These paleo Christmas cookies are perfect for the holiday season, but really, they can be made any time of the year!
Crinkle cookies are a popular Christmas cookie because they have a gorgeous contrast in color between the dark brown cookie, and the white powdered sugar.
The powdered sugar is reminiscent of snow – which is why this paleo Christmas cookie is perfect for the month of December!
This gluten free Christmas cookie is also dairy free, grain free and paleo! The chocolate cookie part of this paleo crinkle cookie is delicious on it’s own, but adding the powdered sugar to the top just adds a little something extra, ya know?
Paleo Christmas Cookies – Ingredients
Almond flour (not almond meal)
Coconut sugar
Raw cacao powder
Eggs
Avocado oil
Pure maple syrup
Vanilla extract
Baking soda
Baking powder
Salt
Arrowroot powder
Maple sugar
To keep these paleo crinkle cookies paleo, I opted to use maple powdered sugar for the coating, since maple sugar is an accepted paleo sweetener.
To make the maple powdered sugar, just blend up maple sugar in your high speed blender, or better yet use a coffee grinder. You only need a few tablespoons, so I found that using a coffee grinder was ideal. I actually don’t drink coffee, but love having a grinder on hand for grinding herbs, spices, and flaxseeds. 🙂
Regular powdered sugar works fine too, if you prefer to use that. If you don’t want to roll the paleo crinkle cookies in powdered sugar, you could just roll them in plain coconut sugar instead. They wouldn’t be white on top, but they’d still crack and add a little extra sweetness on top.
Paleo Christmas Cookies – How To Make (Paleo Crinkle Cookies)
- Combine all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir to combine.
- Mix in the eggs, vanilla, maple syrup, and oil and stir to form a dough.
- Let the dough sit for at least 10 minutes at room temperature. This is a good time to preheat your oven to 350℉.
- Prepare the powdered sugar by placing 2 tablespoons of maple sugar into your coffee grinder and pulsing until all the large granules are gone. You don’t want the sugar to become too fine or powdery, otherwise it will soak into the cookie. If you’re using your blender for this step, you may need to add a little more maple sugar into the blender to be able to turn it into a powder. Just be sure not to over-blend.
- Place the powdered maple sugar into a medium sized bowl along with the arrowroot powder, and stir until well combined.
- Using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the dough directly into the powdered sugar bowl. The dough will be extremely sticky, so it’s best to shake the bowl around to coat the cookie dough.
- Remove the dough, and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Try not to handle the cookie a lot, especially the top of the paleo crinkle cookie, once it’s been coated in the sugar mixture.
- Bake the cookies for 10 – 12 minutes and let them cool to room temperature on the pan. They’ll continue to cook as they cool.
- Store any extra paleo Christmas cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Paleo Christmas Cookies – Tips (Paleo Crinkle Cookies)
- Let the dough sit for about 10 minutes at room temperature. This gives the baking powder some time to begin activating.
- The paleo crinkle cookie dough is really sticky and will be hard to handle. Use a deep cereal bowl (are just a large bowl you can feel comfortable shaking around without spilling and making a mess) for the powdered sugar coating and release the dough from the cookie scoop straight into the powdered sugar bowl. Shake the bowl around until the dough ball is well coated and can be handled easier.
- When blending the maple sugar to make the maple powdered sugar (either in your blender or coffee grinder) don’t overly process the sugar. Meaning, you want the sugar to be powdered, but on the larger side. If it’s blended and powdered too fine, it can soak into the cookie. I like to use a coffee grinder for this step, and just pulse it a handful of times until there are no large sugar granules.
- Try not to handle the sugar coated cookie dough ball too much when transferring it to the baking sheet. Avoid touching the tops if you can.
These paleo Christmas cookies are great treats to give as a gift, or make for a cookie exchange. And who says gluten free Christmas cookies are just for those of us of with allergies?
These paleo chocolate crinkle cookies are delicious enough to be enjoyed by EVERYONE.
What are your favorite Christmas cookie recipes? Tell me below! Next on my list are paleo gluten free gingerbread cookies and paleo gluten free gingersnaps!
Follow me on Instagram and use the tag #simplyjillicious if you make these paleo Christmas cookies! I’d love to see it!
