- Make the cookie dough. Add in the dates, salt, baking soda, vanilla, flax seeds, water, and vinegar (which reacts with the baking soda to help the cookies rise) and process again, until a sticky cookie dough is formed. Add in the chocolate chips, and process again briefly to mix them in.
- Scoop. Use a tablespoon or 1-ounce cookie scoop to scoop the cookie dough onto a lined baking sheet.
- Bake. The cookies will bake for 12 minutes or so, at 350ºF.
- Enjoy! Let the cookies cool completely on the pan. They are fragile when they are warm, but they firm up as they cool.
These healthy cookies have a soft and tender texture that reminds me of my childhood favorite “soft batch” cookies. If you prefer a firmer cookie, simply store them in the fridge or freezer, and serve them cold!
How to Store Them
These grain-free cookies will become softer if you store them in an airtight container at room temperature. I recommend storing them in the fridge or freezer and serving them cold after the first 24 hours.
(They usually sit out just fine at room temperature for the first day!)
More Healthy Cookie Recipes
If you have other ingredients on hand and are craving a cookie, you might also enjoy these healthy recipes:
- Date-Sweetened Peanut Butter Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Frosting (sweetened with dates!)
- Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Buckwheat Cookies
- Almond Butter Cookies
- Double Chocolate Cookies (also date-sweetened!)
- Coconut Flour Cookies
I hope you’ll enjoy these cookies whenever your sweet tooth strikes! Because they are made with nutrient-rich ingredients, I find that they leave me feeling satisfied much longer than a traditional cookie recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups raw walnuts
- 1 tightly packed cup medjool dates , pitted (8 ounces)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large food processor fitted with an "S" blade, briefly process the walnuts into a crumbly texture.
- Add in the dates, salt, baking soda, vanilla, flax, water, and vinegar. Process again, until the batter looks relatively smooth and sticky.
- Add in the chocolate chips, or any other mix-ins you like, and process briefly to mix them in. Use a tablespoon or 1-ounce cookie scoop to scoop the dough.
- Drop the cookie dough onto the lined baking sheet, and use your fingers to flatten and shape the cookies. (They don't spread much on their own.) I usually get about 16 to 18 small cookies from this batch.
- Bake at 350ºF for 12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden. While the cookies are still warm, you can add a few more chocolate chips on top (if there are any spots that look bare). Let them cool completely on the pan, as they will be fragile while they are still warm. Store the cookies in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer, and serve cold for the most firm texture.
Video
Notes
- I love the buttery flavor of these cookies when made with walnuts, but I have a feeling that pecans or almonds would work well, too.
- If you don’t have access to dates, raisins can be substituted in most cases, but the flavor will be slightly different.
- If you don’t want to use a flax egg, one chicken egg can be used instead.
- Optional add-ins that are free of added sugar include: cacao nibs, raisins, shredded coconut, chopped nuts
Nutrition
If you try these healthy cookies, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like them!
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Reader Feedback: What other date-sweetened desserts would you like to see in the future?
Thanks so much for posting this recipe! These cookies sound delicious. I have been using raw walnuts a lot lately so this is perfect!
Instead of raw walnut halves, I used one (generous) cup of dried almond pulp (homemade almond milk leftover) and blended the dates with about 1/3 cup of (homemade) almond milk before adding the rest of the ingredients: beyond delicious AND healthy! Thank you again, Megan, for being such an inspiration!
Sounds like the perfect way to use up that left over almond pulp. One question, when you say “dried almond pulp” do you mean dried in the oven or just “as is” after making almond milk? Thanks in advance! 🙂
Yes, Joanna, I mean dried in the oven (about 2 hours at 170). But who knows, maybe it can be used “as is” after making almond milk! I would definitely use less almond milk in the blender with the dates though… 🙂
I used almond pulp in lots of ways. I just put in sealed jar in fridge and I have used it for morning cereal (add nut milk and diced fruit); raw cinnamon rolls; add to cooked vegan spaghetti sauce for protein boost. I would not hesitate to add it to this cookie without drying. Omit the baking soda and maybe up the flax egg and it should make a good raw dehydrator recipe too! I will try baked and raw soon! TY
Thank you so much; I try to use up my almond pulp and here’s another idea. My husband just loves cookies, so this is amazing.
I am a bit obsessed with walnuts at the moment so these look amazing – never used flax seed instead of egg so will need to give this a whirl!
Oh, and my favorite healthy dessert most times is an apple with peanut butter. I’m pretty simple really. But….for an occasion, it would be cashew based pseudo cheesecake or flourless chocolate cake. I really want to figure out how to make a chocolate peanut butter pseudo cheesecake….I need time to play. Not where they are mixed together but peanut butter with a chocolate fudge swirl mixed in. I’m new to the whole cashews as cream cheese or sour cream thing but….one day I shall play and figure it out. ;^)
Thank you so much! These look phenomenal and I think, will have the flavor of a cookie I used to make with my Mom. I can’t wait to try this recipe. It will be the first cookie I made once the heat dies back a little. You made my day!
Are there any nut substitution recommendations? TYIA
I haven’t tried a nut-free version yet, but I’ll let you know if I do! Hopefully some other commenters will post their results, too.
I made these with macadamia nuts because that’s what I had in my pantry. They were delicious. Made some without the chocolate chips so they were a little bit healthier and they still tasted really good. Definitely going to try some with coconut like someone suggested.
These are so delicious! Thank you for this amazing recipe.
My boyfriend gets a little bit of an itchy throat from walnuts. Do you think pecans or almonds would give the same consistent consistency?
I think pecans would definitely have the same consistency as the walnuts.
a lot of lactation cookies also include brewers yeast…any suggestions for how to add that in? My milk supply thanks you 🙂
You can add 1 to 2 tablespoons of brewers yeast per 12 cookies, without affecting the flavor too much. (There is a slightly hint of “beer” taste to me!) Make sure you buy de-bittered brewers yeast, because the regular version tastes TERRIBLE!!!!!
Yummy! Can’t wait to try these healthy cookies. My current favorite desserts include organic 72% or higher dark chocolate or a variety of your great desserts; such as the Healthy Klondike Bars, coconut flour cookies, dark chocolate avocado truffles or raw brownie bites. I like to pick one (sometimes two) sweets a day and rotate them around for variety. xx