These thin and crispy coconut almond cookies are a delicious low carb, grain-free treat. Perfect with morning coffee, afternoon tea or as dessert. This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill.
Ask yourself this, my friends: why are Mother’s Day recipes and Mother’s Day posts always focused on brunch? Don’t get me wrong, I love breakfast and brunch food as much as the next person. But are we falling into a trap here? Are we setting a dangerous precedent? Are we relegating the celebration of motherhood to the early part of the day only? Does she get her hour or two of love and pancakes and then have to go right back into being Mum, cooking and cleaning and nurturing those around her? I suspect that this might be the case in some households and so I think maybe we need to shake it up a little. We need to branch out, think outside the box and make Mother’s Day a full day, from start to finish. Maybe even two days. Mother’s Weekend, starting Friday night at 6pm and going full tilt until Sunday at 9pm.
Okay, that might be a bit much (but a girl can dream, can’t she?). But let me tell you what Mum really wants. She wants to wake up a bit later than usual, well-rested, with no little critters waking her up for a glass of water in the middle of the night. She wants coffee at the ready and yeah, she wants her pancakes or waffles or other brunch item. But she might not want it in bed because that could be messy and you know who will be cleaning it up in the end. Then after she has had her fill, she wants the full day off. She wants to get her toes done, maybe get a massage, meet a friend for lunch, go shopping. She doesn’t want to have to worry about her kids or her spouse or her house. She just wants to chill. And then she wants a nice dinner, cooked by someone else and cleaned up by someone else. And then, of course, she wants dessert. A tasty treat whipped up by someone else. Bonus points if it was made by the kids. Now that is Mother’s DAY with a capital D.
So to celebrate your mum, my mum and all mums from the dawn of history, I created a sweet treat that fits any of the ways you want to make her day. You can serve these as a brunch treat (they are really good with morning coffee…yes, I know this from experience.), they are wonderful with afternoon tea, and they make a lovely sweet bite after dinner. And they are simple enough to be made by the kids, with perhaps some adult supervision for the young ones.
I’ve been wanting to make a lacy sort of cookie for a while now and Mother’s Day seemed like a great excuse to try. My first attempt was delicious, but they didn’t spread out the way I’d imagined and they were chewy rather than crisp. I had to play quite a bit with the amounts of Bob’s Red Mill shredded coconut and almond meal to get the texture I was aiming for. They do burn quickly so make sure you are baking them in the top third of the oven, and keep your eye on them while they bake. And do not try to take them off the pan while they are still warm. They won’t hold together at all until they are completely cool.
Thanks to Bob’s Red Mill for helping me celebrate Mother’s Day in style. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Coconut Almond Crisps
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving Size | |
| Amount Per Serving | As Served |
| Calories 64 Calories from fat 55 | |
| % Daily Value | |
| Total Fat 6.12g | 9% |
| Cholesterol 10mg | 3% |
| Carbohydrate 1.69g | 1% |
| Dietary Fiber .53g | 2% |
| Protein .68g | |
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:
| Calories | 2000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Fat | Less than | 65g |
| Sat Fat | Less than | 25g |
| Cholesterol | Less than | 300mg |
| Sodium | Less than | 2,400mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 300g | |
| Dietary Fiber | 25g | |
These thin and crispy coconut almond cookies are a delicious low carb, grain-free treat. Perfect with morning coffee, afternoon tea or as dessert.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/3 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tsp yacon syrup (can sub blackstrap molasses)
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill almond meal
- 6 tbsp Bob's Red Mill shredded coconut
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Position oven rack in upper third of oven.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, Swerve and yacon syrup. Cook, stirring frequently, until sweetener is dissolved and bubbles appear around the edges of the pan.
- Remove from heat and sprinkle with xanthan gum, whisking vigorously to combine. Stir in almond meal, shredded coconut and vanilla extract.
- Drop batter by the teaspoon onto prepared baking sheets, leaving about 4 inches between cookies. Using wet hands, press the cookies down to flatten slightly.
- Bake one sheet at a time in the upper third of oven for 8 to 12 minutes, until cookies are spread out and the edges are dark golden. Remove from oven and let cool completely on baking sheet. Do not try to remove them before they have cooled and crisped up.
Recipe Notes
Makes 12 cookies. Each cookie has 1.16 g NET CARBS.
