Easy Nut Butter Cookies (No-Bake, Grain-Free)

Name: Nut Butter Cookies
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 10
Cuisine: Grain-Free
Ingredients: 1 cup Medjool dates, pitted; ½ cup almond butter; 2 tablespoons peanut butter; 2 tablespoons coconut flour; ¼ teaspoon vanilla bean powder (or vanilla extract); pinch of sea salt (optional)

March 27, 2017 / By Carrie Forrest, MPH in Nutrition / 33 Comments

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These Nut Butter Cookies are a perfect healthy treat; they’re grain-free with only 5 ingredients, and can be made in 15 minutes!

Sweet treats are part of my everyday routine, but I do make an effort to use ingredients that support my health. I used both almond and peanut butter in this recipe, but you could easily substitute cashew butter or tahini to make them paleo. The coconut flour helps them stick together, and the dates are the only sweetener.

You’ll need a food processor to get everything nicely combined. I also used vanilla bean powder because I just love vanilla. I used a regular fork to make the little pattern on top. I saw someone do that on Instagram (sorry, I can’t remember who!) but I thought it was so cute and reminiscent of “real” peanut butter cookies.

Guys, I know I promised I’d talk about my grain-free journey if you were interested. I got enough positivity responses that I thought I’d bring it up here. I’ve been seeing a functional medicine doctor who is a super big advocate of a primal/paleo approach for healing (here’s a good article about the problems with grains), which includes avoiding gluten as well as grains.

While I’m not one to cut out whole categories of foods after my previous experience of going too far with that, this doc has encouraged me to experiment with eating fewer grains, all the while monitoring some nagging issues like joint pain and autoimmune antibody markers. I’m actually not going 100% grain-free and still enjoy “safer” grains like white rice and buckwheat a few times a week, but it’s been kind of fun to experiment more with some new-to-me products in the kitchen like coconut flour that I used in this recipe today.

Incidentally, my doc also promotes a legume-free approach for autoimmune issues, but I had to sneak in a bit of peanut butter into these cookies. Peanuts are technically a legume and not a nut, but I’ll pretend to be ignorant on that point, ha ha.

Does that shed some light on the grain-free trend that I’ve hopped on?

Nut Butter Cookies

★★★★★ 5 from 7 reviews

Author: Carrie Forrest, MPH in Nutrition
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 10
Category: Dessert
Method: No-Bake
Cuisine: Grain-Free, Vegan, paleo

Print Recipe

Description

These grain-free treats take all of 15 minutes to make. They are date-sweetened and a healthy cookie option.

Ingredients

1 cup Medjool dates, pitted
½ cup almond butter
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons coconut flour
¼ teaspoon vanilla bean powder (or vanilla extract)
pinch of sea salt (optional)

Instructions

Combine the dates, almond butter, peanut butter, coconut flour, vanilla bean powder, and sea salt in the bowl of a food processor.
Pulse on high until the ingredients are well combined.
Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl and use your hands to form about 10 cookies.
Press a fork into the top of each cookie to form a pattern.
For the best texture, chill the cookies in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before serving.

Notes

Feel free to substitute cashew butter or tahini for the almond or peanut butter.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1
Calories: 85

Items Recommended for this Nut Butter Cookie Recipe:

Food processor, I use a Breville Sous Chef
All-natural almond butter (smooth or crunchy)
Organic coconut flour
Vanilla bean powder

I may have eaten all but two of these cookies last week before my husband asked if he could try them. I gave him the last two and he promptly asked for another batch. A good sign, I think!

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