Coconut flour is my latest culinary obsession and challenge. I failed miserably at making paleo bread out of it this weekend, but these cookies turned out splendidly! Enjoy a few with coffee!
Ingredients:
3/4 c + 1/2 c extra coconut flour
1/4 c arrowroot starch
1/2 c coconut oil or butter, melted
1/8 tsp sea salt
5 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 c dark chocolate chips (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients except chocolate and 1/2 c extra coconut flour in a mixing bowl. Mush up with a fork and add additional coconut flour until the mixture is crumbly.
3. Dust a clean, smooth surface with coconut flour. Press the crumbly mixture out with your fingers to make it smooth and somewhat flat. Dust with coconut flour.
4. Roll the dough to about 1/8-1/4 inch thickness using a rolling pin. Cut shapes out of the dough. Roll the scraps up into a ball and flatten to cut more shapes out.
5. Bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet for 15 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool.
6. Microwave the chocolate chips for 10 second intervals, stirring between intervals, until they are melted. Drizzle cookies with the chocolate. If the chocolate is not very runny, add a tiny amount of coconut oil and stir.
7. Allow the cookies to cool in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes until the chocolate is set.
These cookies are wonderful! You’ll be surprised. They are buttery and crumbly just like regular shortbread, and they stay intact well!
Karolina's Kitchen 
Have you ever used corn starch or tapioca starch instead of arrowroot? My daughter is allergic to lots of things including arrowroot. thanks!
I haven’t tried those, but I’m reading that tapioca starch has very similar properties to arrowroot. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
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How many cookies did this recipe make?
I cut mine fairly small (about 1.5″ diameter), so it made about 3 dozen. If you leave the dough thicker or cut the cookies larger, it will make fewer cookies. Enjoy! These are really tasty.
Any good substitute for arrowroot? I live in Shanghai and am sure will never find. Thanks!
Try cornstarch or tapioca starch! I think any thickening starch should work.
Would the dough freeze well if I made it ahead of time?
Hi Rachel- I haven’t tried freezing the dough, but I believe it would freeze very well! I would suggest rolling it into a log shape before freezing. That way you can simply slice the frozen dough into 1/4-1/2″ thick pucks for easy baking. If you decide to defrost the dough, do so in the fridge. The dough will not hold up well at room temperature for an extended period of time. Let me know how it goes!
Would it be possible to use Stevia powder as opposed to maple syrup? And if so, how much would you recommend using?
Great question, Lee! I haven’t tried substituting Stevia powder for maple syrup. If you decide to try it, the conversion for 5 tablespoons of maple syrup is about 7 teaspoons of stevia powder (or 14 packets). The dough may be a little dry, so add up to 5 tablespoons of liquid to it as needed (almond milk or water maybe?). Let me know if you try the recipe with stevia!
These look great, I can’t wait to try them! I was wondering – in the ones you made, did you use butter or coconut oil? And if you tried both – which version did you find tasted the best?
Hi Vittoria! I made both versions. I prefer the version with butter because I love the taste of traditional Polish Christmas cookies. The coconut oil version is also very tasty and a little easier to work with. I found that the butter cookies are more fragile than the ones made with coconut oil. I hope you like them!
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This looks good! I was really searching for a shortbread recipe I could use as a base for putting a date topping on. Do you think I could just press it down into a baking pan and bake, and then top it and re-bake a bit? I’ll have to try these though, I do miss shortbread. Thanks!
Thanks for the comment, Silva! I think you can just press and bake, like you said. Let me know how it turns out!
How many cookies does this recipe make approximately?
I cut mine fairly small (about 1.5″ diameter), so it made about 3 dozen. If you leave the dough thicker or cut the cookies larger, it will make fewer cookies. Enjoy! These are really tasty.
I made these and the dough was so wet I added some flour while I was rolling it out and they turned out super dry when cooked. There were also really crunchy parts which I think must be the sea salt. Is the dough supposed to be really wet? They look really good but you need a drink with them they are so dry?!
I’m sorry your batch didn’t turn out as expected! Coconut flour is interesting to work with. It seems very wet, but can get too dry pretty quickly. The dough in this recipe should’t be wet; it should be dense but not crumbly. You should be able to form the dough into a ball that stays together and keeps its shape before rolling it out. If you decide to give these cookies another shot, I’d recommend mixing all the ingredients very thoroughly before adding any extra flour. That should help with the crunchy parts and help you decide if more flour is needed. Thanks for your feedback!