These Paleo Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are perfect for the holidays! This easy Paleo Christmas cookie recipe is made with almond flour, has a crisp exterior and fudgy center, and is not too sweet, but still tastes amazing.
Squeezing in one last Paleo Christmas cookie recipe and it's a good one! These Paleo Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are by far the best chocolate cookies I've made to date.
This is a delicious, small batch crinkle cookie recipe - perfect for sharing with your immediate family or doubling and sharing with a crowd. Either way, everyone is sure to love these secretly healthy cookies.
Here's the rundown...
Chocolate Crinkle Cookie Highlights
This paleo crinkle cookie recipe is:
- paleo, vegan and easily made keto
- only 8 ingredients
- crisp on the outside with a chewy, gooey center
- gluten free: made with almond butter and almond flour
- lower in sugar than your average cookie
I've tested these again and again and the outcome was delicious each time. I promise, the whole family is sure to love these gluten free, vegan chocolate crinkle cookies!
Ingredients
These low sugar chocolate crinkle cookies require just 8 ingredients. They're paleo and vegan, and can easily be made keto with a few simple ingredients swaps.
Here's what you need:
- almond butter
- maple syrup
- vanilla extract
- almond flour
- cacao powder (or cocoa)
- baking soda
- salt
- tapioca flour (for rolling)
Nut Free Substitutions
I have not tested this recipe without almond butter and almond flour, so cannot stand 100% behind substituting these ingredients. However, I assume that sunflower seed butter and tigernut flour would work. The taste will change quite a bit with these subs, but it's worth a try if you want to make this recipe and cannot consume almonds.
Keto Substitutions
To make these keto chocolate crinkle cookies, you can substitute the maple syrup for a sugar free liquid sweetener (such as Lakanto maple flavored syrup).
In addition, the tapioca flour may be replaced with powdered monk fruit. One thing to note about this swap is that the cookies will look slightly different if they're not coated in tapioca flour. They taste just a great though!
How to Make Paleo Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
These paleo chocolate cookies are no chill - yes, the cookie dough doesn't require any chilling! Meaning, this cookie recipe is super easy and can be completed (start to finish) in under 30 minutes.
First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the almond butter, maple syrup and vanilla in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Mix with a spatula until well combined.
Next, add in the remaining cookie ingredients. Mix with a spatula until well combined. The dough is thick and slightly greasy, but should easily form into a ball.
Grab a medium-sized cookie scoop (2 Tbsp in size) and scoop the dough, then form it into a ball. Roll the dough in tapioca flour, place it on a baking sheet and then press it down to form a disc (see photos below). Repeat until all the cookie dough is used up (recipe makes 7 cookies).
Place the cookies in your preheated oven and bake for 11-12 minutes. The cookies should slightly spread and crack on top - giving you that crinkle look.
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack. If desired, sprinkle the cookies with additional tapioca flour, or powdered monk fruit sweetener.
The cookies should have a crisp and crunchy exterior after baking, but be moist and chewy on the inside.
More Paleo Christmas Cookie Recipes
Looking for more easy Paleo cookie recipes to make this holiday season? Check out these popular ones from the blog:
- Cassava Flour Sugar Cookies
- Paleo Snickerdoodles
- Healthy Paleo Gingerbread Cookies
- Healthy Gingersnap Cookies
Enjoy!
Print
Paleo Chocolate Crinkle Cookies (Gluten Free, Vegan)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Total Time: 21 minutes
- Yield: 7 cookies 1x
Description
These Paleo chocolate crinkle cookies are crisp on the outside with a fudgy center. They're also Vegan friendly and easily made keto.
Ingredients
Cookies
- ½ cup drippy almond butter (unsweetened, unsalted)
- ¼ cup maple syrup*
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup blanched almond flour (35g)
- 3 Tbsp cacao powder (15g)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
Coating
- 1 Tbsp tapioca flour **
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine almond butter, maple syrup and vanilla. Mix with a spatula until well combined.
- Add in remaining cookie ingredients. Mix with a spatula until well combined.
- Using a medium-sized cookie scoop (2 Tbsp per cookie), scoop the dough then roll it into a ball. Coat the cookie dough in tapioca flour, then place it on a baking sheet. Using your hand, slightly press down on the cookie, creating a disc. Repeat until all the dough is used up.
- Place the cookies in the preheated oven and bake at 350 degrees F for 11-12 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack.
- Optional: dust with additional tapioca flour or powdered monk fruit sweetener
Notes
This recipe makes 7 cookies (2 Tbsp of dough per cookie) but may easily be doubled to serve more.
*for keto, use a maple flavored syrup or any other preferred liquid sugar free sweetener.
**for keto, use powdered monk fruit in place of the tapioca flour (you will probably need 2 Tbsp of monk fruit). The cookies will look slightly different when baked, but you may top them with additional monk fruit after they've cooled.
Jenna
These are delicious! What are the nutrition facts?
Katie
My family and I love these chocolate crinkle cookies and we hope you do too!
Justin
Fantastic quick cookie recipe. Hit the spot and not too sweet. I used coconut flour to coat the cookies and then sprinkled a little salt on top after they came out. Thanks for sharing!
Katie
Thank you for leaving a review! So glad you liked the cookies 🙂
Denise Bruggenthies
Can you use a different flour? I can’t have almond.
Katie
The best substitute for almond flour is tigernut flour. You could also try ground sunflower seeds.
Fatima
I made these with my toddler, it was a hit! We used peanut butter instead.
Katie
I'm so glad you enjoyed them! Thank you for leaving a review 🙂
Janell
I have made these twice now. Had to after they disappeared the first time. Made a double batch the second time. Will definitely make again.
Katie
So glad you like them!
Liz
Can you sub the almond flour with coconut flour? Thank you !
Katie
No, unfortunately coconut flour can't be used in place of almond flour. It is very absorbent and won't bake the same.
Noelle
These cookies are like Nutella cookies but almondy instead of hazelnutty. The deep chocolate flavour is sooooo good!!! My mum was honestly obsessed with these cookies. If you love nuts and you love chocolate these cookies are for you 🍪🍪🍪
Alicia
Could you use sunflower butter instead? And do you need to roll them in tapioca flour (I know that would take away the crinkle effect) or can you omit that step?
Katie
You can use sunflower seed butter instead and rolling them in flour/sugar is optional.
Vincent
Will these still be crinkly if omitting the tapioca flour?
Katie
I would swap the tapioca flour with powdered monk fruit or powdered sugar if you want to maintain the crinkled look.
Nicole
I just discovered your blog. Made these last night when I was out of time and energy and they still were a hit. I made the recipe as stated except I skipped the optional dusting of tapioca. My husband and I love salt and savory treats so I used my salted almond butter and the added salt and they were perfect. Thank you for the recipe cannot wait to try more of your recipes.
Katie
I'm so glad you both enjoyed these! Hopefully you will find more recipes here that you love!
Steffanie Shumway
What if you don’t have tapioca flour? It’s the only ingredient I’m missing! Any subs? Can I leave it out?
Katie
You can leave it out, but the cookies may not have the crinkle look to them. You can also swap tapioca flour for arrowroot starch/flour or powdered sugar. Cornstarch may even work, but it's not paleo friendly and I haven't tried it myself.