Food energy: 64kcal Total fat: 6.12g Calories from fat: 55 Cholesterol: 10mg Carbohydrate: 1.69g Total dietary fiber: 0.53g Protein: 0.68g Sugar alcohols (erythritol): 6.65 g
*A note about Yacon Syrup. As with many things, it is claimed that yacon is low glycemic and doesn’t raise blood sugar. I have only recently tried it out and only in very small doses so I cannot be sure of this for myself. However, it is a good alternative to cane sugar syrups like molasses. I promise to do some testing on myself in the near future!
These look delicious… I’d probably eat the whole pan by myself…lol… Thanks always…
Hello, i am from South Africa, so am not sure what swerve is? and am i able to use honey as i following the LCHF lifestyle and even tho honey is not part of it, these biscuits look too yum not to try.
Thanks from Cape Town in South Africa.
Swerve is an erythrhitol based sweetener. Do you have any erythritol? And yes, you could use a little honey in place of the yacon syrup.
Hi Liezel I’m also from Cape Town and following that life style. I use xylitol instead.but we have also Erythritol (I found it a bit bitter).
I had to really work on self control lol these are just too yummy not to eat!!!
LOL!! Yes, make them… but DON’T eat them!
We do Mother’s Weekend here where I don’t have to plan, shop for or cook meals. I highly recommend it! A gift of time and effort always trumps store bought in my book.
These cookies look great, and I have everything on hand. May need to change up my goals for today to include a batch of these.
I have to get working on getting my husband to let me do Mother’s Weekend! 😉
Thanks for the BRM shout out! These look wonderful!!
Can I use coconut syrup instead of yacon? I’ve already got that and I think it will add to the coconut flavor.
I think that should work.
It looks like there is something sprinkled on top of the cookies in the picture. Is that more shredded coconut, or just a trick of the light?
Yup, just a little more sprinkled on at the end of baking.
I noticed us used Bob’s Red Mill which is a not as fine as Honeyville almond. My question is could you use the latter.
I think so but you may not get the same lacy quality as much.
I made these yesterday with Honeyville Blanched Almond Flour. Not sure if that was the problem but they didn’t spread as nicely as I had hoped and stayed a little chewy. Also used Sorghum Syrup/Molasses instead of Yacon. Did one batch on parchment paper, the other on a silicon mat. Parchment worked better. No matter because they taste wonderful!
Hi Kathy…yes, it may be the Honeyville that’s at issue here. When I first tried these, I had more almond meal and less coconut and they were chewy. Then I switched those ratios and it worked better. So I suspect that the finer almond flour means more moisture in the end result.
So would you suggest more almond flour to crisp them? They are delicious even though mine are chewy.
I agree that Mother’s day should be an all day thing, not just the morning! All you moms deserve it 🙂 I love this unique idea for a cookie
These cookies look wonderful. I can’t seem to find Bobs Redmill Mill shredded only the flaked. Would a little whiz in my food processor do the trick and how fine should I go? Also, I have no children but do have kids of the canine persuasion. My hubby says that counts. I think so too. Lol
Actually, that should work. I’ve taken their flaked coconut and ground it more finely in my food processor a few times. Make sure it’s pretty finely ground.
Hi, do you have a sup for the Yacon syrup or molasses? Either will definitely kick me out of ketosis.
I use Just Like Sugar and get the one like brown sugar. It’s made from chicory root. I used to think it was a bit bitter but don’t notice it much any more since completely coming off sugar. It does have a brown sugar/molasses flavor in my opinion. It might work in place of the molasses. I also might use a bit more of it in place of some of the swerve.
Hi I used vitafiber syrup with no issues.
Oh, yum! I cannot wait to make these!! I think Bob’s Red Mill xanthan gum doesn’t have soy? My nursing baby seems to have a soy and dairy allergy, so I hope not.
I have those same Wedgewood coffee/mugs from my wedding china. I love them!
Also, subbing out butter for coconut oil is ok, do you think?
I really don’t know on this one. I’d say it’s worth a try.
These are wonderful – I used coconut oil instead of butter, worked fine. I love the easiness of these.
I checked my bag of xanthan and although it says it’s only xanthan, it DOES say it’s done in a facility that also does tree nuts and soy. So you may need another brand, if the baby is super sensitive.
Hmmm, ok, thanks for checking. I’m still trying to figure out how sensitive she is so I’m bring pretty strict for now. I’ll look around.
Ohhh, how about guar gum? I found a good one.
I can’t say for sure because I didn’t try it.
Ok, I’ll let ya know.
