Who doesn’t love a good cookie with a glass of milk or a steaming cup of tea? It’s comfort food at its finest, but comfort food doesn’t have to be bad for you. In fact, any comfort food can be made healthy in my experience, and these delicious plant based cookie recipes that are completely healthy AND refined sugar free are just that.
We all like our cookies different, I’m sure. I prefer the lovely chewiness of an Anzac (something that I grew up with as a kid in Australia), but equally love a crunchy cookie or biscuit. And, let’s not dismiss the delicious creaminess of a good peanut butter cookie! Whatever your preference, rest assured I will cover it in this list of recipes. Oh, and did I say, they are all for the most part GUILT FREE.
Ways to use your delicious homemade cookies:-
- Wrap your cookies in a beautiful box with a ribbon and give them as a gift for somebody special
- Brighten your work colleagues day by surprising them with your tasty cookies at staff break time
- Put them in your kids lunchboxes as a healthy school snack
- Eat them as an on-the-run breakfast (yes, they are healthy enough for that)
- Cookies are very portable, so ideal for long journeys
- Dunk them in your cup of tea a la true British style
- Good enough for a pre or post workout snack
- Cookies are easy for kids to make because they can add different toppings to make them unique
The cookies on this list have been carefully chosen because they are good for you. They are refined sugar free and can be eaten as a light substitute for breakfast or lunch. They have good amounts of protein to keep you satiated and full and are low on the GI scale due to being made with wholegrains, nuts, seeds and other wholesome ingredients.
Your Healthy Plant Based Cookie Recipes
1. Wholesome ‘Feel Good’ Cookies
These simple, flour free cookies are so delicious and have a melt in the mouth, soft texture. If you use a mix of molasses and dates then you will add an irresistible, chewy and malty edge to these delightful bakes.
The addition of peanut butter will ensure that the cookie yields a high amount of protein to make it good enough for a substantial snack.
They are also super easy to make as you just combine all your ingredients and bake for only 10-15 minutes. You could make a big old batch of these up for your week ahead to steer you and your family away for more unhealthy snacks.
https://www.mychefsapron.com/soft-and-wholesome-feel-good-cookies/
2. The Ultimate Breakfast Cookie
These ultimate cookies have everything you could want in your breakfast, only in cookie form. You’ve got bananas, oats, dates, walnuts, coconut, cacao powder and almonds all in one hit. It’s like an oatmeal bowl, but way more portable and easy to grab and go in the morning, no effort required!
3. Very high Protein Peanut Butter Cookies
I LOVE these. These are just off the scale!! These super high protein cookies contain peanut butter powder which not only makes them taste creamy and delicious, but peanut butter powder contains about 50% protein. If you haven’t discovered and tried this powder yet, you really, really should.
These cookies also contain creamy peanut butter from the jar, so they are a peanut lover’s heaven. I’d say these would be great for growing kids, and definitely an awesome post workout snack too. Eat these as a breakfast or snack and you will be full for hours.
Oh, and did I say, you can add dark chocolate chips (or just chopped up block chocolate) to these cookies to make them even more luxurious.
4. Chocolate Shortbread
Who doesn’t love shortbread? That melt in the mouth creaminess that lights up all the pleasure centers of the brain.
This shortbread is also only 4 ingredients, so couldn’t be easier to make. I’d say these beautiful cookies are best as more of a treat (or an addition to your afternoon tea), rather than a meal in themselves.
These are the kind of cookies you can bake as a gift, smother in chocolate (keep it very dark 85% cacao chocolate to keep the refined sugars down) and add some pretty decorations.
5. Multi-Purpose Oat Cookie and Breakfast Bowl In One
Oh wow, these cookies are immense! You bake these healthy and delicious babies, then you can can make a hot breakfast bowl out of them afterwards if you so wish. I mean, they melt into hot milk to make a winter’s day warmer breakfast that would also be extremely child friendly too.
Black raisins, tahini, banana and oats make it a classic breakfast cookie, and the addition of the desiccated coconut ensures that chewy texture that you crave from a cookie.
https://www.mychefsapron.com/make-healthy-oat-cookies-into-a-one-bowl-breakfast/
6. Magic Cookie Bars
Just the look of these cookie bars will get you salivating. I know they are me.
You have a choice of crusts to make with these: there’s the almond flour and maple or the oats and maple. Both look equally as satisfying, but if you want lower calories and fat content, then stick with the oats.
The wickedly delicious topping on these is made from a mix of coconut, nuts, bananas and chocolate (again, always go for 85% dark to keep sugar down to a minimum).
These are more of a sweet treat to go with a cup of tea or a desert to satisfy those after dinner sugar cravings, albeit a healthie one.
7. Zesty Lemon Cookies
Zesty, lemony and refined sugar free, if you’re a lemon lover then these cookies are for you. And made with real lemons too!
