Edible Vegan Cookie Dough

I haven’t had a working oven for over two months, and cookie cravings have been hitting hard. Thank goodness for this easy vegan cookie dough, seriously. Who needs actual baked cookies when you can have the best bit anyway?

In addition to being vegan (egg-free, obviously) this cookie dough is also gluten free, made with Bob’s Red Mill coconut and almond flours. Wheat flour can cause some serious illnesses when consumed raw, so going GF sidesteps that issue no problem. These naturally sweet high protein flours also make for a delicious cookie dough that is vaguely healthy-ish, too.

There are a number of variations provided below so you can mix up your cookie dough however you like. I’ve gone with a standard chocolate chip cookie flavour, with a touch of peanut butter, but all of the options are equally delicious.

I love pressing the dough into a tin and cutting little squares for later, especially since it’s best straight out of the freezer. Whether you want to go right in with a spoon, or make individual bits for later, it’s great in any form.

Scroll to the bottom of the post or click “skip to recipe” above to see the recipe card with full ingredient measurements and instructions.

Ingredients

Method

Add the nut butter, softened coconut oil, and maple syrup to a large mixing bowl. Whisk until fully blended and smooth.

Add the almond flour, coconut sugar, coconut flour, vanilla, and salt to the bowl. Use a wooden spoon to mix until combined. If the dough is very crumbly at this point, add a tablespoon of water and use your hands to mix it. The dough should be slightly crumbly but hold together when pressed.

Mix the chocolate chips into the cookie dough until evenly incorporated.

If you want to eat the dough with a spoon, simply place it into an airtight container at this point and freeze. For small squares as pictured, continue with the next steps.

Line a square (mine is 20cm or 8 in.) baking tin with a sheet of parchment paper, leaving enough overhang to create handles.

Use your hands to press the cookie dough into the tin as evenly as possible. Place the tin into the freezer to chill for 30 minutes.

Once the dough has chilled, cut it into small squares. Top the squares with melted chocolate if desired. Keep the cookie dough in the freezer for up to one month, and serve directly from frozen.

Tips and Notes

I highly recommend taking the time to cut the cookie dough in squares and drizzle them with chocolate if you can. While the cookie dough is very nice as is, it is truly excellent (like most things) when coated in extra chocolate.

As with most GF recipes, the texture isn’t the same as it would be with white flour. If you’re looking for a replica of the cookie dough you looted from the tube, or from your grandmother’s mixing bowl, this isn’t going to be quite the same.

Mini chocolate chips are best if you have them, or very finely chopped chocolate, since the dough isn’t being baked. I can only get chocolate drops so they’ve been quartered before being added.

As noted in the recipe card, you might need to add a tablespoon or two of water to the mix. This depends on how oily/dry the nut butter is, and it’s added after the cookie dough is mixed. Don’t worry about over-mixing.

The size of the tin used is noted but it doesn’t matter. You can use any size (within reason – smaller is fine, but don’t go much bigger), or eat the cookie dough with a spoon, or roll it into small balls.

Variations

• Add a couple tablespoons of quick-cook oats for oatmeal cookie dough
• Try almond butter or another nut butter to change the flavour (cashew will make the most neutral dough, perfect for sugar cookie flavour)
• Add a couple tablespoons of shredded coconut to the mix for a coconut cookie
• Dried fruit, nuts, and seeds will make a delicious no-bake version of a trail mix cookie
• Use a couple teaspoons of cocoa powder for double chocolate cookie dough
• Leave out the chocolate chips for a sugar cookie
• Or, add cinnamon for a snickerdoodle!
• Go for mixed spices if you want a gingerbread dough

Substitutions

To make an oil-free version, I recommend using coconut butter in place of the oil. You can also try using more nut or seed butter, but you may need slightly more water in that case, depending on how dry it is.

For a nut-free cookie dough, use sunflower seed butter, tahini, or another seed butter. I don’t recommend replacing this with water or non-dairy milk as it makes for a bland end result.

You can substitute hazelnut flour for the almond. In this case, hazelnut butter is also very nice! To make it nut-free, try a very finely ground seed meal.

It is probably possible to use other flours like oat or cassava for the coconut, but I haven’t tried. You’d have to increase the amounts slightly to make up for the absorbing powers of coconut flour. Do not use any flour blend containing chickpea flour, or chickpea flour on its own. It tastes terrible raw and will ruin your cookie dough.

A good vegan butter might work in place of the peanut butter, but I haven’t tried it – I think you’d have to remove both the peanut butter and coconut oil. In the same line, butter or vegan butter can replace coconut oil.

More Gluten-Free Desserts

• Vegan Gluten Free Banana Bread
• Dark Chocolate Coconut Bars
• Vegan Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
• Almond Flour Brownies
• Vegan Gluten Free Oat Quinoa Waffles

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