3 ingredient cookies for fall and winter, made with almond flour, a fresh apple, and cinnamon. Crisp at the edges with soft, cake-like middles, they are vegan, Paleo, grain-free, oil-free, and have no added sugar.
Fall is finally (mercifully!) here! We are still a long way from crisp and cool, but a drop into the 80s is inspiring me to get moving with some seasonal baking.
Today’s recipe will surely bring some joy. It is inspired by a comment from a reader (Susan). She wrote to ask if she could use something other than banana in my Almond Flour Banana Cookies, as her son cannot eat bananas. I was not sure, so I set about testing some options.
Here is the result: 3-Ingredient Fresh Apple Almond Flour Cookies!
I ate half a dozen of them yesterday, post-run. I am proud to say it!
These old-fashioned, homey, cake-like cookies are seriously good, and good for you, too. They are:
*Vegan
*Paleo
*Grain-free
*Oil-free
*Added sugar-free
*Gluten-free
The key to making these cookies is to forgo applesauce. I tried, and they were booooring. Flat-ish, cracker-like, zilch apple flavor, and not sweet, unless I added sugar.
Instead of applesauce, these apple cookies are made with a fresh, sweet apple.
Just like baked apples, the apple flavor and sweetness intensify as the cookies bake–without the need for any additional sweeteners!
I prefer to leave the peel on for these cookies. It is packed with extra fiber (about half the fiber content of the apple is in the peel), vitamins, and the antioxidant quercitin.
If you choose to follow my lead, I recommend using an organic apple. Non-organic apples are often waxed, plus pesticides can be more concentrated in the peel. Further, organic apples tend to be more flavorful, IMHO. If using a regular apple, be sure to peel it.
To prep the apple, cut the flesh away from the core and cut into chunks (discard the core).
Process the apple in a food processor until it is very fine, stopping to scrape down the bowl several times. The end result should be a mash/puree that looks like apple sauce in raw form.
Measure out 1/2 cup of the pureed apple. Do not pack the measuring cup. If there is more puree, save it for something else (e.g., just eat it–my solution–or add to a smoothie, oatmeal, etc.). Measurements matter with these cookies.
To make the cookie dough, stir together the apple puree, 1 cup almond flour and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon. I strongly recommend adding the optional 1/8 teaspoon salt; it enhances both the apple flavor and the sweetness of the cookies once baked.
Mix until a soft dough comes together. If you taste the dough at this point, it will not be very sweet. This will change as the cookies bake. Nevertheless, feel free to add a smidge of sweetener. It will not take more than 1 to 3 teaspoons (e.g., coconut sugar, brown sugar or maple syrup) to create a much sweeter cookie. It just depends on your particular apple.
Scoop the dough onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and bake for 15 to 18 minutes in a preheated 350F oven. The cookies need a longer bake than other kinds of cookies in order to brown and bake through the middles.
These are the sweet results of your efforts:
The cookies have some crispness at the bottom edges, but are soft and cake-like otherwise. Yes, please!
3-Ingredient Fresh Apple Almond Flour Cookies {vegan, grain-free, oil-free, Paleo}
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 23 minutes
- Yield: 12 cookies 1x
Description
3 ingredient cookies for fall and winter, made with almond flour, a fresh apple, and cinnamon. Crisp at the edges with soft, cake-like middles, they are vegan, Paleo, grain-free, oil-free, and have no added sugar.
Ingredients
- 1 small (about 5 oz/142 g) organic sweet or tart-sweet apple
- 1 cup (112 g) blanched almond flour
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt (optional, but highly recommended)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- If leaving skin on, scrub apple well. Otherwise, peel the apple.
- Core and cut apple into chunks; process in a food processor, stopping to scrape down sides, until pureed (mixture will look like raw apple sauce).
- Place the almond flour in a medium bowl. Add the apple puree, cinnamon and (optional) salt. Stir until completely blended.
- Using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough in 12 mounds, spacing 2 inches apart, on prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown and centers of cookies feel firm to the touch. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and cool completely.
Notes
Storage: Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at (cool) room temperature for 2 days, the refrigerator for 5 days, or the freezer for up to 3 months.
