Thin and crispy chocolate chip cookies made with almond butter, coconut sugar, chocolate chips and sea salt. Vegan, flourless, and SO yummy!
There is a time and place for chewy cookies.
And then there is a time for CRISPY cookies. That time is now, and these are the cookies.
If you are usually a chewy-only cookie person, let your imagination feast on this for a sec…
A crackly ring of thin, crispy cookie edges surrounding a just-soft, buttery center. Deep caramelized flavor with plenty of salt to offset the sweet. Mini chocolate chips invading every bite, their melty allure making it impossible to wait for the cookies to cool. A cookie so rich even I approved of dunking them in milk.
You can’t not want at least a nibble, right?
I know, I know – two nut/seed butter recipes in a row. See I was going to save these for next week, but then I brought the leftovers to a couple of friends and my container of eight was empty almost instantly and that was my sign.
These Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies could not wait.
Cookie crispy-ness is not born of oatmeal and applesauce and other such wholesome breakfast-y things. Crispy cookies require some sugar and some butter, but I promise these are still much healthier than the back-of-the-chocolate-chip-bag recipe I (and you?) grew up with. Although the texture is very reminiscent!
The CRISPY comes from:
- Almond butter. Or other nut seed butters work too (peanut butter would obviously be amazing). I tried testing an applesauce option…unsuccessful.
- Coconut sugar. This is key for spread and crispy edges.
- Tapioca starch OR flax eggs.
- Non-dairy milk. But not if you are using flax eggs.
- Vanilla. Duh.
- Sea salt. Double duh.
- Chocolate chips. Thin cookies make mini chips perfect.
Now do a double take on that list – yup, these cookies are flourless. And of course vegan, gluten-free, and paleo too. The flax egg version will be slightly more more puffy but still crispy around the edges, while the tapioca starch version is thin and crispier throughout. Both equally tasty!
If this kind of almond buttery-ness isn’t your cup of cookie tea, try one of these instead:
- Oat Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Easy Chocolate Chip Muffins (okay not a cookie, but I just adore these ♡)
Happy crispy cookie baking to you!
Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 22 minutes
- Yield: 18 cookies 1x
- Category: cookies
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: american
Description
Thin and crispy chocolate chip cookies made with almond butter, coconut sugar, chocolate chips and sea salt. Vegan, flourless, and SO yummy!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (250g) almond butter (or nut/seed butter of choice)
- 1/2 cup (80g) coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup (30g) tapioca starch OR 2 flax eggs*
- 1/4 cup (60g) non-dairy milk**
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/3 cup (60g) mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Whisk together the almond butter, coconut sugar, non-dairy milk or flax egg, and vanilla.
- Add the tapioca starch (if using), baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Use a spoon or cookie scoop to drop spoonfuls of batter onto a lined baking sheet. Space them out as they will spread quite a bit (you will need 2 pans or to bake in 2 batches).
- Bake for 12-14 minutes at 350F.
- Remove from the oven. Cool for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Enjoy!
- Keep leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week. Or you can freeze them.
Notes
*For the flax egg option: combine 2 tbsp ground flax with 4 tbsp water, and set aside to thicken for 5 minutes before using. **Omit for the flax egg option.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 140
- Sugar: 8g
- Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 12g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
Keywords: gluten-free, vegan, paleo, cookies, baking, dessert, chocolate chip, flourless
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I love chocolate and I love cookies! This will be my treat for the next week! Thank you!
★★★★★
The world can never have enough variations on this deliciously classic combo🍪 Can’t wait for you to taste them, Mattie!
Can I use 2 eggs and almond milk and no starch ?
I haven’t tested it with real eggs, but should be fine! I might skip the milk too though😊
Is there a difference whether you use the tapioca/milk or flax egg method? Thanks!
The flax egg version will be ever so slightly more puffy and less snappy, but both are delish!
Perfect thanks! Going with the crispy version LOL.
Good call😋
These look so incredible I can’t wait to try them!
YAY!! I think you will love them, let me know how they turn out for you, Imogen🤗
I must say, you really have a talent with the videos!
Aw thanks Marni❤️
do tou think arrowroot would work in place of the tapioca? cant wait to try them!!
Yep, absolutely! Enjoy😊
thank you so much!!
Could I sub cane sugar for coconut sugar? These look amazing
You can, although coconut sugar gives them a much richer/deeper flavor than cane sugar will. You could use cane sugar + 2 tbsp molasses in place of some of the non-dairy milk though to add a similar richness and moisture that coconut sugar gives 🙂
These will be my next cookie batch for sure because I crave crisp cookies (a holdover from the days when I didn’t know better and wasn’t vegan and bought ChipsAhoy) and most recipes nowadays aren’t crisp (what’s up with that? Have tastes changed or is it harder to make crisp cookies when you don’t use lots of oil or eggs/butter?). I get a kick out of your classifying cookies as crisp versus chewy—to me it’s more like they are either crisp or soft. Oops—just remembered my next batch has to be pumpkin chocolate chips since I just defrosted 1/2 cup of pumpkin that I froze (and you can guess how long it’s been in the freezer, so I need to use it up—and I was tired of waiting for October to come until I use pumpkin again), but this will be the next batch after that!