The mix of coconut flour, almond flour and coconut oil will ensure these cookies have an almost shortbread type texture. And their sweetness comes from only half a cup of maple syrup, so they are very low in sugar of any kind.
These would also make a perfect gift, if packaged in a pretty box.
8. 2 Ingredient Cookies
Yes, you heard that right. Two ingredient cookies! These had to go on this list for obvious reasons, they are just TWO INGREDIENTS! I mean, it doesn’t get faster and easier than this, plus they are still 100% delicious and super healthy.
No refined sugars, no flours, no oils – nada. Just bananas and almond flour smooshed together and baked. Completely smooth and child friendly with no lumps, these cookies will go down a storm with the whole family.
the great thing about the base of these cookies is you can add your own added ingredients of chocolate chips, nuts, seeds, spices, dried fruits, whatever you like because anything goes. Or, just leave them in their simplest form for a crispy outer layer and soft cake like middle.
TIP: You can easily make your own almond flour in a high speed blender or spice grinder.
9. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
These whole foods plant based chocolate chip cookies are made from super healthy, nutrient dense and iron rich teff flour, which gives a whole new element of richness to these cookies.
Teff is a fantastic flour substitute that originated in Africa, and is closer to being a grass than a grain. It’s completely gluten free and high in protein, so a truly awesome ingredient to start baking with – and why not start with these family friendly chocolate cookies?
10. Vegan Speculoos Cookies
These little cookie treats are traditionally made in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Austria for St. Nicholas day, so are the perfect Christmas treat for the whole family.
Speculoos cookies are made from a warming spice mix and are traditionally high in sugar, but this version is made with Agave syrup (which I’m sure can be swapped out for maple), oat flour, almond butter and lots of traditional Christmas spices.
Grab yourself some tiny Christmas stamps or cutters and make these as a perfect little gift for family and friends.
11. 3 Ingredient Coconut Cookies
Another super FAST and EASY, healthy cookie. These 3 ingredient treat bombs are so easy to make that you only need a fork to bind.
They consist of desiccated coconut, mashed banana and oats, and are completely sugar free. Perfect for a meal in themselves as a breakfast or brunch, and also very portable.
12. Anzac Biscuits
I couldn’t write this blog post without finding a healthy and plant based version of the famous Anzac biscuit. It is Golden syrup that usually gives these biscuits their distinctive colour and chewy texture, but a good substitute has been found in the maple syrup and coconut sugar used in this recipe.
These aren’t completely sugar and oil free, but they are as healthy as you can get without completely taking away their Anzacness (yes, that’s a word :-)).
You do need both oats and very fine oat flour for this recipe, but don’t worry about that because you can very easily make your own oat flours as fine as you like in your high speed blender. It’s so simple to make; you just throw your oats in and blend to desired consistency. No need to ever buy expensive, pre-made oat flours ever again!
Word of warning though: when making your own flours, be they oat or any other, always measure the quantity required AFTER you have blended. If a recipe calls for 1 x cup of oat flour, and you blend precisely 1 cup of rolled oats then the flour will come up less that 1 cup due to it now being more compact. So, remember this when making any flours.
13. No Bake Cookies
This really is the most simplest and fastest recipe on here. These no bake cookies contain just 3 ingredients AND you don’t have to spend any time at all on baking, so they are literally ready in 5 minutes flat.
These are great if you have a sudden sugar craving itch that you just need to scratch.
Made of just oats, medjool dates and peanut butter, you have absolutely no nasties and definitely no refined sugars. These would make a great breakfast, afternoon tea, lunch box filler, or pre or post exercise snack, as medjool dates are pretty much the perfect training food.
You can jazz them up any way you like with dark chocolate, desiccated coconut, chopped nuts, seeds; pretty much anything you fancy (in fact, there’s the option for a chocolate glaze in the recipe, as per picture).
14. Pumpkin Pie Cookies
Mmm, very yummy and very seasonal right now!
These delicious pumpkin pie cookies are perfect for Autumn and Halloween. Those aromatic pumpkin spices are just so comforting as the night’s are drawing in colder towards winter, so what could be more warming than these? I’m thinking hot chocolate, cookies, chunky knits and roaring log fires. Ok, I’m getting carried away, but you get the picture.
The cookies are conveniently made in one bowl, so great for the kiddies to get involved in making their own Halloween treats. Plus, they’re also gluten free as the flour used comes from oats, low sugar (especially if you use dark chocolate chips, and very low fat.
They’re chewy too, something that I find is missing in some healthy versions of cookies, but an absolute must.
15. Almond and Coconut Cookies
These cookies are a really delectable treat and ore so simple and easy with just 4 ingredients.
Coconut flakes, dark chocolate chips, salted almonds and condensed coconut milk will make these heavenly treats light up all those pleasure and reward centers in the brain without being outrageously unhealthy. Definitely best left as a desert or sweet treat.
https://www.eatingbirdfood.com/almond-coconut-cookies/
CONCLUSION
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