Apple Tips: In order for this recipe to work well, it is important to (1) use a sweet or tart-sweet apple. For example, red-delicious, gala, Macintosh, or Braeburn; (2) Process the apple very finely, to the point where the juices are releasing. It should look like raw apple sauce (see photo); be sure to measure the amount of apple after pureeing. Do not use more than the 1/2 cup that is called for in the recipe (i.e., do not just go by general size of the apple).
Variation Ideas:
Sweetness Bump: If you like, add a touch more sweetness to the dough. It does not take much to make these much sweeter. Consider adding 2 teaspoons of coconut sugar, brown sugar, or maple syrup, if desired.
Extracts: Add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract or 1/8 teaspoon of almond extract to dough.
Sugar Sparkle: Sprinkle tops of dough with turbinado (raw) sugar.
Other spices: Replace the ground cinnamon with an equal amount of ground cardamom, pumpkin pie spice, ground ginger, or 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg.
Chocolate Chip: Add 2 tablespoons miniature semisweet chocolate chips to the dough. Alternatively, prepare dough as directed and press the chocolate chips into surfaces of scooped dough.
- Category: Dessert, Snack
- Method: Baking
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 60
- Sugar: 1.6 g
- Sodium: 24.2 mg
- Fat: 4.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 3.7 g
- Fiber: 1.3 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: cookies, 3 ingredients, apple, almond flour, vegan, paleo, oil-free, grain-free
Muy buena receta ,muy e adecuada para personas especiales
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Gracias, Pablo Antonio!
This recipe looks amazing!! I was wondering if I could make this with all-purpose flour, instead of almond flour. Would that work? I don’t have any almond flour on hand!! 🙁
Hi Steph! Alas, these will not work with a-p flour. Any chance that you have any nuts or seeds on hand? You can finely grind them into a meal/flou a food processor or high speed blender and use in place of the almond flour.
For a quick healthy breakfast treat or bedtime snack these cookies are he best. I used date sugar in mine and they came out fine. Would like to know if they can be made bigger, as size required at least three to satisfy, 😂. Do u think spreading in a cast iron skillet or cake pan and doing a giant cookie would work ? Also passed Some cookies and your recipe on to a friend who has a 4yr old granddaughter and it’s her new favorite snack ! Thanks for your site, I hate to bake , other than bread, and your recipes make it so simple to have healthy treats anytime with little fuss.
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A million thanks, Donna!
For some added sweetness I also used a teaspoon of honey and it worked beautifully
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How perfect, Savitha! It’s amazing how just a hint of sugar (e.g., honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, etc) can enliven the natural sweetness of the fruit. Thanks so much for sharing your tip!
Could you purée a pear Instead? I am allergic to apples.
Thanks
Amanda
A pear should work beautifully, Amanda!
Are you supposed to flatten the cookies before putting in the oven or leave as little balls?
Hi Kaley,
Good question! Definitely do not flatten–the shape stays more or less the same once baked. I used a small cookie scoop to create the shape–so one side is rounded (the top) and the flat side goes on to the sheet. For the same shape without a scoop, roll equal portions of dough into balls and place on the sheet (don’t press to flatten, but press so that the bottoms are flattened against the sheet). 🙂
I love the recipes that you post I cant have a lot of things and these I can have so they are good to take to work and have for my breakfast like the banana bead I used honey and changed half the almond flour for chick pea flour and it came out great and it keeps the price down as the almond flour is so pricey here ut keep the recipes coming lov them
So happy to hear that these (and some of my other recipes) are working for you, Karen! And thanks for sharing re: the half chickpea flour substitution, I will definitely try that–great idea!
I made these cookies using organic gala apples and they worked! I added vanilla and would do that again. I made 3 batches because i needed ~30 cookies and it was easy to triple the recipe. I used a mini ice cream scoop to put them on to a cookie sheet. I lined the cookie sheet with tin foil first and then a sheet of parchment paper and put the cookies on there. (I line it with tin foil first so I don’t have to wash the cookie sheet.) Thanks for the super fast, super easy recipe!
I am thrilled to hear it was a )triple) success, Deb! Thanks for sharing your foil-parchment tip with everyone, too 🙂
Good timing there! Apples piled in boxes in kitchen just now and I’m collecting Apple recipes as fast as I can. I give some away. I eat and eat my free food 😊 And my freezer is bursting. So anything that gives me a cgange us really welcome.
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Oh good, I hope you give the cookies a try!