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
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.
Notes
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
Nutrition
*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!
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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!
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!
I’ve already read your reply below but I think next time I make these, I’m going to try the tbsp instead of tsp. Mine just don’t spread that much and it makes TINY cookies. I easily get twice the # of cookies too. The only thing I KNOW I do differently is using Pyure for the sweenter…and only half the called for amount. Doesn’t seem like that would give me these results. Do you think it could?
Anyway, these are FABULOUS and I’ve made them several time. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
The sweetener actually makes a HUGE difference so it’s probably the issue here. Swerve melts and spreads more like sugar, by Pyure does not.
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!!! 🙂
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!
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.
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
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! 🙂
These cookies are most definitely going on my list to try soon!
I’m totally digging these, Carolyn! They look like they’d just melt in your mouth and be perfect with a cup of tea!
Ok, I’ll let ya know.
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.
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.
You could probably use lakanto maple syrup
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Thanks for the BRM shout out! These look wonderful!!
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! 😉
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).
To keep the blood sugar Spike to a minimum, I recommend mixing the erythritol and Xylitol. My mix is generally a little less than half of Xylitol (2 cups)and a little more than half of erythritol (2.5 cups), because erythritol has a Glycemic index of 0. I also add 1.5 tsp of stevia, blend to a powder and store in a glass jar. I use this mix in place of sugar in all applications and each sweetener seems to cancel out any negative effects of the other, especially in baked goods.
What brands of xylitol, Erythritol and stevia do you use? Any after taste?
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!