I’m totally digging these, Carolyn! They look like they’d just melt in your mouth and be perfect with a cup of tea!
These cookies are most definitely going on my list to try soon!
Looks like I’ll be busy this afternoon! In Minnesota, Mother’s Day is all weekend — it’s opening fishing so guess what? Mom’s get to be single mom’s all weekend long! 🙂
what will happen if I skip the xanthan gum ? I just do not have
I’d be a bit worried that they’d run all over the pan.
We have eliminated corn from our diet.
Is Ther a sub for xanthan gun, like tapioca flour?
have no idea if that would work.
Thank you
Please tell me how much super sweet blend or gentle sweet to use instead of swerve.
I don’t think that’s a great substitute here, since it’s more concentrated than Swerve and you use less of it.
I use Gentle Sweet and Swerve equally, subbing one or the other.
You’re a bloody low carb genius, Carolyn – I’ve been pondering tweaking tuilles low carb for a while now, and I think that these look like my best bet! I can’t wait to get into the kitsch and cook these babies up!
a whole weekend, I like the way you think 🙂 at least I’m pretty sure I could get stella to make me these cookies
Hi Heather!!! 🙂
In the recipe, in 4. it says to drop batter by the teaspoon but it seems like it should be tablespoon.
No, definitely by the teaspoon. A tablespoon would be much too big. You could do two teaspoons, if you like, but they spread a lot.
Thanks!
The Coconut Almond Crisps are delicious! 🙂 I didn’t have the yacon syrup so I substituted the blackstrap molasses. That resulted in a darker colored cookie. The darker cookie wasn’t as pretty stacked up as the ones pictured with the yacon syrup but they were delicious. A single dark cookie next to a scoop of low carb ice cream looked spectacular and was a wonderful ending to a good meal. I also tested one cookie with fresh ground cinnamon on top. Yum! It will be delightful in the fall. Thanks for the recipe. As usual it was perfect.
Ooooh, cinnamon. Me likey!
I usually go for a chewy, soft cookie, but every once in awhile a thin and crispy one catches my eye. This is definitely one of those recipes. These look so super lovely.
Wow do these looks light and crispy! I’m a huge molasses fan, so I’m interested to try the yacon syrup!
Carolyn, you are definitely my shero. One thing I miss most of all about eating low carb is something crunchy, other than pork skins. But you have gone to the next level and have made something that is both crunchy and sweet! I have one question, can I use sugar-free honey instead of the syrup
Hi – I’m struggling to find shredded coconut in the UK – do you think I can substitute with desiccated?
Hi – I’m struggling to find shredded coconut in the UK – do you think I can substitute with dedicated?
As long as it’s not sweetened.
No definitely not sweetened – thank you!
Eating in bed – so not my thing! Nothing worse than getting into bed and finding crumbs…haha. However, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to want to sleep in and have breakfast waiting. I hope your kids get the memo and spoil you rotten! These little crispy cookies look great too. Since I’m not a mom (and therefore no one who will look to me as an example) can I just eat these crispy little cookies for breakfast?
I’ve always thought breakfast is the best time for dessert, especially if you don’t low carb and the dessert is full of sugar. Starts the day off great and you have all day to burn it off. After dinner is the worst time of day for breakfast, unless of course it is low carb and then any time of day is a good time! Why not have your eggs in a flan or pumpkin custard instead of an omelet?
I ate them for breakfast…they’re delicious with a smear of peanut butter!
Before I was diagnosed with type II, I made Lacy Orange Almond Cookies from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food. Your cookies look, crunch and taste almost the same. By adding a little orange zest and anise, I think I can get the cookie I’ve missed. In the meantime, yours are an excellent substitute – thanks!
So glad!
These cookies are just perfect!!
These look and sound divine! I only have almond flour and coconut flour, would the work?
No, coconut flour would not work here. You need shredded coconut.
I made a second batch of these yesterday, shaped into small ellipses. Perfect for low carb icecream Sundaes – like Langue De Chat! They’re also wonderful drizzled withdark, unsweetened, chocolate.
I made these, substituting Sukrin Fibre Syrup Gold for the Yacon Syrup, which is lower carb and higher fiber, and they are spectacular. So so so delicioous.
These look great!! If there were any left over could they be frozen for another day?
I love all your recipes and have made many. Thank you Carolyn for all you do to help us stay low carb.
I didn’t try freezing them. I honestly don’t know if they’d change consistency but I’d say it’s worth a try.
