Vegan Almond Flour Cookies are the perfect gluten-free treat, made with protein-rich almond flour. They’re crispy on the outside, and buttery-tender on the inside, almost like a shortbread cookie!
Why You’ll Love Them
- No raw eggs in the dough. That means you can taste-test as much raw cookie dough as you’d like to!
- Simple ingredients. The only specialty ingredient here is almond flour, which is simply made from ground almonds. There’s no need to use multiple flours or starches, the way some other gluten-free cookie recipes require.
- Gluten-free & dairy-free. These cookies are made without butter and are perfect for those on a gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo, or vegan diet.
- Naturally Sweetened. All you need is 100% pure maple syrup to sweeten the cookie dough. If you’d like to avoid the refined sugar from chocolate chips, you could use crunchy cacao nibs, or find a brand that uses natural sweeteners, like Hu brand.
- Higher in protein. Each small cookie has 3 grams of plant-based protein, to help keep you feeling satisfied.
Every time I make these cookies, my family declares them their favorite! And trust me, they’ve tasted a lot of cookie recipes over the years.
Tips for Working with Almond Flour
- Use blanched almond flour. Blanched almond flour is made from blanched almonds (almonds with their skins removed) while almond meal is made from whole almonds, which includes their skins. Using almond meal will result in a soft and cake-like cookie, while blanched almond flour will result in a crispier and more buttery cookie, similar to shortbread.
- Don’t make substitutions. Do not be tempted to use coconut flour, oat flour, or any other type of flour in its place. I’ve got you covered with coconut flour cookies, oat flour cookies, and buckwheat cookies if you need other gluten-free options.
- Flatten the cookies. Since these cookies are egg-free, they won’t spread like traditional cookie dough. Be sure to use your hands to flatten the dough before baking! (If you get your hands slightly damp, the dough won’t stick to them as much.)
- Use recipes that call for almond flour. As a general rule of thumb, don’t expect to be able to use almond flour in recipes that call for all-purpose flour. Almond flour is less dense and has more fat compared to grain flours so it’s best to work with recipes that specifically call for it, like my Almond Flour Banana Bread or Almond Flour Biscotti.
Be sure to check out all of my almond flour recipes for more ideas!
Concerned about Acrylamide?
If you have a copy of my first cookbook, you may already know that heating certain nuts, including almonds, at a lower temperature may help to prevent acrylamide formation. (A potential cancer-causing substance, according to the FDA.)
I’m often too impatient these days to bake cookies for a longer time, and I don’t consider home-cooked food to be a huge acrylamide risk in the grand scheme of things. (Smoking is substantially worse than any food source, FYI.) A review of 15 epidemiologic studies couldn’t find any consistent evidence suggesting that dietary exposure increases the cancer risk in humans.
With that being said, if you’d like to lower your risk of acrylamide exposure, just to be on the safe side, you can bake these cookies at 250ºF for 30 minutes. Keep in mind, the cookies will not be lightly golden when you bake them at this temperature– they will remain very pale in color, which is the point, since browning is a sign of acrylamide formation.
For an extra-crispy cookie, you can even extend the baking time to 45 minutes at 250ºF.
Where else can you find acrylamide? It’s also found in coffee and some coffee substitutes, and other certain foods, like potatoes and grains. It’s not typically found in raw foods or foods that have been cooked by steaming or boiling. (Hence, why I also love pressure cooking so much.)
Vegan Almond Flour Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups blanched almond flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil
- ¼ cup maple syrup (at room temperature*)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, stir together the almond flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Add in the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, and vinegar, and mix again, until the dough looks uniform, with no clumps.
- Fold in the chocolate chips, then use a tablespoon or 1-ounce cookie scoop to scoop the dough onto the prepared pan. You will get roughly 18 small cookies from this batch, so you may need to use 2 pans, or cook 2 separate batches.
- Use your hands to flatten the cookies then bake at 350ºF for 12 minutes, or until the edges look lightly golden.
