These 3-ingredient vegan almond flour cookies are nutty, rich, crisp around the edges, and chewy in the middle. They're shockingly easy to make and so delicious! No egg, dairy, flour, gluten, oil, or refined-sugar, think of them like a healthier take on shortbread.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Everyone loves an easy cookie recipe, right? And friends, these 3-ingredient almond flour cookies are as easy as it gets! Prepare to fall in love. Seriously! Just check out the reviews.
They're buttery-tasting, crisp-yet-chewy, and lightly-sweetened with maple syrup. Plus, they're:
- vegan and made without oil, gluten, grains, soy, coconut, or refined sugar
- customizable with additions like extracts, citrus zest, chocolate chips, flaked coconut, etc.
- ready in 20 minutes
- and absolutely delicious!
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More almond flour cookie recipes:
- PB2 Almond Flour Cookies
- Almond Flour Oat Cookies
- Vegan Pecan Sandies
- Easy Black Cocoa Cookies
- Healthy Thumbprints
- Almond Flour Gingerbread Cookies
Craving even more super easy cookie recipes? Bake up a batch of my Pecan Cookies or Corn Flour Cookies next!
The 3 Main Ingredients
- Almond Flour - I'm currently using this blanched almond flour by Nature's Eats. I haven't tested the recipe yet with almond meal.
- Maple Syrup - this is important for the overall texture and sweetness of the cookies. Agave nectar is a good substitute.
- Vanilla - pure vanilla extract balances the nutty flavor of the almond flour and adds lovely aroma. Some readers have also reported that almond extract tastes great.
- Salt - I do think these taste even better with a pinch of salt, but it's also fine to omit it.
Find the amounts and full step-by-step instructions in the recipe card below.
How to Make Almond Flour Cookies
As promised, these are absurdly simple. The hardest part of this recipe is just scooping up twelve individual balls of dough and flattening them with a glass, which isn't hard at all. In fact, it's actually pretty fun!
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175°C), and combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Stir and mix thoroughly until the mixture looks uniform and sandy.
- Scoop up one barely rounded tablespoon of dough per cookie. Place on the cookie sheet about 2 ½ inches apart.
- Use the bottom of a glass to flatten the cookies, with a small piece of parchment paper in between to prevent sticking. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges and bottoms are light golden brown.
Look at that texture! The edges are just the right amount of crispy and the centers are pleasantly chewy, reminiscent of a really good peanut butter cookie.
The cookies maintain their awesome texture overnight, too. And they're sturdy and hold together well. No crumbly, fragile cookies here!
Additions
The simple, most basic form of these cookies is probably my favorite, but if you're feelin' fancy and want to try other flavors, here are a few variations I tested:
- Pumpkin spice - whisk 2 ½ teaspoons pumpkin spice with the almond flour before adding the wet ingredients.
- Citrus - add a full teaspoon of fresh orange, lemon, or lime zest to the mixing bowl.
- Chocolate chips - after flattening the cookies, press chocolate chips into the tops.
- Sliced almonds - pressed into the tops of the cookies, this fancies up their appearance and adds great texture.
Equipment
One of the great things about this recipe is how simple it is. No need for any special equipment!
All you need are a bowl large enough to stir the cookie dough together, a standard-size baking sheet, and some parchment paper or a baking mat. A small cookie scoop comes in handy, but a regular tablespoon works, too.
How to Store and Freeze
Once the cookies are completely cool, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.
The cookies also freeze well. Remove from the freezer a few hours before serving. After storing they will soften a bit. Just pop them in the oven or air fryer for a few minutes to bring back the crispy edges.
I hope you love these quick and easy almond flour cookies. If you try the recipe be sure to comment below and let us know!
Recipe
Almond Flour Cookies (Vegan, 3 Ingredients)
Equipment
- silicone baking mat - or parchment
Ingredients
- 1½ cups fine almond flour (170 g) - see Notes
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt - optional
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (176 C), and line a baking sheet with parchment or silicone mat. Tip: during testing, my Silpat mat produced better texture, a more crisp cookie, as compared to parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl whisk together the almond flour and salt, if using. Add the maple syrup and vanilla, and stir until fully combined. The dough should look moist but still slightly crumbly and ragged.
- Scoop up one barely rounded tablespoon of dough per cookie (see photos in post for reference). Place on the cookie sheet about 2 ½ inches apart.
- Cut a small, cookie-sized square of parchment paper, and find a flat-bottomed glass. Use the glass to flatten the cookies, with the parchment square in between to prevent sticking. Press down firmly. The cookies should be about ¼-inch thick and 2 ½ inches in diameter. It's okay for the outer edges of the cookies to look jagged. This gives the cookies a lacy (yet rustic) look and those frilly parts get nice and crisp.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges and bottoms are golden. If you suspect your oven runs hot, you may want to check on them sooner than 10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet.
Notes
- Pumpkin spice - whisk 2 ½ teaspoons pumpkin spice blend into the almond flour before adding the wet ingredients.
- Citrus - add a full teaspoon of fresh orange, lemon, or lime zest to the mixing bowl.
- Chocolate chip - after flattening the cookies, press chocolate chips into the tops.
Estimated Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is an estimate and will vary depending on the exact amounts and ingredients used.
