If cookie dough wasn’t so dang delicious, I might be embarrassed to admit that my college roommate and I kept a gallon sized tup of it in our mini fridge at all times. When the urge hit – morning, noon or night – all we had to do was grab a spoon + we’d be in buttery, chocolatey cookie dough heaven. While this Paleo Cookie Dough recipe will sadly not produce a gallon’s worth, it does give the traditional version of the stuff a run for its money without the need for the potentially dangerous raw eggs.

And while I know that some of you are going to be up in arms about this opinion, I’d argue that cookie dough doesn’t really need eggs anyway. Eggs are there to make cookies rise. I’m not sure that I totally agree with baking cookie dough. It ruins it, you might say 😉

On that note, I wouldn’t recommend that you try baking this recipe, not that you’d want to. Once you mix together the simple list of ingredients below, it’ll take all of your willpower not to eat the whole bowl, spoonful by spoonful. I speak from personal experience.

Why Paleo Cookie Dough?

For those of us who have to live a gluten free lifestyle for health reasons (see Gluten Challenge Weeks 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 or my results), it can feel like a big struggle to find any sort of fun, sweet treat that isn’t laden with all kinds of gut irritating ingredients like gums, starches or tons of added sugar.

I love cooking + baking with paleo-based ingredients because they leave my body + my belly feeling really good. Not only do paleo based flours NOT leave me bloated + uncomfortable like traditional wheat flour, but the fats in almond or coconut flour leave me feeling satiated + don’t spike my blood sugar, so we’re using them here. If you haven’t cooked with paleo flours before, be not afraid! They’re super delicious. You won’t even miss the old stuff, promise.

In an effort to make this paleo cookie dough really, really deletable + also really satisfying, cashew butter is used as our main ingredient. Cashew butter replaces the raw eggs as the “wet ingredients” in this version. It gives the dough the body, texture and flavour of a traditional cookie dough. It’s SO GOOD. Now, you could swap it for almond or peanut butter or even sunbutter to make it nut free, but it will change the taste a bit. It’ll still be delicious, but just not as “cookie dough”.

In terms of sweeteners, I opted for maple syrup here. I know that sugar is sugar is sugar, but I prefer using an unrefined option. Plus, I think that maple syrup tastes freaking fantastic. You could also use honey if you’d like, but it may alter the flavour slightly. I haven’t tested this recipe with a granular sugar (like coconut sugar), so I can’t attest to how they’d work.

The Simplest Sweet Treat

Throwing this cookie dough together is MUCH easier than the traditional version. No mixers or creaming butters and sugars required. If you’ve got a bowl and a spoon, you’re good to go. A little bit of elbow grease and the dough will come together in the most lovely spoonable way.

Simply stir together the cashew butter, maple syrup and vanilla. Once that’s mixed, the flours + salt go in. Lastly, add in your chips or chunks and you’re good to go! Feel free to customise these however you’d like, with chips or chunks, white or dark chocolate, nuts or coconut – the sky is your cookie dough limit!

These little babies are perfect for meal prepping as they’ll sit happily in your fridge for a couple of weeks or in your freezer for a few months. Honestly, I don’t think you’ll ever find out – we devour these pretty quickly 😉

This Paleo Cookie Dough is low in sugar, high in healthy fats + tastes like your childhood favourite. You have to give these a try! If you do make them, I’d love to know what you think. Tag me in your photos on instagram or let me know in the comments down below. Don’t forget that you can save this recipe to Pinterest to make later too.

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Paleo Cookie Dough

Prep Time 10

Servings 12 balls

Ingredients

1/2 cup cashew butter* (natural, runny nut butter works best!)
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup almond flour
2 tbsp coconut flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the cashew butter, maple syrup and vanilla. Stir until thoroughly combined.
Add the almond flour, coconut flour and salt. Fold in the fry ingredients until the mixture resembles cookie dough. There shouldn't be any pockets of dry ingredients or streaks of wet ones. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Eat straight from the bowl by the spoonful or roll into tablespoon sized balls. Top with flaky sea salt for maximum deliciousness (optional).
Store in the fridge or freezer and enjoy!

Notes

You can sub any nut butter for the cashew butter. Just be aware that almond, peanut butter or sunflower butter will alter the flavour of the finished product, but they’ll still taste great!