These small batch AIP/Paleo Crinkle Cookies are chocolatey and delicious. They’re the perfect holiday cookie but also great year round when you’re in the mood for a soft and cake-y cookie. Bonus: they’re coconut AND cassava free.
I challenged myself this year to create a holiday cookie that was both coconut and cassava free. I know many readers are sensitive to both these ingredients and it’s tricky to find AIP compliant recipes that satisfy both these criteria.
These cookies are made in one bowl with just a few ingredients, chilled for 15-20 minutes and baked in under 15 minutes. Super simple as we want all baking to be!
This recipe makes a small batch of cookies so be warned, you might wanna double it 🙂
Here are the main ingredients in these Chocolate Paleo Crinkle Cookies:
- carob powder – if you have reintroduced chocolate or are following the Modified AIP version of the AIP diet, feel free to use cacao powder instead for the real deal
- maple sugar or coconut sugar – if you want to keep the recipe coconut free, opt for the maple sugar. otherwise, coconut sugar is a lot less expensive and works just as well here.
- olive oil – I love the soft texture and mild flavor the olive oil lends to these cookies.
- apple cider vinegar – used here as the acid to activate the baking soda
- tigernut flour and arrowroot starch – I don’t recommend any substitutions to this combination. Arrowroot starch is also used as a replacement for powdered sugar which is typically used in crinkle cookies to coat the dough in before baking.
- gelatin – this is used to bind the cookies!
How to make AIP Crinkle Cookies:
- In a large bowl combine tigernut flour, arrowroot starch, carob or cacao powder, maple or coconut sugar, sea salt, and baking soda.
- In a small bowl, combine gelatin powder, apple cider vinegar and hot water and whisk to combine until frothy.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and fold in olive oil, vanilla and gelatin egg.
- Place batter into fridge for 15-20 minutes.
- Once chilled, scoop out clumps of the chilled dough and roll them into 1-inch-sized balls using your hands,
- Place a small amount of arrowroot starch in a wide bowl to coat your cookies. Generously coat each ball of dough in the arrowroot starch and place onto prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake 10-12 minutes and allow to cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
FAQs
Can I substitute any of the flours?
To keep this recipe coconut and cassava free, I don’t recommend substituting any of the flours here and can’t guarantee results with any different combinations.
Can I freeze these?
I haven’t tried myself but if you would like to try, I would recommend freezing them unbaked as balls of dough without arrowroot starch. When you’re ready to bake, I would let them come to room temperature on the counter and then roll in arrowroot starch and bake. You might need to add some baking time to them if they aren’t fully thawed.
Can I use a different oil?
Avocado oil will probably work here as a substitute for the olive oil. I wouldn’t recommend coconut oil because of the chilling process.
Here are some other festive AIP/Paleo Holiday Cookies you might enjoy:
If you try these AIP/Paleo Crinkle Cookies I would love if you gave the recipe a star rating and short review. Be sure to snap a picture of the finished product and share it with me on Instagram by tagging @healmedelicious
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Paleo Crinkle Cookies (AIP, grain-free, dairy-free)
- Total Time: 41 minutes
- Yield: 8–9 cookies 1x
Description
These small batch AIP/Paleo Crinkle Cookies are a delight. They make the perfect soft and cake-y holiday cookie that are also coconut-free and cassava-free.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup tigernut flour
- 1/4 cup arrowroot starch (plus more for coating cookies)
- 1/4 cup carob powder or cacao powder (Modified AIP or Core AIP reintroduction)
- 1/4 cup maple sugar or coconut sugar
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 TBSP gelatin
- 2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
- 2 TBSP hot water
- 3 TBSP olive oil
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350F and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl combine tigernut flour, arrowroot starch, carob or cacao powder, maple or coconut sugar, sea salt, and baking soda.
- In a small bowl, combine gelatin, apple cider vinegar and hot water and whisk to combine until frothy.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and fold in olive oil, vanilla and gelatin egg.
- Place batter into fridge for 15-20 minutes.
- Once chilled, scoop out clumps of the chilled dough and roll them into 8-9, 1-inch-sized balls using your hands.
- Place about 1/4 cup arrowroot starch in a wide bowl to coat balls of dough.
