Vegan coconut cookies are pillowy soft with the most coconut flavor you might ever come across in a cookie. You won’t believe there’s no butter, refined sugar AND they’re gluten free! Read on to find out how to make these tasty little cookies.
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Do you ever start a recipe in the hopes it will be one thing, but then it takes a completely different turn and ends up being pretty amazing anyway? That’s what happened with these vegan coconut cookies.
I began with the intentions of making vegan meringue cookies {not to be confused with the merengue, a Caribbean style dance}. You can make meringue cookies from egg whites and sugar. Pretty simple, right? Well I wanted to try and make them vegan by using aquafaba.
For those of you who don’t know, aquafaba is the liquid that’s leftover from cooked chickpeas. This may sound a bit gross, but stay with me {if nothing else, it’s a fun word to say}. There’s really no flavor to aquafaba, which makes it a great alternative to egg whites for vegans.
The Coconut Cookie Journey
Since the cookies initially started out as meringues, I whipped the aquafaba in my stand mixer with some cream of tartar, vanilla and coconut extract and a little bit of salt.
Then I slowly added in coconut sugar and continued to whip. If I had used egg whites and sugar, this would have started to form firm-stiff peaks in the egg whites. Such did not happen after 10 minutes with my aquafaba.
My patience was limited and I just so happened to have picked up a bag of coconut flour at the store that day. A little bit of coconut flour and some leaveners and I was on my way to cookie greatness.
The dough at first seems a bit crumbly, but just roll it into balls and smoosh {it’s a real word, right?} down with your hand.
In keeping with the coconut goodness, I also used this coconut spray for my baking sheet. It was pretty fantastic. Bonus points that the spray nozzle doesn’t clog like traditional coconut oil spray does.
Jazzing Up the Vegan Coconut Cookies
The cookies take just 10 minutes to bake, and when they were cool enough to try, I took a bite {quality assurance}.
I couldn’t believe how tender they were! Considering there was absolutely no butter, eggs or gluten, these cookies were off the charts.
I’m not usually a coconut fan, but the little bits of coconut flakes took these cookies to a tropical paradise. BUT, I felt like they were still in need of just a little somethin’ somethin’. A glaze was my go-to.
But what kind of glaze? What pairs well with coconut? Turns out lemon and ginger.
The spiciness of the ginger with the tartness of the fresh lemon juice, combined with a little bit of organic powdered sugar was just what these vegan coconut cookies needed.
Drizzled over the top, and you have yourself a healthy, vegan, dairy free, gluten free, no-one-will-ever-know, bomb cookie!
So, don’t be afraid of the aquafaba! I think you’ll start to find more recipes {hopefully vegan meringues, when I get them to work} using it.
- 3/4 cup aquafaba {liquid from 1 can of chickpeas}
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. coconut extract
- 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 cup coconut flakes
- 1/2 cup organic powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. vanilla
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Preheat oven to 350°F and grease two baking sheets with cooking spray.
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In a large bowl, stir together the aquafaba, salt, cream of tartar, vanilla and coconut extracts, melted coconut oil and coconut sugar.
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Add the coconut flour, xanthan gum and baking powder. Stir to combine.
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Add the coconut flakes and stir until incorporated.
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Roll into 20 balls and flatten. Lay on the prepared baking sheet.
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Bake for 10 minutes and place on a wire rack to cool.
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Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the glaze ingredients. Drizzle over the top of the cooled cookies.
*Note: batter may seem a bit crumbly, but will come together when you roll it into a ball.