I must admit I was always a chewy Chips Ahoy person, but sometimes I just want those dang crispy edges😋😋 Anytime you healthy up a cookie with dates/applesauce/oats/pumpkin the cookie is going to turn out chewy and soft because of the natural water content in fruits and lack of oil. So yes, crispy cookies are never going to be AS healthy which is why I think they are less common in the healthy food blogging world, but sometimes it’s worth it😊 “Soft” works for me too, maybe more accurate. I think my classifications are stolen from Chips Ahoy so it will always be chewy/crispy to me😂
I enjoy your content, but this was puzzling/concerning to read:
“I brought the leftovers to a couple of friends and my container of eight was empty almost instantly (these were not female friends, as you may have guessed)”
?
Are we woman not supposed to reach for the cookie and eat it? There’s no need to cast judgement or generalizations on cookie-eating women.
Keep putting out your amazing recipes, but please be more aware going forward of supporting damaging, old-fashioned stereotypes of women.
Oh goodness. I meant that only in a lighthearted way, not at all as a judgment or perpetuating a gender stereotype. I am VERY aware of the issues with culture norms surrounding women and food, but when you are around 20-30 year olds of both genders frequently it is just true that males do usually eat a lot more than females. I understand where you are coming from and didn’t mean to offend, but to live in a world where we have to be 100% PC all the time at the cost of sarcasm and humor is quite sad to me too.
I’m also in the 20-30 range, and I also hate living in a stepping-on-eggshells world, but just remember that you have a platform where you are putting your words into the world, and to be thoughtful of how we’re perpetuating ideas!
Trust me, I am very aware of that😊
Hey Natalie, but butters are super expensive where I live,
Is there any way to substitute or for apple sauce?
I tried 3 batches with applesauce and none of them worked unfortunately. It just contains too much moisture for a flourless recipe😬 Maybe try one of the other cookie recipes linked in the post!
Could I use peanut butter and substitute tapioca for real eggs? We are not vegan, but just trying to eat healthier.
Thank you
You can definitely use peanut butter, and I haven’t tried them with egg but that would work. Might make the dough more liquidy though, so maybe just try 1 egg!
My family want me to make these, but most are alergic to coconut in all forms. What would be a good substitute for coconut sugar?
Brown sugar would be the next best, most similar in flavor. But cane sugar or other granulated sweeteners would be okay too, just slightly less rich/deep flavor😊
Hi Natalie,
Can I sub the sugar for honey/maple syrup?
Thanks a lot!
Because this recipe is flourless, the added moisture of using a liquid sweetener may make the batter too thin and runny. I haven’t tried it so can’t say for sure, you could try adding more tapioca starch to make up for it but that will likely change the texture. Sorry!
Oh, these are so beautiful and perfectly round Natalie! I’m in love with them already! Ahhh yes I’m all about those crispy edges too! The Chocolate chip cookies I just shared have super crispy edges too and I think that’s why they are my fave so far. Something magical about that crispy edge and chewy soft center, right?? I’ve eaten WAY too many cookies this past 2 weeks….and cupcakes for that matter, LOL, but I love almond butter cookies! I think I use that ingredient more than any other for cookie recipes because I love the chewy fudginess it brings. Totally with you on the applesauce too, it’s just not that great in cookies in place of fat…way too much like a muffin and too dry and kind of sticks to the roof of your mouth. Works okay in cake or muffins a lot of the times but cookies really do need fat! I can’t wait to try these…all ingredients I use often and love so no doubt I will love them!
It’s amazing how more uniformly shaped cookies are when they actually spread on their own like normal cookies do and low fat ones don’t😆😆 I was working on these when you posted yours and I was like wait I want one of hers now but yet I’m drowning in my own cookie leftovers and now I’m all cookie conflicted lol. But I’d still happily take some of those cupcakes off your hands😏 Yup muffins are where applesauce belongs and maybe oaty BREAKFAST cookies, but the real deal needs some nutty fat. I kinda want to try a batch with tahini soon too! Happy weekend Brandi😊
YUM! Cannot wait to make these; I love all of your recipes! I don’t have mini choc chips though; would regular size be okay? Thanks! 🙂
For sure! I like the minis since these cookies spread pretty thin, but regular will be just fine 🙂
Hi! I made these and the cookies turned out chewy. 🙁 They still taste good but I was really hoping for the crunch. Do you think I went wrong somewhere? I used the weight measurements (grams) and the tapioca starch. I live in Los Angeles and the weather was in the high 90s. I don’t know if heat changes anything but I thought maybe the dough wasn’t cold enough when placed in the oven.
Let me know!
🙂