When many think of a really good, seemingly fancy cookie, most don’t imagine it can happen unless it is filled with gluten, milk, butter, and sweet chocolate. In fact, some of the most sought-after cookies are rather involved and are either salted or incorporate an ingredient called “browned butter,” which is full-dairy butter that’s been heated on the stove for about ten minutes until the color starts to darken a bit and the flavor becomes a bit nutty, some say almost to the flavor of caramelization.
But if you’re looking to omit grains and dairy, it might seem like the fun of cookies has left the kitchen, too.
We think we’ve put together a recipe that’s sure to bring back the fun and a whole lot of flavor, without all the added sugars, to baking cookies.
This recipe is a Paleo version of a salted, browned butter chocolate walnut cookie. Instead of butter, we use almond butter for the fat and a toasted combination of pecans, coconut oil, and coconut flakes for their fat and flavor. Because the oil is heated to incorporate the pecans and coconut flakes, it’s important to let it cool so when added to the dough, the chips don’t melt throughout the dough and lose their integrity as individual chocolate chips.
To bring more excitement—and more nuts—to the recipe, we dip the finished cookie in melted cacao, which is then sprinkled with diced pistachios.
Though definitely not for anyone with a nut allergy, this rich cookie will hopefully be the base or inspiration of many other adventurous cookies you and your loved ones make together.
TIPS:
- Make the “browned butter” first so it can be set aside to cool for a bit before adding to the dough. If you add hot ingredients to this dough, the chocolate chips will melt and the entire bowl of dough will turn dark brown.
- Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) omissions and substitutions are listed in the recipe ingredients.
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Cacao-Dipped, Vegan “Browned Butter” Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Recipe by: Griffin McMath, ND
- Serves: 16 cookies
- Meal: Dessert
- Serves: 16 cookies
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes
Ingredients
1/4 cups unsalted pecan halves
2 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes
5 tbsp coconut oil, refined
1 1/4 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 cups arrowroot flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/3 cups creamy almond butter
1/2 cups maple syrup
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups 100% cacao chocolate chips, divided
1/2 cups walnuts, finely chopped
3/4 cups pistachios, finely chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Spread pecans over one sheet and coconut flakes over the other. Bake about 10 minutes, mixing halfway through, until coconut flakes are golden brown and pecans have darkened. Let cool. Save one of the cookie sheets and reuse the same piece of parchment paper if it’s still in good condition.
Coarsely grind coconut and pecans in a food processor.
Make vegan browned butter: Melt coconut oil in a small saucepan over low-medium heat. Add coconut-pecan mixture and simmer for about 30 minutes until fragrant, stirring occasionally to keep from burning.
Remove from heat, cover, and let cool for at least 30 minutes. Strain pecan pieces and coconut flakes from vegan browned butter.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk almond flour, arrowroot flour, baking powder, and salt.
Use a standing mixer to beat almond butter, vegan browned butter, maple syrup, egg, and vanilla until creamy. Add the dry ingredients and mix again until just combined. Gently stir in 1 cup cacao chips.
Use a tablespoon or disher to portion the dough two inches apart onto reserved cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool at least 5 minutes.
While cookies cool, heat remaining cacao in a medium saucepan over low heat until melted, stirring frequently.
Combine walnuts and pistachios in a small bowl. Place another sheet of parchment paper underneath cooling rack for next step.
Take each cookie and dip halfway into the melted cacao. Dip the cacao portion into the chopped nuts and return to cooling rack to set. Repeat with remaining cookies.
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