These look Great!
Could I sub maple syrup for yacon syrup? I can’t have it or molasses. And what could I use instead of the swerve? Thank you.
Yes, you can use maple syrup, but Swerve is pretty much required for these to work out.
These look great! Can’t wait to try these, I’m kinda obsessed with all things coconut. These look like a great swap for those “Coconut Thins” that r popping up everywhere. I restrained from buying since they r not GF. I have Swerve but I’ll have to sub SF Malted Maple for the Yacon Syrup. I hope it works! Can’t wait to have a crispy cookie on hand! The for all yr great recipes!!!
I am new to low carb baking and just tried these cookies this afternoon. What a nice treat for something sweet! I did add an extra tablespoon of almond flour since the batter seemed too loose and not having yacon syrup, used the molasses. A bit too strong on that flavor so next time I’ll reduce the molassesby half. I am loving your FB page and save many of your recipes……with all the new ingredients (to me) I feel like I’m in a chemistry lab (chuckle). Am very grateful for all the effort and experimenting you must go through to perfect your recipes. Your site is the one I go to first for trying low carb recipes.
It is strange to work with these new ingredients at first but…it will become second nature soon, I promise!
I hhesitate to use parchment paper just to avoid a little dish washing. Does the cookie sheet need to be oiled for these cookies?
The parchment paper is not about dishwashing, it’s about sticking. You could try an oiled pan but I am not sure that would work.
I used a silicone liner instead of parchment paper and it worked perfectly.
I just made these and baked for about 1 minute too long, but will definitely try again. The ones that did turn out were just as promised, nice and crispy. We don’t always get a crunch with low carb baking but this time it was a success. I have added this to my favorites on my browser!
Glad you liked them!
I just made these and they’re delicious! I used VitaFibre syrup instead of Yacon and Guar gum instead of xanthan because that’s what I had. They turned out great. My first batch browned a bit more than they should have (took them out at 6 mins) so I lowered my oven to 300 and the next batch was perfect! So good!
Glad to hear it!
could use glucci for xanthan? glucommanan
I am not sure, I have never used it.
forgot to click follow
Hi Carolyn! These look aaaahmazing! I can’t wait to try! Do you think I could use Honey Tree artificial honey in place of yacon syrup? It’s maltitol based.. just to save more carbs..
I really don’t know if that would work at all.
Mine stayed chewy and were super duper sweet (I used molasses). I may give them another go reducing Swerve to 1/4 cup. Flavor was very good and enjoyed the coconut. Very disappointed not to get crispy. I’m usually a pretty good cook.
Loved the taste, however, mine were very soft & soggy.
Loved the recipe they are so good! I changed one thing. Instead of Yacon syrup I used vita fiber, available on Amazon, which adds 1 net carb to the recipe instead of the 11 from the Yacon syrup.
I made these using swerve and they turned out quite similar to how they should. Delicious.
I made them again with xylitol and, although they taste great, they are very greasy and didn’t crisp up. They are nice and chewy though.
Any thoughts? Does xylitol not absorb? Use less butter? More almond flour? I do prefer xylitol over erythritol.
Xylitol is more “hygroscopic” than erythritol, meaning that like sugar, it attracts moisture. I am not sure how to correct it for this recipe as I don’t use it. It’s a bit hard on my blood sugar.
Just made these…have such a delicious flavor. But mind didn’t get hard. Have them in the freezer. Used honey and Swerve on the first batch. Very sweet! They spread nice, looked so pretty. I’m going to have to try again and tweak. So many made these and got a crispy cookie, wonder what it was I did wrong?
The honey would probably change things and make it more soft, since honey is sugar and more hygroscopic (meaning it attracts moisture).
Mine did not crisp up? Do you know what I did wrong? I used gentle sweet.
I made these and they didn’t crisp up? I used gentle sweet and blackstrap molasses.
The sweetener is the issue here. Gentle sweet is combined with stevia. It doesn’t caramelize or harden like Swerve.
Great flavour, mine didn’t crisp either – just greasy and soft. Have them in the freezer. I know why – its because we cant get swerve here in Australia so I used Natvia and molasses, pity – I still search for a crispy cookie 🙁
Ah yes, the sweetener really does make a difference. Sorry!
Hi Pugs, we can’t get these brand sweeteners in South Africa either. An excellent tip someone shared once, is to freeze your baked cookies (I put them in freezer bags or tupperware). If they sit on the counter for a short while, they defrost, but (as with all fozen goods) minus some moisture. This works beautifully with biscotti as well. Another biscotti tip is to replace butter with a 2nd egg.
