These gluten-free almond flour shortbread cookies are the easiest, healthy vegan shortbread cookie recipe. They have the best tender, melting texture and are slightly crispy when you bite into them.
If you love shortbread cookies but want to make them a little bit healthier, with fewer carbs, and avoid wheat flour, this is the recipe for you.
Almond Flour Shortbread cookies are made with a handful of ingredients and ready in no time to enjoy for breakfast, snack, or dessert.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
These 3-ingredient almond flour cookies are super simple to make and ready in less than 30 minutes. Plus, the recipe fits most diets as it is:
- Gluten-free – almond flour is 100% gluten-free flour.
- Paleo – this recipe doesn’t use grain or xanthan gum, often used in gluten-free baking.
- Vegan – these cookies are egg-free and dairy-free.
- Egg-Free
- Dairy-Free
- Paleo
- Low-Carb
- Keto-Friendly
Ingredients and Substitutions
To make this simple recipe, you need to gather only 3 simple ingredients. Let me share my tips with you to select the best healthy ingredients for this recipe.
- Almond Flour – make sure you are using ultra-fine almond flour and not coarse almond meal. The recipe works with both, but an almond meal adds a gritty texture to cookies and a darker color.
- Maple Syrup – or agave syrup. I didn’t try the recipe with any other liquid sweetener.
- Coconut Oil – this is a gluten-free shortbread cookie recipe with coconut oil. Coconut oil is a great plant-based fat to make crunchy vegan cookies. You can use refined coconut oil to avoid the coconut flavor from the oil. Don’t replace it with any other oil, or the cookies would be way too soft.
Optional ingredients
Of course, you can add a few flavorsome ingredients to add flavor to these healthy vegan shortbread cookies.
I highly recommend it, but if you want to keep the recipe simple, and make plain shortbread cookies, don’t bother adding these little extra ingredients.
My favorite add-ons are:
- Almond extract – add 1/2 teaspoon to the cookie dough.
- Vanilla extract – add 1/2 teaspoon to the cookie dough.
- Sea salt – add 1/4 teaspoon to the cookie dough.
- Orange zest – add 1 teaspoon to the cookie dough.
- Chocolate chips – add 1/4 cup of dark chocolate chips into the dough to make vegan chocolate chip shortbread cookies.
How To Make Almond Flour Shortbread Cookies
This is an easy vegan almond shortbread cookie recipe meaning they are egg-free, dairy-free cookies.
Consequently, their texture is slightly softer than a regular shortbread recipe but an amazing healthy shortbread cookie recipe without butter!
In fact, these are vegan shortbread cookies with coconut oil, a plant-based fat perfect for making crunchy cookies.
All you have to do is combine the dry ingredients (photo 1) with the wet ingredients until they form a sticky cookie dough (photo 2).
Then, form 12 cookie dough balls using a measuring cup (photo 3) from the dough and place each ball on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. This cookie dough won’t expand in the oven, so you don’t have to leave much space between each cookie.
Finally, press each ball slightly with the back of a fork to flatten it into a 0.4 inch (1cm) thick cookie (photo 4). The thinner, the crispier they will be. Finally, bake in preheated oven 325°F (160°C) for 12-15 minutes.
They are ready when the sides are slightly golden brown and slightly soft in the middle. Cool completely at room temperature, first 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then on a cooling rack. These cookies firm up with time and get their best texture after 3 hours at room temperature.
Step-By-Step Video
Decorating The Cookies
You can add some sprinkles on top of your cookies, as you see in my picture, to make healthy Christmas shortbread cookies. Or drizzle melted chocolate chips on top.
Frequently Asked Questions
These gluten-free shortbread cookies with almond flour are slightly softer than wheat-based cookies.
But if you like your shortbread cookies crispier, press them thinner into a 0.4-inch thickness (1cm).
If your cookies are too thick, they will stay softer in the center, but overall, this recipe crisps on the outside with a tender center.
This cookie dough works very well for making cut-out shortbread cookies too. It actually makes thinner and crispier almond flour shortbread cookies.
The only thing to keep in mind is that the dough is slightly sticky.
So you will have to roll the dough between two parchment paper pieces to prevent it from sticking to the roller pin.
No, you can’t use sugar-free maple syrup in this recipe. Sugar-free maple syrup contains a lot of fiber compared to natural maple syrup and is highly liquid absorbent.
It won’t form a cookie dough but a cookie crumble.
These are egg-free, dairy-free cookies, so they store very well at room temperature in a cookie jar.
You can store the cookies for up to 1 week in the pantry or the fridge. They soften with time as the air moisture softens the dough.
