Delicious 2-ingredient holiday sugar cookies that are high in protein. Incredible? It’s true! And the recipe is fail-proof. All you need is almond flour and maple syrup! And your imagination for toppings. Vegan, gluten-free and even a nut-free option.
2-ingredient Holiday Sugar Cookies
These incredible 2-ingredient holiday sugar cookies taste like shortbread but are snappy like traditional sugar cookies. And they really are so easy to make. And don’t provide a sugar-rush as do traditional sugar cookies, and instead are high in protein and thus provide you with an energy boost and a feeling of fullness – depending on how many you eat, haha.
How does this work, making cookies with only two ingredients? It’s all in the flour. You need a high protein, high fat flour that tastes great, like almond flour.
Finely ground, it tastes like a cookie straight of the bag. And a quality brand is important. So I always turn to Bob’s Red Mill‘s brand. If you follow my recipes, you know by now that I find his flours and products extremely dependable. And I use them all the time. Bob Red Mill’s super fine almond flour is made from California-grown almonds, is perfect for baking gluten-free, paleo and grain-free.
The Nutrition of Almond Flour
A quarter cup of almond flour contains 6 grams of protein. Since this cookie is primarily almond flour, you are getting a mouthful of protein!
This awesome flour is also high in fiber, calcium and iron. Specifically, 1/4 cup contains 3gms of fiber, 60mg of calcium and 2 mg or iron. Pretty good for a sugar cookie!
Can Almond Flour Be Swapped for a Nut-free Flour?
One reason this recipe works so well is almond flour is so high in fat. So if my nut-free friends want an option, they can probably swap the almond flour for chickpea flour, although I haven’t tried it. You might need to add a bit of fat, such as coconut butter. I will try this and add to this post my results.
Aren’t alternative flours like almond flour and chickpea flour amazing? As they rise in popularity (Read Whole Food’s article here on how alternative flours are going to be the big trend in 2020), Bob’s is my go-to brand!
Bob’s Red Mill products are terrific for my family because several members have food allergies and he offers stone-ground, whole grain, organic, gluten-free, paleo and vegan options.
How to Make 2-Ingredient Holiday Sugar Cookies
Very easy. Just blend up finely ground almond flour with maple syrup. Use a food processor, or a bowl and spoon or your hands. Put the cookie dough in the refrigerator for 15 minutes, and then roll out between two sheets of parchment.
A Helpful Video Of the Recipe, Sort Of
Cut shapes, remove the excess dough around the shapes, and bake for 20-25 minutes at 250 F. You are really drying them out more than baking them. Sprinkle, cool and coat or just eat.
I put together a rough video of the steps if you want to pop over to YouTube here. Obviously the quality and lighting needs work. My house lighting is hard to chase, haha. I’ll have to figure out best options. This is my first recipe video; I promise I’ll figure it out soon and post more and better quality both here and on my brand new Youtube channel! I realize how much easier it is to follow a recipe when you get to see the maker do it first!. My own favorite recipe Youtube channels are by Feasting on Fruit and Plantifully Based
This Recipe First Debuted in My Cookbook
My cookbook, released this fall, first revealed this recipe. In the book, I use it to make sandwich cookies with superfood cream centers. Read more about the book, Crazy Healthy with 4 Ingredients. My book is selling pretty well, interestingly, best in Europe actually where plant-based food is wildly popular. Regardless, I realized this recipe is golden, and needs to be shared wider. I figure others must feel like me: intimated by holiday cookie baking, especially sugar cookies and with this recipe, that stress is over! A miraculous game-changer for holiday cookie baking!
Can the Cookies Be Less Sweet?
They actually don’t taste overly sweet. No, the amount of liquid sweetener is essential to bind and melt the cookie together. You can limit the coatings and toppings though. I used a dark chocolate on my coating, 85% cacao.
Questions Answered About 2-Ingredient Holiday Sugar Cookies
1. Do they store?
Yes, feel free to store them 3-4 days in a sealed container at room temperature, or freeze them covered for 3 months.
2. Can you swap out the flours?
I answered that in detail above, you need a high-fat flour so hazelnut flour would also work. To use a nut-free flour like chickpea, you’ll need to add fat, maybe coconut butter.
3. Can I use a different sweetener?
Yes, if you are not vegan, I am sure honey would work. I can guess that monkfruit syrup might also work for my keto friends.
3. Can I add flavors?
Great question! Here are some ideas I have tried and they work like this:
Spice Sugar Cookies – add tsp of spices, maybe pumpkin spice or chai.
Chocolate Sugar Cookies – add 1/2 tsp of cacao powder or melted chocolate.
Gingerbread Sugar Cookies – remove 1 tsp of maple syrup, and replace it with a tsp of molasses, and gingerbread spice mix.
Lemon Sugar Cookies – add 1 tsp lemon juice and 1 tsp rind.
I will update this post when I try these options. If you want to try, add new ingredients a little at a time and taste-test the batter. So many options, so little time!
3. Does the dough take the imprint well?
Yes! I used a Nordic cookie press. I chilled a few cut-out cookies in the freezer about 15 minutes. Then placed them on the parchment-lined cookie sheet that I intended to bake them on, and pressed the mold on top of the chilled cookie.
I did not grease the mold. The cookie stuck a little, but tapping and prying gently did the trick. As you can see, the imprint stayed through baking. Next time I will press harder to get a crisper imprint.
If you like sugar cookies, you also might want to try:
my chocolate sugar cookie truffles recipe
my classic vegan sugar cookie recipe
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2-Ingredient Holiday Sugar Cookies
Delicious 2-ingredient holiday sugar cookies that are high in protein. Incredible? It's true! And the recipe is fail-proof. All you need is almond flour and maple syrup! And your imagination for toppings. Vegan, gluten-free and even a nut-free option.
Instructions
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Mix the almond flour and maple syrup together into a dough.
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Wrap the dough in parchment paper and freeze 15 minutes
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Roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper to about 1/4 inch in height.
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Cut shapes with a cookie cutter, and pick away the dough between the dough shapes, leaving the cut out cookies on the parchment paper.
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Lift the parchment paper up and set on a cookie sheet. I used a quarter cookie sheet.
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Bake at 250 F for 20-25 minutes. Let cookies cool.
Thank you Bob’s Red Mill for sponsoring this post. The recipe, ideas, content and opinions expressed here are all my own. I do recommend you try Bob’s Red Mill products, you will be so inspired by all their healthy unique products!
Dee Dine is the recipe developer and writer behind Green Smoothie Gourmet. She shares her super healthy wholesome recipes on her blog and her Instagram that she feeds her family and friends. She gravitates toward recipes that are fast to create, plant-based, nutritious, easy, and use familiar ingredients. And chocolate is always a good idea! More about Dee.
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