Coconut Cashew Cookies

You'll love this healthy plant-based Gluten-Free Vegan Flourless Coconut Cashew Cookies recipe made with only 9 clean, real food ingredients and is vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, no refined sugar, keto-friendly, paleo-friendly, and Medical Medium® compliant.

These golden Coconut Cashew Cookies are a crispy and chewy vegan cookie that's the perfect afternoon snack and glass of homemade almond milk.

Gluten-Free Vegan Coconut Cashew Cookies

This is a really simple plant-based cookie recipe that's easy to make without the typical ingredients you find in traditional cookies like white flour, butter, vegetable oil, white sugar, and eggs.

Instead, these healthy vegan cashew cookies are actually flourless and are made with ground cashews and coconut flakes to give them a crispy texture on the outside and chewy on the inside.

Don't worry if you don't like the crunch of coconut flakes because I don't either, but you won't have the crunch because the coconut flakes are ground very fine in a food processor.

You can enjoy these cookies in less than 30 minutes and they're plant-based, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, grain-free, flourless, paleo-friendly, no refined sugars, and are Medical Medium® compliant.

How To Make This Recipe: Step-By-Step Instructions

This easy flourless cookie recipe can be prepared in about 5 minutes using just a food processor and I'll show you how below.

Before beginning, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and set it aside.

Step 1: Prepare the Coconut and Cashews

Firstly, add the coconut and cashews to a food processor and processing them until they have a fine, crumbly texture.

You want to make sure you don't over-process the mixture because you want tiny pieces of cashews to remain.

The type of coconut you use for this recipe is entirely up to you - shredded coconut or coconut flakes.

Both work fine and will end up being processed into tiny pieces.

Step 2: Add the Remaining Dry Ingredients

Secondly, add the remaining dry ingredients: granular sweetener, Himalayan pink salt, and baking soda to the food processor.

Instead of "processing" it on high speed, just give it about 8-10 long "pulses", or just enough to blend it in.

Step 3: Add the Remaining Wet Ingredients

Thirdly, add the remaining wet ingredients: coconut oil, almond milk, and vanilla extract to the food processor.

Again, instead of "processing" it on high speed, just give it about 8-10 long "pulses", or just enough to blend it in.

Your mixture should have a wet, sticky, coarse texture and should hold well together.

Take out a spoonful at a time, squeeze it tightly in your fist, then flatten it between the palms of your hand into a small cookie shape about 2-inches in diameter.

Try not to make the unbaked cookies any larger than that because they will spread out while baking.

Step 4: Bake the Cookies

Finally, add the cookies onto the prepared cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until they are golden around the edges and taking care to not let them burn.

When the cookies are finished baking, remove the cookie sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to cool completely before removing them from the pan.

The is very important because they will fall apart if you take them off before cooling and without letting the coconut oil to solidify.

Once they've cooled off, you can transfer them to a cookie rack to get crisp.

Store your cookies in an air-tight BPA-free container.

Karielyn's Expert Tips + Ingredient Substitutions 

Here are some of my expert tips to make this recipe perfectly:

Baking. These are somewhat "delicate" cookies and there are a few things you need to do to make sure they are a success.

To make the perfect coconut cashew cookies - don't do these things:

• Overprocess the coconut and cashews. Make sure they are a crumbly mixture, like in the photo above, and the cookie texture will be perfect.
• Make the cookies too big. Before baking, the cookies should be about 2-inches in diameter. They will spread out a little after baking and will hold together better if they are small.
• Burn the cookies. You have to keep a very close eye on these cookies in the oven to make sure they don't overcook and burn.  
• Remove the cookies immediately from the cookie sheet after taking them out of the oven. You need to allow the coconut oil in the cookies to solidify or they will be crumbly and fall apart. Wait for the cookies to cool completely before removing them from the cookie sheet.

Coconut Flakes.  You can use either organic shredded coconut or larger organic coconut flakes. I prefer to use the larger coconut flakes but either will work fine because the coconut will be processed very finely in the food processor. before mixing in with the other ingredients.

Granular Sweetener.  You can use your favorite organic unrefined granular sweetener, but my favorite to use is organic coconut sugar since it gives the cookies a slightly brown sugar flavor.

Vanilla Extract: If you need the cookies to be 100% Medical Medium® compliant, substitute with alcohol-free vanilla extract.

Homemade Almond Milk.  I like to use homemade almond milk or homemade coconut milk, but feel free to use your favorite non-dairy milk as a substitute. Another great option is JOI Organic Almond milk made with 100% organic almonds.

Coconut Oil. If you don't like the overpowering flavor and smell of unrefined coconut oil, you can use organic refined coconut oil, which has zero coconut flavor or coconut smell - and is what I prefer. 