Good luck, Karla
Soooo these look wonderful but I HATE coconut. So I am wondering how I could replicate that texture since you said it was so important for the crisp. Do you think just adding more coarsely ground almonds would work? I love almond and I love butter cookies so that’s what I am aiming for a crisp buttery cookie.
Better than coarsely ground almonds, I think you could take some slices almonds and crumble them up a bit and then they would be thin like shredded coconut.
I just made these and used sugar free syrup instead of the Yacon. I can’t thank you enough for this recipe. absolutely amazing.
I just made them as stated in the recipe, very good but WAY too sweet. I used truvia. Would that be why? Could I decrease the sugar by half or even 1/4th? And also could I use coconut oil to replace the butter for my hubby who can’t have dairy? Thanks for any help!
You used Truvia and that is MUCH sweeter than Swerve. So yep, it would be overly sweet. I suggest cutting it in half. Not sure the coconut will crisp up as much but it’s worth a try!
these are so good i use vitafiber syrup as that is what i have and i also added to other batches some orange oil. make a chocolate icing or a sf ganache mmmm. reminds of Florentine cookies we used to eat. And all of our sugar friends loved them.
Made these tonight and they turned out great. Although many recipes can be adapted pretty well my luck with cookie recipes has been suboptimal. These meet the test and stand on there own as a great cookie. I used guar gum and doubled the amount. Next time I’ll better understand how to lay the dough better on the sheet.
Thanks for a truly good cookie. I’m going to experiment with nuts and other variations.
If you have others that truly make the grade, I’m all ears!
If you don’t try my low carb chocolate chip skillet cookie, you will never forgive yourself. 😉
Yum! I have seen that and it’s now getting pushed to top of the agenda!
I have one comment/query on these cookies. When I took them out of the fridge from cooling down the were firm and chewy. Today when they are at room temperature they are limp and prone to falling apart when picked up. Any thoughts?
Hmmmm, do you live in a humid area? Mine haven’t done that so I am not entirely sure!
No, I’m in low humidity Southern California where the weather is dry. These were a 9+ on the taste scale so I’ll keep tweaking it.
Hi Craig. Keep all LCHF cookies in a container in the freezer to keep them crisp. The freezer dries them out and if you let them sit on the counter for a little while, they defrost perfectly. I’ve done this with biscotti, nut butter cookies and these fabulous crisps. Definitely worth a try, right?
Hi, don’t know if it’s been asked, looked, couldn’t find it. Can you package these up as a gift, or will they go soft in the plastic (or cello)?
They would probably go too soft, I think.
Carolyn, thank you so much for this recipe. I tried two different sweeteners and syrup. They still cane out great but the Erythritol makes a huge difference and turned out just the way yours did.. Can I use the recipe and omit the shredded coconut? Maybe add almond extract or choc chips. I love how crispy these are and would like to experiment. Love, love, love your blog!!!!!!
Hi Carolyn!
I didnt have almond flour so I used a mix of hazelnut and pecan nut flour, and I dont have xanthum gum so I left it out. The biscuits taste AMAZING, but they never crisped up. I left them on the baking tray overnight, to see if they needed time and then I put them back in the oven at a lower eat for a while and left them to cool again – and they stayed soft. So much so, that they just crumble when you try pick them. Very tasty crumbs 🙂
Is it the lack of xanthum gum? Can I try something else instead?
I really can’t say what went wrong here. Could be the xanthan, since it helps thicken the dough properly.
Hi! My son is T1 and I would love to make these for him. Is it possible to omit the syrup or would they not turn out right?
They won’t turn out properly. But it adds very little carb to each cookie, I really think they may still work for him.
Can’t wait to try these. What’s the difference between Almond flour meal and, what I have super fine Almond flour? It is Bob’s. Can I use the super fine that I have on hand and I have just regular molasses. Will that all work??
You should be able to use both of those. Use just 1 tsp molasses.
Thank you formthese!! They are awesome!!! I am on the keto diet and have been wanting a sweet treat, these hit the spot. I will have to get some yacon syrup just to eat h my carbs and sugar next time. I used 1 tsp regular molasses and they came out great!! They did spread out quite a bit!! 🙂
These look like almond lace cookies…the ones that you can sandwich with a little lit of melted chocolate in the center. I’m so trying these…..they look amazing!!!