More Vegan Almond Flour Cookie Recipes
I love to use almond flour in my cookie recipes. It not only adds delicious almond flavor, but it also decreases carbs and adds lots of plant-based proteins and nutrients.
Below I listed my favorite cookie recipes made with almond flour for you to try.
Did You Like This Recipe?
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Almond Flour Shortbread Cookies (3 Ingredients, Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup Almond Flour - packed
- 3 tablespoons Maple Syrup
- 3 tablespoons Melted Coconut Oil
Optional ingredients – recommended to add flavors
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Almond Extract
Instructions
- Before starting, keep in mind that these are slightly softer than regular shortbread cookies. They are vegan, gluten-free cookies made with wholesome ingredients, crispy on the outside, and chewier in the center.
- Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium-size mixing bowl, add all the ingredients: almond flour, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, salt, vanilla extract, and almond extract,
- Combine the ingredients with a spatula first, squeeze the dough with your hands to bring ingredients together, and form a cookie dough ball. If too wet, you can add more almond flour.
- Scoop the dough with a measuring tablespoon and roll it into a ball.
- Place each ball onto the lined cookie sheet.
- Use a fork to flatten each cookie. The thinner, the crispier they will be. You can add sprinkles now, using a fork to press them gently into the batter.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until slightly golden and slightly hard on top.
- Cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to completely cool down.
Storage
- Store in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 5 days
I made two batches, one according to the recipe and one with ghee. Also for both batches I used Almind butter syrup. It is maple and almond together. Found it at Kroger. I added vanilla to both batches. Both batches are dry and chewy. I feel like it is like eating a handful of almonds. Getting used to the texture will take a minute. Not bad though and I will make them again with chocolate chips to see how they turn out. 01/02/22
Thanks for the recipe, can I use ghee instead of coconut oil??
I think it should work, I didn’t try so feel free to experiment and let me know!
I have been gf for over 10 years and have pretty much given up on making cookies as they are usually a disappointment. But…..this recipe has changed my mind completely! These are sooooo good with that lovely hint of maple syrup. Our Non GF guests can’t get enough of them. Thank you.
Thank you so much! I love to hear that. Merry Christmas!
I made this tonight. My dough was quite wet I added probably 1/3 more almond flour. I also used honey in place of molasses. It still was very sticky but I treated it like a hot potato. It was very sticky and pliable after being in the fridge all day. The problem with the recipe is the lack of oil. That is why it is so sticky/doesn’t harden up. After baking them, I was saddened by the flavor, which lacked a gingerbread taste. And it isn’t my spices, because they are all fresh and organic of the highest quality. The clove was far too strong. I will definitely be adjusting the spices MEGA on this one. It also isn’t very sweet, but you know, that’s ok because most people Ice them anyways. I used metal cutters and found the water dipping to be very helpful. The texture is very nice. I may make this every year, with some adjustments. Just don’t let the kids help you with this one. My opinion of the dough may be biased, as I have been working with alternative doughs for ever now (haven’t ever worked with gluten dough except as a child) so I am quite used to having to handle “difficult” dough. I would recommended this recipe, if you’re ready to make some adjustments to the spices. All in all, I am quite pleased. Merry Christmas. I will be sharing this with family this Christmas. Thank you for the recipe.
Can I freeze these cookies ? And fir how long?
You can freeze cookies up to 3 months in zip bags and thaw at room temperature the day before. Enjoy!
can I use honey instead of maple syrup
Sure, any liquid sweetener works here.
I completely forgot to add the coconut oil (accidentally left it in the microwave after melting) but these still tasted amazing! The maple syrup held the dough together nicely even without oil so they retained shape and came out nice and crispy. I rolled my dough out nice and thin and cut it into heart shapes before adding sprinkles – they were super cute! I used my own homemade almond flour (made with unblanched almonds) so my texture was a bit gritty and the color was quite dark. I like it that way, though! Delicious cookies and the friend I made them for loved them!
That’s amazing, thanks for sharing that with us!
ive also added anise for a vegan biscochito, ive made thumbprints with jam, and used almond butter instead of coconut oil for almond butter cookies.
Very good. Does get nice and dry. I feel that recipes with egg using almond flour stay soggy. These do not they get dry and crispy but still retain softness without soginess. This is going into my recipe notebook. I rolled into a fat log and cut. Didn’t have to be refrigerated to do that. Also, I substituted Butter for coconut oil and honey for maple syrup as I’m on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Great recipe and although they burned because I’m having oven trouble, the recipe is not to blame. I’ll be trying them on a silicone mat to perhaps fix that problem a bit.
I’m so happy I found you ♥️ I cannot eat eggs, or gluten. I was trying to do Keto and it is eggy I need low carbs. I will be following you and looking up breads, muffins, pancakes . . . Thank you