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
- ¼ cup butter
- ⅓ cup Swerve Sweetener
- 2 teaspoon yacon syrup can sub blackstrap molasses
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ¼ cup Bob's Red Mill almond meal
- 6 tablespoon Bob's Red Mill shredded coconut
- ½ teaspoon 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
*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!
Jean says
could use glucci for xanthan? glucommanan
Carolyn says
I am not sure, I have never used it.
Elisa says
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!
Carolyn says
Glad to hear it!
Denise S. says
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!
Carolyn says
Glad you liked them!
Karen Marshall says
I hhesitate to use parchment paper just to avoid a little dish washing. Does the cookie sheet need to be oiled for these cookies?
Carolyn says
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.
Teri says
I used a silicone liner instead of parchment paper and it worked perfectly.
Lynn Doyle says
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.
Carolyn says
It is strange to work with these new ingredients at first but…it will become second nature soon, I promise!
Missymonypenny says
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!!!
Lola says
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.
Carolyn says
Yes, you can use maple syrup, but Swerve is pretty much required for these to work out.
M.Stephens says
These look Great!
Kathy says
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.
Carolyn says
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.
Katie says
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.
Julienne says
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.
Erinn Steger says
These look and sound divine! I only have almond flour and coconut flour, would the work?
Carolyn says
No, coconut flour would not work here. You need shredded coconut.
Christie Fine says
These cookies are just perfect!!
Brenda says
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!
Carolyn says
So glad!
Nutmeg Nanny says
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?
Julie says
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?
Carolyn says
I ate them for breakfast…they’re delicious with a smear of peanut butter!
Roni says
Hi – I’m struggling to find shredded coconut in the UK – do you think I can substitute with dedicated?
Carolyn says
As long as it’s not sweetened.
Roni says
No definitely not sweetened – thank you!
Roni says
Hi – I’m struggling to find shredded coconut in the UK – do you think I can substitute with desiccated?
M says
I did, I just chopped finer with a big knife becsuse I could not locally obtain shredded…
TanYa says
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
sue | theviewfromgreatisland says
Wow do these looks light and crispy! I’m a huge molasses fan, so I’m interested to try the yacon syrup!
Brenda @ a farmgirl's dabbles says
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.