Ingredients
- 6 oz almond meal or almond flour 170g
- 2 Tbs ground flaxseeds or flaxseed meal about 10g
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder ***see notes***
- 1/2 tsp sea salt OR coarse sea salt sprinkled on top
- 1/3 cup Swerve or 1:1 zero-calorie sweetener 65g ***see notes***
- 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce 125g
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes or shredded coconut + 1/4 cup for top about 35g total
- 1 1/2 oz sugar-free chocolate chips or chunks 45g
Method
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a medium-size bowl, mix all ingredients together (leave 1/4 cup of unsweetened coconut for topping cookies before baking).
- Using a size 40 portion scoop (about 1.75 tablespoons), scoop cookies onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.
- Add remaining coconut to the tops of cookies, pressing each cookie down to about 1/2 inch thick. ***see notes***
- Bake at 350°F for 11-13 minutes until the sides and top of the cookies are golden brown and slightly firm to touch.
- Let cool 5-10 minutes before enjoying. This cool time allows the cookie to become more firm and handleable.
Notes
- I like using LEAN (vanilla cake flavor) by Boss Lady but you can use your favorite protein vanilla protein powder. Do not replace the protein powder with a premade vanilla protein shake. This will add too much liquid into the dough and ruin the cookies.
- 1:1 ratio refers to sugar to zero-calorie sweetener. If a sweetener has a 1:1 ratio, this means for every 1 cup of sugar you replace you will add 1 cup of sweetener. Some sweeteners have a different ratio such as 1:2. Make sure you use a sweetener that has a 1:1 ratio or "measures the same as sugar."
- Due to the nature of this cookie dough, these cookies will not "rise" or spread much. Make sure you top each cookie with some coconut flakes and press them down to help them spread. If this step is skipped the cookies will come out looking like a ball rather than a cookie and may take a minute or two longer to bake.
- This recipe is FREEZER-FRIENDLY! To freeze for later, follow the recipe above but rather than placing the cookies in the oven, place them in the freezer. Freeze the "oven-ready" cookies until firm. Once frozen, remove from the parchment-lined cookie sheet and store in a ziplock bag or airtight container in the freezer. Ready to bake? Bake from frozen: increase bake time to 12-14 minutes or until cookie sides are golden and have begun to firm up. Bake from thawed: follow the recipe above.