- Let them cool on the pan for at least 15 minutes before serving; they will firm up as they cool. Serve warm, or at room temperature. Almond flour cookies get softer if you store them at room temperature overnight, so I recommend serving these the day you make them, or keep them in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer for the firmest texture. They are extra-crispy if you serve them straight from the freezer.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you try these Vegan Almond Flour Cookies, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it! If you make a substitution, I’d also love to hear how it works for you. We can all benefit from your experience!
Next to your pumpkin spice latte, this is my favorite of yours! Comes together so fast and I love that I can eat the batter! Thank you for this amazing treat!
Yummy! Great recipe.
These are absolutely delicious and fit our gluten-free diet.
Can I use honey instead of maple syrup?
This is my family’s go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe! Thanks for sharing this deliciousness!
This recipe is amazing! I’m not gluten-free but loved the nutty flavor along with the chocolate chips. I didn’t have coconut oil but am vegan – Earth Balance vegan butter works just fine.
Every cookie recipe I’ve made from your site is delicious!! These cookies were so easy and yummy. I only had 1/8 cup maple syrup so I subbed 1/8 cup coconut sugar. I also did half vegan butter half coconut oil and baked the cookies at 350 degrees for about 11 minutes until golden brown. They are sooooo good! Chewy and crispy and healthy. Thank you for this recipe!
In the oven now and they smell amazing. Did anyone else’s dough turn dark brown? I wonder if it’s a reaction with the vinegar and soda?
Very good cookies. I prefer them crispier and wasn’t able to achieve crispy cookies until I came across this recipe. I used agave syrup instead of maple syrup, this is what I had at home. Also added raw cocoa powder, about 1/3 cup. The batter became a little too dry so added a little more vanilla and a spoon of water, just to compensate for cocoa dryness.
These cookies are the best, I tried it both ways with Almond meal and Almond flour. The Almond flour worked out the best for a crispier cookie also left out the chocolate chips as my mom is diabetic. She loved them so much, I’m making another batch right now. Thanks for sharing this recipe 😋
Omg! They are heavenly. We are vegetarians so was looking for eggless recipe.
I added sugar instead of maple syrup, so it was not binding well. Then added a tbsp of maple syrup.
Baked at 250 for 40 mins. They r so delicious!
Thanks for this wonderful recipe.
I love this recipe and make it often! Ilike maple syrup bu don’t usually have it (more expensive here in Israel too) so I substitute honey or silan(date syrup)wth perfect results. It also works well wth ground pecans and some cinnamon and nutmeg along with, or instead of the chocolate chips. Thanks so much!
These are by far our favorite cookies and get made several times a month by one or more members of our family! Highly recommend. I especially love how easy it is to diversify them by swapping the chocolate chips for something else. Alternatives we’ve tried are walnuts and raisins, peanuts and PB fit, apricots and almond slivers. Yum yum and thank you!
I had everything on hand to make these and we loved them! The texture was definitely different than flour cookies, more solid and made me think of biscotti. I don’t usually like a crunch cookie but this was so good! We will make them again.
These were my first vegan cookies. It was so easy, and I already had the ingredients. They are delicious. I make them whenever I have a sweet tooth. I love using almond flour for baking. The flavor is just better than other gluten-free flours.
This has been my go-to choc chip cookie for a long time! The last few times, I have subbed unsweetened applesauce in place of the oil. This makes cookies more moist but still very yummy. The recipe is so simple to make. I bring these cookies everywhere I go!
I really loved this recipe thank you! 😀
Wonderful! I didn’t have coconut oil not apple vinegar so substituted butter and lemon juice (1/2 TB), very moist, easy to make balls, and perfectly baked after 30 minutes at 250.
LOVE how quick and easy these were to make–and so delicious with such few whole ingredients! I subbed olive oil by the way, and they worked perfectly!
I just finished making these cookies!soo yummy for my tummy!😋👍I baked it for 45: minutes so it is crunchy and nice 👍 also I added 1/4 teaspoon of spices.
Can I substitute olive oil for the coconut oil? I want to make these for a friend who is on the AIP diet because of MS. She cannot have coconut oil. I would also use honey instead of maple syrup.
These are delicious! Soft and subtly sweet (I used cacao nibs instead of chocolate chips). My husband and toddler both enjoyed them! I’ll definitely be making these again. 🙂
Can I use crushed dates instead of maple syrup?