Want More Healthy Plant-Based Flourless Cookie Recipes?

Check out these:

• Fudgy Chocolate Avocado Cookies
• Lemon Chia Seed Cookies
• Snickerdoodle Cookies
• or my CLEAN DESSERTS Cookbook with 72 plant-based vegan + gluten-free no-bake dessert recipes made with real, clean food ingredients just like this one that you will love!

Did You Make This Recipe?

I'd love to hear about it! Please give it a rating and leave a comment below...it would make my day! : )

Gluten-Free Vegan Flourless Coconut Cashew Cookies

You'll love this healthy plant-based Flourless Coconut Cashew Cookies recipe made with only 9 clean, real food ingredients and are ready to enjoy in under 30 minutes!

{ Plant-Based | Vegan | Gluten-Free | Dairy-Free | Egg-Free | Soy-Free | Grain-Free | Flourless | No Refined Sugar | Paleo-Friendly | Medical Medium® Compliant }

5 from 5 votes

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Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Inactive Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Yields: 12 servings

Calories : 181

Equipment

• Food Processor
• Unbleached Parchment Paper
• Cookie Sheet

Ingredients

For the cashew base:

• ▢ 1 1/2 cups organic raw cashews
• ▢ 1 cup organic coconut flakes

For the dry ingredients:

• ▢ 1/3 cup organic coconut sugar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon tapioca flour
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt

For the wet ingredients:

• ▢ 2 tablespoons organic coconut oil
• ▢ 2 tablespoons homemade almond milk
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon organic pure vanilla extract*

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Prepare a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and set aside.

Prepare the cashew base:

• Add the all the ingredients for the cashew base to a food processor and process until they are broken down into small pieces and crumbly, taking care to not over process.

Add the dry ingredients:

• Add all the dry ingredients to the food processor and pulse (about 8-10 times) until everything is well combined, taking care to not over process.

Add the wet ingredients:

• Add all the wet ingredients to the food processor and pulse again (about 8-10 times) just enough until everything is well combined.

Assemble:

• Take out a spoonful of the cookie mixture out at a time, squeeze it in the palm of your hands, and then gently roll it into a ball shape between your palms.
• Place the balls of cookie dough onto the prepared cookie sheet and gently press them down slightly into a 2-inch round shape (they will flatten out more while they are baking).
• Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 10-12 minutes, keeping a close eye on them so they don't burn. They should be slightly golden around the edges.
• Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to completely cool before removing from the cookie sheet. DO NOT try to remove them while they are still warm - they will crumble and break apart.
• After the cookies have completed cooled, transfer them to cookie rack so they can crisp.
• Store in an air-tight BPA-free container in the refrigerator to prevent the cookies from getting soft and losing their shape.

Recipe Notes

Recipe slightly adapted from: https://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/index.cfm/2013/3/13/coconut-cashew-cookies

Cashews: Make sure you use "raw" cashews and not "roasted + salted" cashews which would affect the flavor of the cookies.

Coconut Flakes: You can use either shredded coconut or larger coconut flakes. Either is fine because they will be processed very finely in the food processor.

Coconut Sugar: I haven't tested these using organic cane sugar, but if you decide to give it a try instead of coconut sugar, just make sure it's 100% vegan and doesn't use animal bone char to whiten it. This is my go-to brand for 100% vegan sugar. 

*Vanilla Extract: If you need the cookies to be 100% Medical Medium® compliant, substitute with alcohol-free vanilla extract.

Homemade Almond Milk: I make homemade almond milk because it's 100% almonds, but feel free to substitute it with your favorite non-dairy milk. Another great option is JOI Organic Almond milk made with 100% organic almonds.

Himalayan Pink Salt: This is the salt of my preference, but you can always substitute it with sea salt.

Serving Size: This recipe will make approximately (12) cookies. Nutritional information is for (1) cookie which is (1) serving.

Important: Because the cookies contain coconut oil, the coconut oil will be in a liquid state once the cookies come out of the oven and they will not hold together if they are removed from the cookie sheet before cooling. Make sure the cookies completely cool to allow the coconut oil to turn back into a solid-state before removing them from the pan or they will crumble.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 181kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 14g | Sodium: 79mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Calcium: 11mg

Course:Dessert

Cuisine:American

Recipe Author: Karielyn Tillman

Did You Make This Recipe?Leave a Rating + Comment Below!

Karielyn Tillman

Hi, I'm Karielyn! I'm the published cookbook author of CLEAN DESSERTS and content creator of The Healthy Family and Home website since 2012. I specialize in creating easy, healthy plant-based recipes that are gluten-free + vegan and made with clean, real food ingredients that you can feel good about eating.