- Generously coat each ball of dough in the arrowroot starch and place onto prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake 10-12 minutes in the middle rack of the oven.
- Allow to cool for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Category: Cookies
These are seriously SO good. The texture is *chef’s kiss* Just the perfect amount of sweet and definitely satisfy that chocolate craving. YUM.
Do I have to coat them in the arrowroot flour?
Nope!
How long will they last once made? Thinking of making a triple batch and bringing for the holidays
3 days in a sealed container. They also freeze well!
Just made these. Doubled the recipe and used 2/3 cup cocao instead of the 1/2 cup carob bc I find when substituting carob for cocao I need more for flavour. I also added about 1/4 extra of maple syrup after mixing bc the dough was pretty dry and from reading the reviews, I wanted them to be a bit sweeter. I made about 33 smaller balls and test cooked 3 of them to see if I needed to adjust my cooking time from the 12 minutes bc they were smaller than the inch size the recipe called for. I cooked for 9 minutes and took out. They’re soft and chewy and pretty good! Next time, I may add a bit of maple sugar to the arrowroot used to coat them for a sweeter initial bite but otherwise, I’ll definitely make these again! I plan on freezing them and putting out with other paleo/AIP treats over the holidays so 🤞🏻 they thaw nicely! I took pics but there isn’t a spot to post them!
I really didn’t like the flavor. They’re fairly savory. I would try remaking with either more coconut sugar or subbing for maple syrup. The texture is fun though, very puffy.
Hmmm savory? Not sure that would be. Perhaps you used a very strong flavored olive oil?
Where can I find the nutritional info! Looking for low fat as well!
I don’t include that info in my recipes but would suggest plugging it into one of the free online calcualtors!
Ohhh WOW!! These are better than my regular flour, eggs and sugar recipe I used to make every weekend before I got sick! It’s been 18 months since I’ve had a cookie and these did not disappoint! They are a perfect soft chewy texture and not too sweet!. Yummy!! Thank you so much!
Great flavor, but my dough was really crumbly and the gelatin egg mixture didn’t blend smoothly into the mix. Is there a trick to getting gelatin egg more homogenous?
Hi Laura, try making a paste first by mixing together the gelatin and apple cider vinegar. Then slowly add in the hot water, a little bit at a time so that the gelatin begins to dissolve, and whisk vigorously to eliminate any clumps.
Those are so delicious! I undercooked them a bit and they are like fondant in the middle, so delicious. The first time I made them very tiny and so they were way over cooked, ooops.
These are amazing. Not too sweet and so fun to make and eat.
Can a flax egg be used instead of the gelatin? Or do you have any other suggestions for a replacement? Thanks!
I haven’t tried myself but suspect it might work!
I wonder if I did something wrong. Mine turned out with a texture between gelatin gummies and marshmallows. Any idea what might have happened?
Hi Maria, sorry to hear that. I’m not sure – did you make any substitutions to the recipe or use collagen instead of gelatin?
I had the same issue, I just baked them an extra 10-15 minutes and they were a very nice crunchy texture. Just keep them in the oven and check on them until their the texture you like.
Ohmygoodness. !!! Amazing! And so easy!
Great recipe! Love the cakey texture, these cookies are delicious and not too sweet. I will definitely be making these again and again!
These are awesome .. like mini brownie floats ! Great texture I- Yum thanks Nicole I’ll def be making again! They’d go so well with some AIP vanilla icecream !
These are SO good. By far my favorite AIP cookie, your speculaas recipe is my other favorite. But these cookies are awesome. They kind of taste like a chocolate reeses brownie cookie.
Can you use maple syrup instead of maple sugar?
no, but you can use coconut sugar
Such an amazing recipe! I LOVE the texture of these cookies. I even had a “normal” person try them, and they said the cookies were really good! I love that these cookies look like the “regular” kind too. They were one of my favorite kind of cookies growing up. Thanks for creating this recipe!
Wow! These crinkle cookies are delightful! As described, cakey and such a nice texture/bite! I made a double batch and am so glad I did! So lucky to receive your recipe brilliance, Nicole! Thank you : )
these cookies are indeed wonderful year round! I revisited this recipe and happily kept the dough in the fridge in order to make two warm cookies at a time over the course of a stressful few weeks!
Thank you so much for your reviews, as always! Much appreciated!