I haven’t made these yet, but plan to this weekend. I just wanted to say thank you for a vegan almond flour recipe! We are vegan and my youngest daughter needs to be gluten free and vegan and gluten free baking recipes are hard to come by. So thank you! Can’t wait to make these with my daughter!
The cookies are delicious!!! I followed the recipe exactly. Hard to eat just one!
These are my family’s favorite chocolate chip cookie. We like them with a teaspoon of cinnamon too. Yummy! Low heat is definitely the way to cook them to bring out the best flavor!
Once again, another easy, quick, & delish cookie recipe! Definitely double this recipe because they will be GONE in no time!
I just made these this morning and they are perfect – so so good !! thank you, I love that you propose vegan/healthy options !!
Made these tonight. Super easy and quite tasty. We’ll definitely be making these again.
These cookies are excellent! With this recipe, there is no need to ever have a regular chocolate chip cookie ever again.
It is very hard to just eat one!
Could I use honey instead of maple syrup in this recipe
Oh my good days 🤤 So much gratitude on your way for sharing this amazing recipe!! I am finally done with the search for a satisfying chocolate cookie craving 🙏🍀
Added some shredded lemon and used half half coconut sugar and maple syrup.
Divine each bite! 🤍🙏
OMG Megan your this recipe is amazing!! I made these cookies and shared with my coworkers and they all loved it! THANK you for sharing this vegan healthy recipe 🙂
Yay!! I’m so glad the cookies were a hit with everyone!
I make these all the time. They are my go to for my sweet tooth fix. My bf loves them more than regular cookies that I can’t keep them around the house.
These are my absolute favourite cookies. I can’t even count how many times I’ve used this recipe. The one substitute I made was for almond extract instead of vanilla- so delicious!!!
We absolutely LOVE this recipe!! I first tried it due to being egg and GF but now I will always make them. I actually like to cook them a tad longer than 10 min so they end up having the texture of a shortbread cookie! I love checking out all your recipes.
This recipe is amazing. We don’t follow specific diets, but I’m always looking for ways to load nutritional things into my kids without missing out on key kiddo moments. My kids love making these and they’re so easy!
FYI-when I use almond flour that is not new or fresh, this recipe requires twice the liquid to moisten and keep the flour moist. You should recommend using only fresh flour!
These are Delicious!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them; thanks for letting me know!
Awesomeee cookies! This page is on my bookmarks! My 5 yo, 1 yo & husband loves it. Second time i tried putting in almond butter and it turned out great
Absolutely amazing! Best almond flour recipe! The whole family enjoyed this.
Just making these today for a gathering tomorrow. I have added another 1/2 cup flour because the dough was greasy. Still greasy. Is it possible that the coconut oil amou t is wrong?
LOOOOVE THIS RECIPE! I ate four immediately (after cooling). Good tip on freezing remainder because they are delicate. Can’t wait to make these again.
This is an amazing recipe! I’ve been making this for a few years now and everybody loves it. Thank you for sharing!
Megan, I love everything you do! Thank you for all,of,your hard work! I want to make these for a brunch I am attending. To make my morning simple, I would like to mix up the dough in advance and bake the cookies in the morning. Would that work or will the dough be too cold? Has anyone tried making the dough in advance? Thank you! Terri
I ended up using 2 eggs, u didn’t know how it would be. Never made cookies w/o. Praying they turn out! EXPERIMENTING!!!🤗
I did this recipe twice and the dough never got wet enough to make into cookies and I followed the recipe to the letter.
The only thing I got was 2 bowls of dough that had to be thrown away. Moving on to another recipe.
I made these with roughly the same amount of butter and honey instead of coconut oil and maple syrup. I also laid lower on the choc chips because they were pretty sweet already. For some reason the baking time didn’t work for me, the cookies started burning at 12 min esp on the bottom rack. I think I will start checking them from 8 min in next time. Thanks a lot for this, it was my first time doing actually healthy baking!
Helathy and delicious cookies!!
I just made these for a friend who is gluten free and vegan. I just got them out of the oven and the aroma was just too irresistible, I had to try one. Oh my! These are so amazing! I might just go vegan myself for this! Haha!