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Paleo Christmas Cookies (Chocolate Crinkles! GF, DF)
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 1 1/4 cups almond flour
- 1/4 cup raw cacao powder
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil any oil should work just fine if you'd like to make a substitution
- 1 egg
For the Maple Powdered Sugar Coating
- 2 tablespoons powdered maple sugar (just blend granulated maple sugar in a high speed blender or coffee grinder)
- 1.5 tablespoons arrowrrot powder
Instructions
- Combine the almond flour, coconut sugar, cocao powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder into a mixing bowl and stir to combine.
- Mix in the eggs, vanilla, maple syrup, and oil and stir to form a dough. Let the dough sit for at least 10 minutes at room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉
- Prepare the powdered sugar by placing 2 tablespoons of maple sugar into your coffee grinder and pulsing until all the large granules are gone. You don't want the sugar to become too fine or powdery, otherwise it will soak into the cookie. If you're using your blender for this step, you may need to add a little more maple sugar into the blender to be able to turn it into a powder. Just be sure not to over-blend.
- Place the powdered maple sugar into a medium sized bowl along with the arrowroot powder, and stir until well combined.
- Using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the dough directly into the powdered sugar bowl. Shake the bowl around to coat the cookie dough liberally with the powdered sugar mixture. Avoiding touching the dough (especially the top) as best you can.
- Remove the dough, and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies for 10 - 12 minutes and let them cool to room temperature on the pan.
- Store any extra paleo Christmas cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
Hungry for more? Try adding some of my favorite recipes into your weekly meal plan!
Paleo Christmas Sugar Cookies
Sautéed Asparagus with Ghee and Garlic
Paleo Spice Cake with Cinnamon Maple Glaze
Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pancakes
Crunchy Almond Butter Cups
Coconut Lime Date Balls
Pineapple Chicken Fajitas
Paleo Whoopie Pies
Paleo Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Keto Blueberry Chicken Salad
Paleo Chocolate Brownies
Hi. can these be made ahead of time and put in freezer?
Hi Maria! You’d have to leave off the powdered sugar if you wanted to freeze these. If you want the powdered sugar on the outside of the cookie, then I don’t recommend freezing them. Let me know if you have any other questions!
You can’t put on the powdered sugar after its defrosted?
Hi Kim! I’m not sure I understand your question. There’s no freezing in this recipe. Which means there’s no defrosting. Could you please clarify so I can better help you? Thank you!
OH MY GOODNESS!!! YUM and EASY! Thank you so much!
You’re so welcome! So glad you love them. Thanks for commenting, Karen! Merry Christmas!
These are amazing! They taste just like fudgy brownies.
I agree! So good! Thanks, Jessica!
Is it possible to make these without maple syrup? I know the liquid ratio would be off so do you have any suggestions?
Thank you!
Hmm…you should be able to sub honey just fine. You can also try subbing an extra 1/4 cup of coconut sugar and upping the oil to a full 1/4 cup. I’ve never tried this so I can’t guarantee they’ll come out well. But that’s where I’d start if I was going to experiment. Hope that helps!
These were very good. I doubled the recipe, and instead of maple syrup, I did half honey and half molasses. I also used xylitol instead of maple sugar. Again, they were delicious.
Glad to hear all your substitutions worked out, Emily!
Can you substitute in coconut flour? Say for half of the almond flour for coconut flour?
Hey Lara, unfortunately I wouldn’t recommend substituting in any coconut flour. It’s such a tricky flour and needs a lot of eggs/moisture. I’m sorry!
Isn’t baking powder not Paleo? It has cornstarch in it?
Hi Diana! Great question. Baking powder is definitely paleo. If you’d rather not consume the minute amount of cornstarch there would be per cookie, just use one without cornstarch like this one here: https://amzn.to/3GgUDY1 or here: https://amzn.to/3MHZ1Tr
Or you can even make your own! Good luck with the cookies! Let me know if you have any other questions.
I brought these to a dinner and people raved about them! So good, very light for something made with almond flour and a little bit chewy, the flavor is delicate. I used organic cane sugar because I didn’t have coconut sugar. The avocado oil really makes the flavor fudgy.
Woo hoo! So glad you could be the hit of the party! 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to comment, Leela! Merry Christmas!