Senitra says
I baked for 10 min and they came out great. I still have to get used to almond flour desserts. I put a couple butterscotch chips in a few and those were even better, but not as healthy. Will try again with some lemon zest.
Monica says
I wanted you to know how much I love this simple, delicious recipe. I enjoyed the plain cookie so much that I started playing with it, making thumbprint cookies. I've made it with strawberry and wild blueberry jam in the middle, I've made it with chocolate in the middle, a chocolate hazelnut spread in the middle, and today I might have made my favorite! I rolled the dough balls in powdered organic sugar, then made a thumbprint in the middle and put some homemade vegan lemon curd in it! I also added lemon zest to the dough. At this point, do I even need any other cookie recipe?
Sara says
So thrilled to be able to enjoy such a quick and delicious gf/df cookie! I made 6 larger cookies on silpat. They were still a bit sticky after 12 mins. Still sticky after cooling, but after putting them on a raised crisper tray in my toaster oven/air fryer for 10 mins, they were perfect! Crunchy and browned on the outside and chewy on the inside. The 12-batch is in the oven now ;-).
Sara Okrent says
Sooo easy. But not fully-done after 12 mins in the oven, so I air cooled and then baked again in my air fryer/toaster for another 10 mins. Still chewy and a little bit undone. Cooled again and stored in container at room temp. Tastes great. Crunchy outside and chewy inside. This will be my go-to recipe from now on.
Susan says
Very quick and easy to make! I used your suggested flattening technique and they turned out looking bakery pro and combo chewy middle and slightly crispy edge was perfect for me - thank you for this keeper recipe.
Lori says
Kathy, sorry they didn't turn out for you this first time. If you didn't add anything liquid or increase the maple syrup it sounds to me like the oven temp or possibly the pan? Sounds like you already tested the oven temperature to make sure it's not running low. Any chance you live at elevation? Otherwise I'm really not sure what happened. Hopefully that next batch is the charm!
Andy says
Lori, I really like the simplicity of the recipe, but I'm puzzled that there aren't any eggs/flax eggs and baking powder/soda. I've tried a couple of recipes that included a flax egg, and baking powder + baking soda, and the cookies came out really good. If these two ingredients aren't necessary, why do most recipes include them? Does the absence of these ingredients in your recipe mean the cookies won't rise and will be flat?
Lori says
Hi Andy,
Yes, I've found leaveners just don't make as much of a difference in a base of 100% almond flour (compared to grain flours), and we loved the texture so much I decided to go with simplicity.
You can see from the first photo that even without any baking powder or soda the cookies puff up ever so slightly in the centers. You don't need a flax egg because the almond flour binds naturally and the maple syrup provides moisture. Give 'em a try and let us know!
Andy says
Lori, I made both these and the pecan sandies. I stuck 2-3 chocolate chips on top of each. My family tasting panel preferred the pecan sandies because they had better flavor, were slightly chewy but also crispy. The almond flour ones had less flavor and came out hard and dense maybe because I made them about 1/8" thick. I'll stick to making the pecan sandies. If I can make a suggestion, it's very useful to have the weight in grams for every ingredient if possible. Also, it's great that your recipes don't include coconut oil.
Kelly says
These are really quite delicious - they sort of remind me of Pecan Sandies shortbread cookies (next time I will throw some crushed pecans in the mix)!
Lori says
I thought the same thing and created some pecan sandies based off of this recipe! Here you go: https://myquietkitchen.com/almond-flour-pecan-sandies/
So glad you enjoyed the cookies, Kelly!
Laurie Mcdaniel says
Just made these with lemon zezt. Yummy!!! My challenge is I am at 7500 ft so cooking is still off. ( middle too gooey)I tried 15 min @ 375 and better..any suggestions?
Lori says
Hi Laurie, you could also press them just a tad thinner. Hopefully combining that with the increased oven temp should do it!
Marie says
I made these tonight, so easy!! I used molasses just because I had it and wanted to use it. I also mistakenly used 1 tspn of almond extract with 2nd tspn of vanilla extract. couldn't discern an almondy flavor nor vanilla but the actual flavor was pretty good with a slight molasses flavor. I easily got 16 oreo sized cookies. next time I will definitely use maple syrup and maybe plop some dried cherries or cranberries on top. I also baked on parchment paper with zero issues removing them. thanks for an easy tasty cookie recipe 🙂
Melinda Carley-Diehl says
Wow!! I can't believe these are good but they really are! Thank you!!
Carol Murphy says
I just made these and they are delicious.! Thank you. I just went back into the recipe and I see that you've added raw pecans?
Lori says
Oh shoot, that’s a technical error. Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention! The pecans are part of a new recipe. Correcting it now. Thanks so much and I'm so glad you enjoyed the cookies!
Cathy says
These are surprisingly delicious. Easy to make. I like your glass and parchment paper way of flattening them. Works very well. Thank you for this delightful recipe.
Gail Vasilnek says
I made these cookies with 1/2 c. almond flour and 1 T. of coconut oil and maple syrup. It made three cookies and they were delicious, a perfect afternoon snack. I'll watch them better the next time as they got a little extra crispy around the edges.
KIM says
Just made these! Thank you for a quick cookie recipe with minimal ingredients. I made some original, cinnamon on top, and pumpkin spice.